Hans Clevers
汉斯·克莱弗斯
MD, PhD
Princess Beatrix Chair; Group Leader, Hubrecht Institute贝娅特丽克斯公主讲席教授；哈布雷赫特研究所组长
👥Biography 个人简介
Hans Clevers, MD PhD at the Hubrecht Institute is a giant of stem cell and cancer biology. He discovered LGR5 as a marker of intestinal stem cells and colon cancer stem cells, elucidated the TCF/β-catenin Wnt pathway in colorectal cancer, and pioneered organoid technology. His work transformed understanding of gut homeostasis and cancer initiation and enabled patient-derived tumor organoid models.
🧪Research Fields 研究领域
🎓Key Contributions 主要贡献
Discovery of LGR5+ Intestinal Stem Cells
Identified LGR5 as a marker of cycling intestinal crypt base columnar stem cells that give rise to all intestinal epithelial lineages and demonstrated that LGR5+ cells are the cell of origin for intestinal adenomas driven by APC mutations.
TCF/β-catenin Wnt Pathway in Colorectal Cancer
Elucidated the molecular mechanism by which APC mutations constitutively activate β-catenin/TCF4 transcription, establishing the canonical pathway driving CRC initiation and identifying downstream targets including c-Myc and cyclin D1.
Organoid Technology
Co-invented intestinal and tumor organoid culture systems enabling long-term expansion of primary human gut epithelium and patient-derived cancer organoids, revolutionizing personalized oncology and drug testing.
Representative Works 代表性著作
Identification of stem cells in small intestine and colon by marker gene Lgr5
Nature (2007)
Landmark paper identifying LGR5 as the definitive marker of intestinal crypt base stem cells and their role as the cell of origin of intestinal cancer.
Single Lgr5 stem cells build crypt–villus structures in vitro without a mesenchymal niche
Nature (2009)
Demonstrated that single LGR5+ stem cells can self-organize into complete intestinal organoids, founding the field of intestinal organoid culture.
Wnt signalling in stem cells and cancer
Nature (2005)
Comprehensive review of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in intestinal stem cell self-renewal and colorectal cancer initiation, one of the most cited cancer biology reviews.
🏆Awards & Recognition 奖项与荣誉
📄Data Sources 数据来源
Last updated: 2026-01-15 | All information from publicly available academic sources
Related Experts 相关专家
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University of California San Diego, Ludwig Cancer Research
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Dana-Farber Cancer Institute / Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Luciano Di Croce
Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona
Alexander Meissner
Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin
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