Jensen Group - Epithelial Homeostasis and Regeneration
We have shown that as stem cells and differentiated cells are exposed to wound environments, they undergo reprogramming to more primitive cell states recapitulating aspects of fetal development.
Using mouse models, clinical samples from human patients and state of the art cell culture models, our aim is to identify and characterise the regulatory mechanisms that control cell fate decisions during steady state homeostasis and regeneration, and utilise this knowledge to fuel tissue regeneration in patients suffering from ulcerative disorders.
The epithelia of the gastrointestinal tract and the skin are subject to continuous renewal throughout adult life. Stem cells residing in specific locations/environments (stem cell niches) are responsible for the life-long cellular replenishment of these tissues. Extrinsic factors provided by the stem cell niche in combination with the intrinsic properties of the stem cells control the balance between expansion of the stem cell pool by self-renewal and commitment to differentiation following exit from the niche. The regulatory mechanisms that control normal homeostasis are compromised during diseases such as cancer, as excessive accumulation of cell fuels tumor growth.
During development and tissue regeneration a similar imbalance between gain and loss of cells can be observed to either fuel organ growth or wound healing. Using mouse models, clinical samples from human patients and state of the art cell culture models, our aim is to identify and characterise the regulatory mechanisms controlling cell fate decisions during development, homeostasis and diseases such as cancer.
- Identify and characterise regulatory control mechanisms operating during normal tissue homeostasis and regeneration
- Functional characterization cell behaviour during tissue regeneration
- Development of treatment strategies for patients with ulcerative disorders
Bornholdt, J., Broholm, C., Chen, Y., Rago, A., Sloth, S., Hendel, J., Melsæther, C., Müller, C. V., Nielsen, M. J., Strickertsson, J., Engelholm, L., Vitting-Seerup, K., Jensen, K. B., Baker, A., and Sandelin, A. (2020). Personalized B cell response to the Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG probiotic in healthy human subjects: a randomized trial. Gut Microbes, 12, 1-14. doi: 10.1080/19490976.2020.1854639.
Watanabe, S., Kobayashi, S., Ogasawara, N., Okamoto, R., Nakamura, T., Watanabe, M., Jensen, K.B.* and Yui, S.* (2022). Transplantation of intestinal organoids into a mouse model of colitis. Nature Protocols, doi: 10.1038/s41596-021-00658-3. *joint corresponding authors
Maimets, M., Pedersen, M.T., Guiu, J. Dreier, J., Thodberg, M., Antoku, Y., Schweiger, P. J., Rib, L., Bressan, P. B., Miao, Y., Garcia, K. C., Sandelin, A., Serup. P., and Jensen, K. B. Mesenchymal-epithelial crosstalk shapes intestinal regionalisation via Wnt and Shh signalling. Nature Communications, 13, 715 (2022). doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-28369-7.
Andersen, M.S., Hannezo, E., Ulyanchenko, S., Estrach, S., Antoku, Y., Pisano, S., Boonekamp, K.E., Sendrup, S., Maimets, M., Pedersen M.T., Johansen, J.V., Clement, D.L., Feral, C.C., Simons, B.D., Jensen, K.B. (2019). Tracing the cellular dynamics of sebaceous gland development in normal and perturbed states.Nature Cell Biology, doi: 10.1038/s41556-019-0362-x.
Guiu, J., Hannezo, E., Yui, S., Demharter, S., Ulyanchenko, S., Maimets, M., Jørgensen, A., Perlman, S., Lundvall, L., Mamsen, L.S., Larsen, A., Olesen, R.H., Andersen, C.Y., Thuesen, L.L., Hare, K.J., Pers, T.H., Khodosevich, K., Simons, B.D., Jensen, K.B. (2019). Tracing the origin of adult intestinal stem cells. Nature, doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1212-5.
Moestrup, Kasper S., Yun Chen, Troels Schepeler, Pawel J. Schweiger & Kim B. Jensen (2018). Dietary Control of Skin Lipid Composition and Microbiome. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 138 (5), 1225 – 1228, doi: 10.1016/j.jid.2017.12.005
Yui, Shiro, Luca Azzolin, Martti Maimets, Marianne Terndrup Pedersen, Robert P. Fordham, Stine L. Hansen, Hjalte L. Larsen, Jordi Guiu, Mariana R.P. Alves, Carsten F. Rundsten, Jens V. Johansen, Yuan Li, Chris D. Madsen, Tetsuya Nakamura, Mamoru Watanabe, Ole H. Nielsen, Pawel J. Schweiger, Stefano Piccolo & Kim B. Jensen (2018). YAP/TAZ-Dependent Reprogramming of Colonic Epithelium Links ECM Remodeling to Tissue Regeneration. Cell Stem Cell, 22:35-49, doi:10.1016/j.stem.2017.11.001.
Research Profile
Kim Jensen received his PhD in molecular biology from the University of Aarhus in 2003. Here he developed an improved method for the analysis of the cell surface composition based on recombinant antibody technology. In 2003 he joined Professor Fiona Watt’s group at the London Research Institute, Cancer Research UK, as a post-doctoral fellow. Based on cutting edge technologies and analysis of mouse models he went on to identified Lrig1, a negative regulator of receptor tyrosine kinases, as a novel marker of both human and mouse epidermal stem cells. Since starting his own lab, research has focused on mechanisms that regulate stem cell fate during development, homeostasis, regeneration, and disease.
Research in the Jensen lab currently aims to provide an increased understanding of the gene regulatory networks that control stem cell fate using the intestinal epithelium and the skin epidermis as model systems. By combining studies using mouse models and clinical specimens the long-term aim of the research in the Jensen lab is to translate result from in vitro and in vivo models into regenerative therapies.
Awards and Honours
Kim Jensen is a recipient of a number of personal awards including a Carlsberg and a CRUK postdoctoral fellowships, a Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellowship, an MRC non-clinical fellowship, a Lundbeck Foundation fellowship and the ERC consolidator award. In addition, he is the recipient of the European Society for Dermatological Research Gold medal and an EMBO Young Investigator, and serves on a number of scientific advisor boards.
Recent Key Discoveries
Guiu, J., Hannezo, E., Yui, S., Demharter, S., Ulyanchenko, S., Maimets, M., Jørgensen, A., Perlman, S., Lundvall, L., Mamsen, L.S., Larsen, A., Olesen, R.H., Andersen, C.Y., Thuesen, L.L., Hare, K.J., Pers, T.H., Khodosevich, K., Simons, B.D., Jensen, K.B. (2019). Tracing the origin of adult intestinal stem cells. Nature, doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1212-5.
Andersen, M.S., Hannezo, E., Ulyanchenko, S., Estrach, S., Antoku, Y., Pisano, S., Boonekamp, K.E., Sendrup, S., Maimets, M., Pedersen M.T., Johansen, J.V., Clement, D.L., Feral, C.C., Simons, B.D., Jensen, K.B. (2019). Tracing the cellular dynamics of sebaceous gland development in normal and perturbed states.Nature Cell Biology, doi: 10.1038/s41556-019-0362-x.
Moestrup, K.S., Chen, Y., Schepeler, T., Schweiger, P.J., and Jensen, K.B. (2018). Dietary control of skin lipid composition and microbiome. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 138,1225-1228, doi: 10.1016/j.jid.2017.12.005.
Yui, S., Azzolin, L., Maimets, M., Pedersen, M.T., Fordham, R.P., Hansen, S.L., Larsen, H.L., Guiu, J., Alves, M.R.P, Rundsten, C.F., Johansen, J.V., Li, Y., Madsen, C.D., Nakamura, T., Watanabe, M., Nielsen, O.H., Schweiger, P.J., Piccolo, S. and Jensen, K.B. (2017). YAP/TAZ-dependent reprogramming of colonic epithelium links ECM remodeling to tissue regeneration. Cell Stem Cell, 22, doi:10.1016/j.stem.2017.11.001.
Perea, D., Guiu, J., Hudry, B., Konstantinidou, C., Milona, A., Hadjieconomou, D., Carroll, T., Hoyer, N., Natarajan, D., Kallijärvi, J., Walker, J.A., Soba, P., Thapar, N., Cordero, J., Burns, A.J., Jensen, K.B. and Miguel-Aliaga, I. (2017). A new role for the Ret receptor tyrosine kinase in intestinal epithelia. EMBO J 36, 3029-3045, doi: 10.15252/embj.201696247.
Holmberg, F.E., Pedersen, J., Jørgensen, P., Soendergaard, C., Jensen, K.B. and Nielsen, O.H. (2017). Intestinal barrier integrity and inflammatory bowel disease: Stem cell-based approaches to regenerate the barrier. Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine 12, 923 -935, doi: 10.1002/term.2506
Moestrup, K.S., Andersen, M.S. and Jensen, K.B. (2017). Isolation and in vitro characterization of epidermal stem cells. Methods Molecular Biology 1553, 67-83, doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-6756-8_6.
Schweiger, P.J. and Jensen, K.B. (2016). Modeling human disease using organotypic cultures. Current Opinion in Cell Biology 43, 22-29, doi: 10.1016/j.ceb.2016.07.003
Guiu, J. and Jensen, K.B. (2015). From Definitive Endoderm to gut—a Process of Growth and Maturation. Stem Cells and Development 24, 1972-1983, doi: 10.1089/scd.2015.0017.
Schepeler, T., Page, M.E. and Jensen, K.B. (2014). Heterogeneity and plasticity of epidermal stem cells. Development 141, 2559-2567, doi: 10.1242/dev.104588.
Fordham, R.P., Yui, S., Hannan, N.R.F., Soendergaard, C., Madgwick, A., Schweiger, P.J., Nielsen, O.H., Vallier, L., Pedersen, R.A., Nakamura, T. Watanabe, M. and Jensen, K.B. (2013). Transplantation of expanded fetal intestinal progenitors contributes to colon regeneration after injury. Cell Stem Cell 13, 734-744, doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2013.09.015.
Hannan, N.R.F., Fordham, R.P., Syed, Y.A., Moignard, V., Berry, A., Bautista, R., Hanley, N.A, Jensen, K.B. and Vallier, L. (2013). Generation of Multipotent Foregut Stem Cells from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells. Stem Cell Reports 1, 293-306, doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2013.09.003.
Kim Jensen: Our cellular fortress
Staff List - Jensen Group
| Name | Title | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search in Name | Search in Title | Search in Phone | |
| Annika Hausmann | Postdoc | +4535336938 | |
| Astrid Møller Baattrup | PhD Fellow | +4535336119 | |
| Cecilia Lövkvist | Postdoc | +4535324933 | |
| Daniela Mayer | Postdoc | +4535334199 | |
| Denise Serra | Postdoc | ||
| Ditte Lynge Clement | Staff Scientist | ||
| Grzegorz Jerzy Maciag | PhD Student | +4535335058 | |
| Hjalte List Larsen | Assistant Professor | +4535335183 | |
| Isidora Banjac | PhD Student | ||
| Jonathan Skov | Research Assistant | ||
| Kadi Lõhmussaar | Postdoc | ||
| Kata Krizic | Research Assistant | +4535333092 | |
| Kim Bak Jensen | Professor | +4535325682 | |
| Manouk de Jong | External | ||
| Martti Maimets | Assistant Professor | +4535337757 | |
| Maureen Joy Inventor Zøylner | Academic Research Staff | +4535324234 | |
| Pawel Jan Schweiger | External | +4535335047 | |
| Raul Bardini Bressan | Assistant Professor | +4535335995 | |
| Stine Lind Hansen | Postdoc | ||
| Sviatlana Ulyanchanka | Assistant Professor | +4535331502 | |
| Taraneh Strunk | External | ||
| Theresa Louise Boye | External |
