Contact
Primary Investigator
Dr. Ricardo L. Pastori, Ph.D.
Mailing Address
Research Professor in the Department of Medicine
Diabetes Research Institute
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
1450 NW 10th Ave
Miami, FL 33136
Research Focus
Dr. Pastori’s overall research interests focus on the development of translational molecular strategies for the advancement of type 1 diabetes treatments, including regenerative approaches for pancreatic islets and beta-cells. Our group pioneered protein transduction (PT) applications for islets, a technology that is based on small cell-penetrating peptides, to deliver proteins into islet cells, thus bypassing the need for genetic modifications occurring in gene therapy. This technology was used to protect pancreatic islets against apoptosis induced by stress during islet isolation, subsequent culture and transplantation (Embury et al., Diabetes 2001; Pastori et al., Transplantation 2004) and to induce pancreatic differentiation in vivo (Domínguez-Bendala et al. PlosOne 2011). Dr. Pastori’s contributions to the field of microRNAs pioneered the understanding of miRNAs regulation in beta cells, both in islets and during murine and human pancreatic embryonic development (Bravo Egaña et al., BBRC 2008; Correa-Medina et al., Gene Expr Patterns 2009, Rosero et al., BMC Genomics 2010, Klein et al., PlosOne 2013).
Since 2011, the teams led by Dr. Ricardo L. Pastori and Domínguez-Bendala (Director, Stem Cell & Pancreatic Development/Regeneration) operate as one highly collaborative unit in the field of pancreatic cell regeneration. In particular, we have focused our joint efforts on the induction of human pancreatic ductal BMP-responsive progenitor cells, which we have identified and characterized by lineage tracing (Klein et al., Diabetes, 2015; Qadir et al., Cell Rep, 2018); single-cell RNAseq and transplantation of sorted populations (Qadir et al., PNAS, 2020); and organotypic culture (human pancreatic slices) techniques (Qadir et al., Nature Comms, 2020). Our seminal contribution to the development of the latter has enabled for the first time the real-time monitoring of b-cell regeneration in an in vitro setting that resembles the native organ. Our research pipeline is expected to help us realize the full potential of single-cell transcriptomics to unveil dynamic biological processes, model human pancreatic disease, and, ultimately, enable the development of regenerative therapies for diabetes.