Director, Institute of Maternal-Fetal Biology3901 Rainbow Boulevard
1003 Lied
Kansas City, Kansas 66160
Phone: (913) 588-5691
Fax: (913) 588-8287
Email: msoares@kumc.edu
Ph.D., University of Hawaii, 1981; Postdoctoral, University of California-Santa Cruz, Baylor College of Medicine
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.
Kamei, T., Jones, S.R., Chapman, B.M., McGonigle, K., Dai, G., and Soares, M.J. (2002) Activation and involvement of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/akt-signaling pathway in the endocrine differentiation of trophoblast cells. Mol. Endocrinol. 16, 1469-1481.
Dai, G., Lu, L., Tang, S., Peal, M.J., and Soares, M.J. (2002) The prolactin family miniarray: a tool for evaluating uteroplacental/trophoblast endocrine cell phenotypes. Reproduction 124, 755-765.
Wiemers, D.O., Shao, L.-J., Ain, R., Dai, G., and Soares, M.J. (2003) The mouse prolactin gene family locus. Endocrinology 144, 313-325.
Ain, R., Tash, J.S., and Soares, M.J. (2003) Prolactin-like protein-A is a functional modulator of natural killer cells at the maternal-fetal interface. Mol. Cell. Endocrinol. 204, 65-74.
Ain, R., Canham, L.N., and Soares, M.J. (2003) Gestational stage-dependent intrauterine trophoblast cell invasion in the rat and mouse: novel endocrine phenotype and regulation. Dev. Biol. 260, 176-190.
Wiemers, D.O., Ain R, Ohboshi, S., and Soares, M.J. (2003) Migratory trophoblast cells express a newly identified member of the prolactin gene family. J. Endocrinol. 179, 335-346.
Soares, M.J. and Wolfe, M.W. (2004) Human embryonic stem cells ‘assemble’ and fulfill their developmental ‘destiny’. Endocrinology 145, 1514-1516.
Soares, M.J. (2004) The prolactin and growth hormone families: pregnancy-specific hormones/cytokines at the maternal-fetal interface. Reprod. Biol. Endocrinol. 2, 51 (http://www.rbej.com/content/2/1/51)
Ain, R., Dai, G., Dunmore, J.H., Godwin, A.R.,and Soares, M.J. (2004) A prolactin family paralog regulates reproductive adaptations to a physiological stressor. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A., in press
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The University of Kansas Medical Center