Thomas Lozito, PhD

Dr. Thomas Lozito is currently an Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at USC. Dr. Lozito received his Ph.D. in Stem Cell Biology at the Graduate Partnership Program University of Cambridge/NIH. His research studies limb and tail regeneration in salamanders and lizards with the long-term goal of developing strategies for improving mammalian regeneration. He is particularly interested in what accounts for divergent regenerative capabilities among vertebrates, and his lab at USC is one of the only labs in the world that studies both lizard and salamander tissue regeneration.

• Repurposing of a gill gene regulatory program for outer ear evolution Nature. 2025 Jan 09. . View in PubMed
• Long-range Atoh1 enhancers maintain competency for hair cell regeneration in the inner ear Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024 Dec 17; 121(51):e2418098121. . View in PubMed
• Chromosome-level genome assembly and annotation of the crested gecko, Correlophus ciliatus, a lizard incapable of tail regeneration GigaByte. 2024; 2024:gigabyte140. . View in PubMed
• Single-cell analysis of lizard blastema fibroblasts reveals phagocyte-dependent activation of Hedgehog-responsive chondrogenesis Nat Commun. 2023 08 10; 14(1):4489. . View in PubMed
• Inhibition of a signaling modality within the gp130 receptor enhances tissue regeneration and mitigates osteoarthritis Sci Transl Med. 2023 03 22; 15(688):eabq2395. . View in PubMed
• Lizard Blastema Organoid Model Recapitulates Regenerated Tail Chondrogenesis J Dev Biol. 2022 Feb 10; 10(1). . View in PubMed
• Introducing dorsoventral patterning in adult regenerating lizard tails with gene-edited embryonic neural stem cells Nat Commun. 2021 10 14; 12(1):6010. . View in PubMed
• Single Cell Sequencing Analysis of Lizard Phagocytic Cell Populations and Their Role in Tail Regeneration J Immunol Regen Med. 2020 Jun; 8. . View in PubMed
• Efficient in vivo bone formation by BMP-2 engineered human mesenchymal stem cells encapsulated in a projection stereolithographically fabricated hydrogel scaffold Stem Cell Res Ther. 2019 08 14; 10(1):254. . View in PubMed
• Differences in neural stem cell identity and differentiation capacity drive divergent regenerative outcomes in lizards and salamanders Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 08 28; 115(35):E8256-E8265. . View in PubMed
• TISSUE REPAIR AND EPIMORPHIC REGENERATION: AN OVERVIEW Curr Pathobiol Rep. 2018 Mar; 6(1):61-69. . View in PubMed
• Projection Stereolithographic Fabrication of BMP-2 Gene-activated Matrix for Bone Tissue Engineering Sci Rep. 2017 09 12; 7(1):11327. . View in PubMed
• Lizard tail regeneration as an instructive model of enhanced healing capabilities in an adult amniote Connect Tissue Res. 2017 Mar; 58(2):145-154. . View in PubMed
• Cartilage and Muscle Cell Fate and Origins during Lizard Tail Regeneration Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2017; 5:70. . View in PubMed
• Lizard tail skeletal regeneration combines aspects of fracture healing and blastema-based regeneration Development. 2016 08 15; 143(16):2946-57. . View in PubMed
• Catabolic effects of endothelial cell-derived microparticles on disc cells: Implications in intervertebral disc neovascularization and degeneration J Orthop Res. 2016 08; 34(8):1466-74. . View in PubMed
• Lizard tail regeneration: regulation of two distinct cartilage regions by Indian hedgehog Dev Biol. 2015 Mar 15; 399(2):249-62. . View in PubMed
• Endothelial and cancer cells interact with mesenchymal stem cells via both microparticles and secreted factors J Cell Mol Med. 2014 Dec; 18(12):2372-84. . View in PubMed
• Three-dimensional osteogenic and chondrogenic systems to model osteochondral physiology and degenerative joint diseases Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2014 Sep; 239(9):1080-95. . View in PubMed
• Stem cell-based microphysiological osteochondral system to model tissue response to interleukin-1ß Mol Pharm. 2014 Jul 07; 11(7):2203-12. . View in PubMed
• Human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells display enhanced clonogenicity but impaired differentiation with hypoxic preconditioning Stem Cells Transl Med. 2014 Feb; 3(2):241-54. . View in PubMed
• Human mesenchymal stem cells generate a distinct pericellular zone of MMP activities via binding of MMPs and secretion of high levels of TIMPs Matrix Biol. 2014 Feb; 34:132-43. . View in PubMed
• Effects of secreted factors in culture medium of annulus fibrosus cells on microvascular endothelial cells: elucidating the possible pathomechanisms of matrix degradation and nerve in-growth in disc degeneration Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2014 Feb; 22(2):344-54. . View in PubMed
• Wdpcp, a PCP protein required for ciliogenesis, regulates directional cell migration and cell polarity by direct modulation of the actin cytoskeleton PLoS Biol. 2013 Nov; 11(11):e1001720. . View in PubMed
• Three-dimensional osteochondral microtissue to model pathogenesis of osteoarthritis Stem Cell Res Ther. 2013; 4 Suppl 1:S6. . View in PubMed
• Endothelial cell microparticles act as centers of matrix metalloproteinsase-2 (MMP-2) activation and vascular matrix remodeling J Cell Physiol. 2012 Feb; 227(2):534-49. . View in PubMed
• Differentiation and regeneration potential of mesenchymal progenitor cells derived from traumatized muscle tissue J Cell Mol Med. 2011 Nov; 15(11):2377-88. . View in PubMed
• Mesenchymal stem cells inhibit both endogenous and exogenous MMPs via secreted TIMPs J Cell Physiol. 2011 Feb; 226(2):385-96. . View in PubMed
• Mesenchymal stem cell modification of endothelial matrix regulates their vascular differentiation J Cell Biochem. 2009 Jul 01; 107(4):706-13. . View in PubMed
• Human mesenchymal stem cells express vascular cell phenotypes upon interaction with endothelial cell matrix J Cell Biochem. 2009 Jul 01; 107(4):714-22. . View in PubMed
• Investigating the neural basis of the auditory continuity illusion J Cogn Neurosci. 2005 Aug; 17(8):1275-92. . View in PubMed

• Chuong, Cheng-Ming
• Chai, Yang
• McMahon, Andrew
• Lieberman, Jay
• Murry, Charles
• Wang, Jeffrey