Edgar N. Tafaleng, PhD

Research Assistant Professor of Pathology
Education & Training
BS - 2004, University of the Philippines - Diliman
PhD - 2015, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Research Interests

Dr. Tafaleng’s ongoing research focuses on the use of patient-derived cells to study the pathogenesis of hepatic diseases and to develop novel therapies for such conditions. He is actively involved in modeling liver-based metabolic disorders using iPSC-derived hepatocytes and in developing genetic reprogramming strategies to rescue hepatocyte function in cirrhotic hepatocytes from patients with end-stage liver disease.

Representative Publications

Journal Articles and Reviews

  • Tafaleng EN*, Mukherjee A*, Bell A, Morita K, Guzman-Lepe J, Haep N, Florentino RM, Diaz-Aragon R, Frau C, Ostrowska A, Schultz JR, Martini PGV, Soto-Gutierrez A, Fox IJ. Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4 alpha 2 Messenger RNA Reprograms Liver-Enriched Transcription Factors and Functional Proteins in End-Stage Cirrhotic Human Hepatocytes. Hepatol Commun. 2021 Nov;5(11):1911-1926. doi: 10.1002/hep4.1763. Epub 2021 Jul 1. PMID: 34558820. PMCID: PMC8557308. *These authors share co-first authorship
  • Tafaleng EN, Malizio MR, Fox IJ, and Soto-Gutierrez A. Synthetic human livers for modeling metabolic diseases. Curr Opin Gastroenterol. 2021 May 1;37(3):224-230. doi: 10.1097/MOG.0000000000000726. PMID: 33769378. PMCID: PMC8223234
  • Florentino RM, Fraunhoffer NA, Morita K, Takeishi K, Ostrowska A, Achreja A, Animasahun O, Haep N, Arazov S, Agarwal N, Collin de l’Hortet A, Guzman-Lepe J, Tafaleng EN, Mukherjee A, Troy K, Banerjee S, Paranjpe S, Michalopoulos GK, Bell A, Nagrath D, Hainer SJ, Fox IJ, Soto-Gutierrez, A. Cellular Location of HNF4α is Linked With Terminal Liver Failure in Humans. Hepatol Commun. Apr 21;4(6):859-875. doi: 10.1002/hep4.1505. eCollection 2020 Jun. PMID: 32490322. PMCID: PMC7262291
  • Soltys KA*, Setoyama K*, Tafaleng EN*, Soto Gutiérrez A, Fong J, Fukumitsu K, Nishikawa T, Nagaya M, Sada R, Haberman K, Gramignoli R, Dorko K, Tahan V, Dreyzin A, Baskin K, Crowley JJ, Quader MA, Deutsch M, Ashokkumar C, Shneider BL, Squires RH, Ranganathan S, Reyes-Mugica M, Dobrowolski SF, Mazariegos G, Elango R, Stolz DB, Strom SC, Vockley G, Roy-Chowdhury J, Cascalho M, Guha C, Sindhi R, Platt JL, Fox IJ. Host conditioning and rejection monitoring in hepatocyte transplantation in humans. Journal of Hepatology. 2017 May;66(5):987-1000. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2016.12.017. Epub 2016 Dec 24. PMID: 28027971. PMCID: PMC5395353. *These authors share co-first authorship
  • Tafaleng EN, Chakraborty S, Han B, Hale P, Wu W, Soto-Gutierrez A, Feghali-Bostwick CA, Wilson AA, Kotton DN, Nagaya M, Strom SC, Roy-Chowdhury J, Stolz DB, Perlmutter DH, Fox IJ. Induced pluripotent stem cells model personalized variations in liver disease resulting from α1-antitrypsin deficiency. Hepatology. 2015 Jul;62(1):147-57. doi: 10.1002/hep.27753. Epub 2015 Apr 13. PMID: 25690322. PMCID: PMC4482790
  • Chen Y, Li Y, Wang X, Zhang W, Sauer V, Chang CJ, Han B, Tchaikovskaya T, Avsar Y, Tafaleng E, Madhusudana Girija S, Tar K, Polgar Z, Strom S, Bouhassira EE, Guha C, Fox IJ, Roy-Chowdhury J, Roy-Chowdhury N. Amelioration of Hyperbilirubinemia in Gunn Rats after Transplantation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Hepatocytes. Stem Cell Reports. 2015 Jul 14;5(1):22-30. doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2015.04.017. Epub 2015 Jun 11. PMID: 26074313. PMCID: PMC4618248
  • Hansel MC, Gramignoli R, Blake W, Davila J, Skvorak K, Dorko K, Tahan V, Lee BR, Tafaleng E, Guzman-Lepe J, Soto-Gutierrez A, Fox IJ, Strom SC. Increased reprogramming of human fetal hepatocytes compared with adult hepatocytes in feeder-free conditions. Cell Transplant. 2014 Jan;23(1):27-38. doi: 10.3727/096368912X662453. Epub 2013 Feb 4. PMID: 23394081. PMCID: PMC3773298
  • Soto-Gutierrez A, Tafaleng E, Kelly V, Roy-Chowdhury J, Fox IJ. Modeling and therapy of human liver diseases using induced pluripotent stem cells: how far have we come? Hepatology. 2011 Feb;53(2):708-11. doi: 10.1002/hep.24143. PMID: 21274892. PMCID: PMC3033754
  • Yagi H, Tafaleng E, Nagaya M, Hansel MC, Strom SC, Fox IJ, Soto-Gutierrez A. Embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells as a model for liver disease. Crit Rev Biomed Eng. 2009;37(4-5):377-98. doi: 10.1615/critrevbiomedeng.v37.i4-5.40. PMID: 20528732. PMCID: PMC3700621

Book Chapters

  • Tafaleng EN, Watson A, Fox IJ. Normal Hepatocyte Function and Mechanisms of Dysfunction. In: Walker's Pediatric Gastrointestinal Disease: Physiology, Diagnosis, Management 6th Edition (Eds. Kleinman RE, Goulet OJ, Mieli-Vergani G, Sanderson IR, Sherman PM, Shneider BL). 2018. People's Medical Publishing House-USA. pp. 165-178. ISBN: 978-1607951810.
  • Khan Z, Tafaleng EN, Soltys, K, Fox IJ. Congenital and acquired diseases of the liver. In: Translational gastroenterology: organogenesis to disease (Eds. Gumucio D, Samuelson L, Spence J). 2014. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, NY. pp. 165-178. ISBN: 978-1-118-49287-1.