Michael J. Soares, Ph.D.

Director, Institute for Reproductive Health and Regenerative Medicine
University Distinguished Professor
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Ph.D., University of Hawaii, 1981
Postdoctoral, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1981-1983
Postdoctoral, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, 1983-1984

msoares@kumc.edu
Soares Lab web site

Our laboratory investigates specialized survival strategies used by the embryo as it grows within the uterus. Central to the embryo's survival is the formation of an organ derived from the embryo called the placenta. This organ gains access to the maternal blood supply and facilitates the delivery of nutrients to the fetus. We study how early stem cells develop into the placenta. We have learned that the placenta is built in response to cues present in the maternal environment; and diseases of pregnancy, such as preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction, result when the embryo is not successful in its adaptations to the maternal environment. Inadequate in utero adaptive responses have potentially long-lasting impacts on adult health and disease. For more information on our research, please visit the Soares Lab web site.

Selected Publications

Lee, D.-S., Rumi, M.A.K., Konno, T., and Soares, M.J. (2009) In vivo genetic manipulation of the rat trophoblast cell lineage using lentiviral vector delivery.  Genesis 47, 433-439.

Alam, S.M.K., Konno, T., Rumi, M.A.K., Dong, Y., Weiner, C.P., and Soares, M.J. (2010) Prolactin family of the guinea pig, Cavia porcellus.  Endocrinology 151, 3918-3928.

Konno, T., Graham, A.R., Rempel, L.A., Ho-Chen, J.K., Alam, S.M.K., Bu, P., Rumi, M.A.K., and Soares, M.J.  (2010) Subfertility linked to combined luteal insufficiency and uterine progesterone resistance.  Endocrinology 151, 4537-4550.

Kent, L.N., Konno, T., and Soares, M.J.  (2010) Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase modulation of trophoblast cell differentiation.  BMC Developmental Biology 10, 97. 

Asanoma, K., Rumi, M.A.K., Kent, L.N., Chakraborty, D., Renaud, S.J., Wake, N., Lee, D.-S., Kubota, K., and Soares, M.J. (2011) FGF4-dependent stem cells derived from rat blastocysts differentiate along the trophoblast lineage.  Developmental Biology 351, 110-119.

Konno, T., Rempel, L.A., Rumi, M.A.K., Graham, A.R., Asanoma, K., Renaud, S.J., and Soares, M.J. (2011) Chromosome-substituted rat strains provide insights into the genetics of placentation.  Physiological Genomics 43, 930-941.

Chakraborty, D., Rumi, M.A.K., Konno, T., and Soares, M.J. (2011) Natural killer cells direct hemochorial placentation by regulating HIF-dependent trophoblast lineage decisions.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A. 108, 16295-16300.

Kent, L.N., Rumi, M.A.K., Kubota, K., Lee, D.-S., and Soares, M.J. (2011) FOSL1 is integral to establishing the maternal-fetal interface.  Molecular and Cellular Biology 31, 4801-4813.

Asanoma, K., Kubota, K., Chakraborty, D., Renaud, S.J., Wake, N., Fukushima, K., Soares, M.J., and Rumi, M.A.K. (2012) SATB proteins regulate trophoblast stem cell renewal and differentiation.  Journal of Biological Chemistry 287, 2257-2268.

Soares, M.J., Chakraborty, D., Rumi, M.A.K., Konno, T., and Renaud, S.J. (2012) Rat placentation: an experimental model for investigating the hemochorial maternal-fetal interface.  Placenta 33, 233-243.