Prof. Oscar Lee’s first important research achievement was the discovery of differentiation potential of stem cells from mesodermal origin into hepatocytes of endodermal origin, and being the first to design a novel 2-step protocol to induce hepatic differentiation of MSCs, and have obtained two US patents for this finding (US 8062632B2, US8216839B2). I have demonstrated that MSC transplantation effectively promotes liver regeneration, reverses liver damage, and reduces mortality in mice. Moreover, I have also developed a unique three-step protocol that effectively induces hepatic differentiation of iPS cells, and have secured one US and one TW patent (US9732323B2, TWI449789B). My research group has also adopted a novel method of cryo-chemical decellularization of the whole liver which opens a new area of MSCs-based functional hepatic tissue engineering.

  1. Lee CW, Chen YF, Wu HH, Lee OK*. Jan 2018. Historical Perspectives and Advances in the Mesenchymal Stem Cell Research for the Treatment of Liver Diseases. Gastroenterology 154(1):46-56.
  2. Lee CW, Huang WC, Huang HD, Huang YH, Ho JH, Yang MH, Yang VW, Lee OK*. Jul 2017. DNA methyltransferases modulate hepatogenic lineage plasticity of mesenchymal stromal cells. Stem Cell Reports 9(1):247-263.
  3. Jiang WC, Cheng YH, Yen MH, Chang Yin, Yang VW, Lee OK*. Apr. 2014. Cryo-chemical decellularization of the whole liver for mesenchymal stem cells-based functional hepatic tissue engineering. Biomaterials 35(11):3607-3617
  4. Chen YF, Tseng CY, Wang HW, Kuo HC, Yang VW, Lee OK*. Apr. 2012. Rapid generation of mature hepatocyte-like cells from human induced pluripotent stem cells by an efficient three-step protocol. Hepatology 55(4):1193-1203
  5. Kuo TK, Hung SP, Chuang CH, Chen CT, Shih YV, Fang SY, Yang VW, Lee OK*. Jun. 2008. Stem cell therapy for liver disease: Parameters governing the success of using bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. Gastroenterology 134(7):2111-2121 (editorial highlight)
  6. Lee KD, Kuo TK, Whang-Peng J*, Chung YF, Lin CT, Chou SH, Chen JR, Chen YP, Lee OK*. Dec. 2004. In vitro hepatic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells. Hepatology 40(6):1275-1284 (editorial highlight)
  7. Lee OK*, Kuo TK, Chen WM, Lee KD, Hsieh SL, Chen TH. Mar. 2004. Isolation of multipotent mesenchymal stem cells from umbilical cord blood. Blood 103(5):1669-1675 (Cover Feature)