Development of new technologies for organ replacement using regenerative medicine approaches

Dr. Soto-Gutierrez’s research is focused on the development of new technologies for organ replacement using regenerative medicine approaches (bioengineering, cell transplantation and organ engineering) to generating entire replacement organs. Dr. Soto-Gutierrez’s laboratory uses the structural connective tissue of discarded organs as a scaffold for growing new tissue/organs for transplantation. His laboratory is actively working in liver cell differentiation and understanding liver cell maturation of embryonic or induced pluripotent stem cells (ES or iPS cells) using interactions with liver non-parenchymal cells, 3D liver extracellular matrix and different molecules to produce transplantable tissue or modeling diseases (e.g. fatty liver). While portions of the studies are carried out in organ culture systems, several ongoing studies are performed in special animal models of liver regeneration to understand hepatic tissue assembling and regeneration using auxiliary partial orthotopic liver transplantation (APOLT). In addition, Dr. Soto-Gutierrez’s laboratory is interested in strategies for liver repopulation, the study of liver regeneration in disease state (e.g. acute or chronic liver failure and liver steatosis) and hybrid organ engineering for transplantation to treat diabetes. To this end, several lines of collaboration are open with the Center for Innovative Regenerative Therapies (CIRT) and different laboratories in the Department of Pathology and the McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine.

Soto-Gutierrez Team: