Michael J Soares, PhD

University Distinguished Professor, Division of Cancer and Developmental Biology
Director, Institute for Reproductive Health and Regenerative Medicine
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

Our laboratory investigates specialized survival strategies used by the embryo as it grows within the mother's womb.  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

1. Rosario, G.X., Konno, T., and Soares, M.J. (2008) Maternal hypoxia-activated endovascular trophoblast cell invasion. Developmental Biology 314, 362- 375.
2. Alam, S.M.K., Konno, T., Sahgal, N., Lu, L., and Soares, M.J. (2008) Decidual cells produce a heparin-binding prolactin family cytokine with putative intrauterine regulatory actions. Journal of Biological Chemistry 283, 18957-18968.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.