Faculty

Michael J. Soares, PhD
Professor Pathology & Laboratory Medicine; Molecular & Integrative Physiology and Obstetrics & GynecologyDirector Institute of Maternal-Fetal Biology

Research Description

Pregnancy is a complicated biological process that requires a dynamic interaction between embryonic and maternal tissues. The Soares laboratory investigates molecular mechanisms and signaling events involved in the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. They have focused on studying cell differentiation in an extraembryonic tissue, the placenta, and in a uterine structure referred to as decidua. These tissues develop in concert with the embryo, form intimate relationships with each other, and enable the embryo to have access to and to control the availability of maternal resources. Differentiation of both trophoblast and decidual cells is crucial to the establishment of pregnancy and the growth and development of the embryo/fetus. Research in the Soares laboratory currently includes investigations on the prolactin gene family, intrauterine inflammatory and immune cells, uterine vasculature, and signaling pathways controlling the growth and differentiation of decidual and trophoblast cells. These scientific pursuits directly impact the understanding of key diseases of pregnancy, including preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction.

Representative Publications

Wiemers, DO, LJ Shao, R Ain, G Dai and MJ Soares. (2003) The mouse prolactin gene family locus. Endocrinology. 144, 313-325.

Ain, R, LN Canham and MJ Soares. (2003) Gestational stage-dependent intrauterine trophoblast cell invasion in the rat and mouse: novel endocrine phenotype and regulation. Developmental Biology. 260, 176-19.

Ain, R, G Dai, JH Dunmore, AR Godwin and MJ Soares. (2004) A prolactin family paralog regulates reproductive adaptations to a physiological stressor. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 101, 16543-16548.

Soares, MJ. (2004) The prolactin and growth hormone families: pregnancy-specific hormones/cytokines at the maternal-fetal interface. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology. 2:51. (http://www.rbej.com/content/2/1/51)

Sahgal, N, LN Canham, T Konno, MW Wolfe and MJ Soares. (2005) Modulation of trophoblast stem cell and giant cell phenotypes: analyses using the Rcho-1 cell model. Differentiation 73, 452-462.

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