Marcus O. Muench, PhD
Research Interests
My laboratory studies the development of hepatic cell lineages during human fetal development. Research projects delineate the hierarchy of hepatic cells, progenitors and stem cells during fetal life with the aim of determining the cell-cell interactions and molecular mechanisms that control the growth, differentiation and survival of these cells. Our clinical goal is to identify factors that facilitate in utero stem cell transplantation, which is being studied as a means to treat hepatic birth defects. Additionally, research in the laboratory is focused on the consequences of maternal chimerism on the normal development of the fetus. In rare circumstances maternal cells that enter the fetus may be the cause of some childhood diseases. We have documented maternal chimerism in biliary atresia and are studying the link between chimerism and the etiology of this disease.
Selected Publications
- Suskind DL, Rosenthal P, Heyman MB, Kong D, Magrane G, Baxter-Lowe LA, Muench MO. Maternal microchimerism in the liver of patients with biliary atresia. BMC Gastroenterol 2004;31:4-14.
- Muench MO, Ohkubo T, Smith CA, Suskind DL, Bárcena A. Maintenance of proliferative capacity and retroviral transduction efficiency of human fetal CD38-CD34++ stem cells. Stem Cells Dev 2006;15:97-108.
- Chen JC, Chang ML, Muench MO. Persistence of allografts in the peritoneal cavity after prenatal transplantation in mice. Transfusion 2008;48:553-560.
- Chen JC, Chang ML, Huang SF, Chang PY, Muench MO, Fu RH, Ou LS, Kuo ML. Prenatal tolerance induction: Relationship between cell dose, marrow T-cells, chimerism and tolerance. Cell Transplant 2008, in press.
- Associate Professor
- Laboratory Medicine
- Associate Investigator, Blood Systems Research Institute
Research Theme
- Progenitor Cells, Growth and Development
Contact Information
- Marcus.Muench@
ucsf.edu - Phone: (415) 901-0747
- Fax: (415) 567-5899
- Blood Systems Research Institute
- 270 Masonic Ave.
- San Francisco, CA. 94118