Donna B. Stolz, Research Assistant Professor
Ph.D. , Universty of Massachusetts, 1991
Email: dstolz@pitt.edu
Angiogenesis is the process whereby new blood vessels sprout from existing vessels and requires that the specialized resident cells lining the vasculature, the endothelial cells (ECs), proliferate, migrate and differentiate spatially and temporally in response to specific signals. Vasculogenesis, on the other hand, has only recently emerged as an alternative mechanism of blood vessel growth in adult tissues and is the result of homing and engraftment of circulating EC precursors (ECPs) of bone marrow origin to sites of neovascularization. Both events are known to occur within the liver vasculature under very different conditions of growth, injury and repair, but the extent of each and the mechanisms by which they occur for each case is completely unknown. We evaluate the growth factor signaling events that accompany blood vessel growth and repair during liver regeneration following partial hepatectomy, and as the result of ischemia/reperfusion injury following liver transplantation. Comparative analysis of these two systems will elucidate both similar and dissimilar mechanisms that control these events and potentially lead to optimization of therapies that will reflect the specific requirements for injury based neovascularization in the liver.
Recent Publication
Jacobson, B.S., Donna B. Stolz & Jan E. Schnitzer. 1996. Identification of endothelial cell surface proteins as potential targets for diagnosis and disease. Nature Medicine. 2(4)482-484.
Stolz, DB, WM Mars, BE Petersen, T-H Kim, GK Michalopoulos. 1999. Growth factor signal transduction immediately following two-thirds partial hepatectomy in the rat. Cancer Research 59:3954-3960.
Stolz, DB, MA Ross, HM Salem, W M Mars, GK Michalopoulos, K Enomoto. 1999. Cationic Colloidal Silica Membrane Perturbation as a Means of Examining Changes at the Sinusoidal Surface During Liver Regeneration. Am. J. Path. 155:1487-1498.
Rausa, FM, Y Tan, H Zhou, KW Yoo, DB Stolz, SC Watkins, RR Franks, RH Costa. 2000 Elevated levels of HNF-3b influence mouse hepatocyte expression of genes involved in bile acid and glucose homeostasis. Mol.Cell.Biol.20.8264-8282.
Wack, KE, MA Ross, V Zegarra, SC Watkins, DB Stolz, 2001. Ultrastructural and zonal fenestration dynamics of sinusoidal endothelial cells during revascularization of regenerating rat livers. Hepatology 33:363-378.
Monga, SPS, P Pediaditakis, K Mule, DB Stolz, GK Michalopoulos. 2001. Changes in Wnt1/-catenin pathway during regulated growth in rat liver regeneration. Hepatology, 33:1098-1109.
Michalopoulos, GK, WC Bowen, K Mule, DB Stolz, 2001. Histological organization in hepatocyte organoid cultures. Am.J. Path. 159(5)1877-1887
Ross, MA, CM Sander, TB Kleeb, SC Watkins, DB Stolz, 2001 Spatiotemporal expression of angiogenesis growth factor receptors during the revascularization of regenerating rat liver. Hepatology. 34:1135-1148.
Powers, MJ, K Domansky, A Upadhyaya, MR Kaazempur-Mofrad, P Kurzawski, KE Wack, DB Stolz, R Kamm LG Griffith. 2002. A microfabricated array bioractor for perfused 3D liver culture. Biotechnology and Bioengineering. 78 (3):257-269.
Stolz, DB, R Zamora, Y Vodovotz, PA Loughan, Y-M Kim, TR Billiar, RL Simmons, SC Watkins. 2002. Peroxisomal localization of inducible nitric oxide synthase in rat hepatocytes Hepatology. 36:81-93.
Loughran PA, DB Stolz, Y Vodovotz, SC Watkins, RL Simmons, TR Billiar. Monomeric iNOS localizes to peroxisomes in hepatocytes. Proc Natl Acad Sci 102(39):13837-42. 2005.
Lagoa CE, Y Vodovotz, DB Stolz, F Lhuillier, C McCloskey, D Gallo, R Yang, E Ustinova, MP Fink, TR Billiar, WM Mars. Contribution of Type 1 Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor (PAI-1) to Hepatic Injury during Hemorrhagic Shock. Hepatology 42:390-399. 2005.
Liu S, DB Stolz, PL Sappington, CA Macias, ME Killeen, JJ Tenhunen, RL Delude, MP Fink. HMGB1 is Secreted by Immunostimulated Enterocytes and Contributes to Cytomix-induced Hyperpermeability of Caco-2 Monolayers. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 290(4)C990-999. 2005
Khan, Z, GK Michalopoulos, DB Stolz. Peroxisomal localization of hypoxia-inducible factors and HIF regulatory hydroxylases in primary rat hepatocytes exposed to hypoxia-reoxygenation Am J Path 126(4):1251-1269. 2006.
Straub AC, DB Stolz, MA Ross, AHern¨˘ndez-Zavala, NV. Soucy, LR Klei, and A Barchowsky. Arsenic Stimulates Sinusoidal Endothelial Cell Capillarization and Vessel Remodeling in Mouse Liver. Hepatology. 45(1):205-12. 2007
Hwa, AJ, RC Fry, A Sivaraman, PT So, LD Samson, DB Stolz, LG Griffith. Rat liver sinusoidal endothelial cells survive without exogenous VEGF in 3D perfused co-cultures with hepatocytes. FASEB J 21(10):2564-2579. 2007
Stolz, DB, MA Ross, A Ikeda, K Tomiyama, T Kaizu, DA Geller, N Murase. Sinusoidal endothelial cell repopulation following ischemia/repurfusion injury in rat liver transplantation. Hepatology Nov. 2007 In press.
