Edward Scott Professor & Program Director Telephone: (352) 846-1149 Facsimile: (352) 392-5802 e-mail: escott@ufl.edu Web: http://stemcell.ufl.edu/scottlab/

Laboratory Focus:

The Scott lab uses murine models to investigate the regulation of Stem cell differentiation during the early stages of blood cell development. We have recently shown that adult HSC can act as functional hemangioblasts in response to ischemic injury. This means that an adult HSC can make both blood and new blood vessels. We have followed up our initial observation by showing that human stem cells have the same capacity, thus validating our mouse model. We have also demonstrated that adult bone marrow is capable of making new neural tissue in human BMT recipients with no evidence for cell fusion. We have extended this study to examine colon cancer in BMT recipients and have once again observed donor HSC forming epithelial cells within the cancerous lesions.

The ongoing efforts of the lab are designed to define the underlying mechanisms of the stem cell plasticity we have observed. We have engineered murine and in vitro organ culture models that allow us to define the genes and growth factors involved in promoting plasticity. The combination of mouse genetics, cell biology, advanced imaging techniques, with some exciting new collaborations with Materials Science lend hope to our efforts of developing a true stem cell based regenerative therapy for diseases such as diabetes, neural degenerative diseases, and cancer.

Selected Publications:

Jason M. Butler, Steven M. Guthrie, Mehmet Koc, Aqeela Afzal, Sergio Caballero, H. Logan Brooks, Robert N. Mames, Mark S. Segal, Maria B. Grant, and Edward W. Scott
SDF-1 is both necessary and sufficient to promote proliferative retinopathy
J. Clin. Invest. 115:86-93 (2005).

Christopher R Cogle, Anthony T Yachnis, Eric D Laywell, Dani S Zander, John R Wingard, Dennis A Steindler, Edward W Scott
Bone marrow transdifferentiation in brain after transplantation: a retrospective study
Lancet Vol 363, May 1, 2004

Maria B. Grant, W. Stratford May, Sergio Caballero, Gary A.J. Brown, Steven M. Guthrie, Robert N. Mames, Barry J. Byrne, Timothy Vaught, Polyxenie E. Spoerri, Ammon B. Peck & Edward W. Scott
Adult hematopoietic stem cells provide functional hemangioblast activity during retinal neovascularization
Nature Medicine, Vol. 8, No. 6, June 2002

Scott NIH Biosketch