My research focuses on the use of mice and stem cells to understand the contribution of transcription factors toward embryonic development and function of the liver. Traditionally, my laboratory has relied on the use of mouse models including knockout mice and mouse embryonic stem cells. During this time, we have garnered a substantial understanding of the basic molecular pathways controlling liver function and hepatogenesis.
While the mouse has been a valuable model, we have introduced the use of induced human pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) because we believe that they could offer a new and robust experimental model. We have shown that we can control differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells to hepatocytes with high efficiency, to the extent that >95% of cells in the culture dish express characteristic markers of differentiated hepatocytes. In addition, we have developed novel technologies to facilitate the efficient culture and reprogramming of human iPSCs. Such approaches have raised the possibility of using stem cell-derived cells for the study of hepatocyte differentiation and to potentially treat liver disease.
