Matthias Lütolf

Nationality: Swiss

EPFL SV IBI-SV UPLUT
AI 1208 (Bâtiment AI)
Station 15
1015 Lausanne

Expertise

Bioengineering, Stem Cells, Biomaterials, Tissue Engineering, Microfluidics, Single Cell Analysis, High-Throughput Screening

Mission

Research in the Lutolf lab is at the interface of stem cell biology and bioengineering to gain fundamental insight into how complex three-dimensional (3D) microenvironments, termed niches, control the behavior of stem cells. We exploit this know-how to develop novel technologies for maintaining stem cells in vitro and for controlling their differentiation and self-organization into 3D functional tissues (organoids).
Matthias Lutolf is Full Professor at EPFL's Institute of Bioengineering, with a cross appointment in the Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering. Lutolf was trained as a Materials Engineer at ETH Zurich where he also carried out his PhD studies (with Jeffrey Hubbell) that were awarded with an ETH medal. He continued his research training as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Stem Cell Biology (with Helen Blau) at Stanford University. He has served as the Director of the Institute of Bioengineering from 2014 to 2018. Lutolf is an internationally recognized leader in the fields of stem cell bioengineering and tissue engineering. His research program uniquely combines stem cell biology with engineering principles and quantitative thinking. His team, composed of engineers, chemists, physicists, cell and developmental biologists, strives to develop technologies that have true biological and medicinal function and applicability. Lutolf's work has led to more than 110 peer-reviewed scientific publications, many of which published in highly reputed journals, more than 25 patents, and the commercialization of several products. Current research in the Lutolf lab is focused on the bioengineering of miniature tissues, termed organoids, that are generated from self-organizing stem cells.

Publications

http://scholar.google.ch/citations?user=8cetpGIAAAAJ

Awards

Membership to European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)

European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)

2018

Selected publications

Designing materials to direct stem-cell fate

Lutolf, M.P.*, Gilbert, P.M., and Blau, H.M.*
Published in Nature, 462, 433-441 (2009) in

Capturing complex protein gradients on biomimetic hydrogels for cell-based assays

Cosson, S., Kobel, S. and Lutolf, M.P.
Published in Advanced Functional Materials, 19 (21), 3411-3419 (2009) in

Biomaterials: Spotlight on hydrogels

M.P. Lutolf
Published in Nature Materials, 8, 451 - 453 (2009) in

Artificial stem cell niches

Lutolf, M.P.* and Blau, H.M.*
Published in Advanced Materials, 21 (32), 3255-3268 (2009) in

Micropatterning of hydrogels by soft embossing

S. Kobel, M. Limacher, S, Gobaa, T. Laroche, M.P. Lutolf*
Published in Langmuir, 25 (15), 8774�8779 (2009) in

Tailoring hydrogel degradation and drug release via neighboring amino acid-controlled ester hydrolysis

Y.S. Jo, F. Gantz, J.A. Hubbell, M.P. Lutolf*
Published in Soft Matter, 5, 440-446 (2009) in

Artificial ECM: expanding the cell biology toolbox in 3D

M.P. Lutolf
Published in Integr. Biol., 1, 235 - 241 (2009) in

Perturbation of Single Hematopoietic Stem Cell Fates in Artificial Niches

Lutolf, M.P.*, Doyonnas, R., Havenstrite, K., Koleckar, K., Blau, H.M.*
Published in Integr. Biol., 1, 59 (2009) in

Enhancing the Reliability and Throughput of Neurosphere Culture on Hydrogel Microwell Arrays, Stem Cells

M. Cordey, M. Limacher, S. Kobel, V. Taylor, M.P. Lutolf
Published in Stem Cells, doi:10.1634/stemcells.2008-0498 in

Biomolecular Hydrogels Formed and Degraded via Site-Specific Enzymatic Reactions

M. Ehrbar, S.C. Rizzi, R.G. Schoenmakers, B. San Miguel, J.A. Hubbell, F.E. Weber, and M.P. Lutolf
Published in Biomacromolecules, 8 (10), 3000 -3007 (2007) in

Enzymatic formation of modular cell-instructive fibrin analogs for tissue engineering

M. Ehrbar, S.C. Rizzi, R. Hlushchuk, V. Djonov, A.H. Zisch, J.A. Hubbell, F.E. Weber, and M.P. Lutolf
Published in Biomaterials 28(26), 3856-3866 (2007) in

Mechanisms of 3-D migration and matrix remodeling of fibroblasts within artificial ECMs

G.P. Raeber, M.P. Lutolf*, and J.A. Hubbell
Published in Acta Biomater. 2007 Jun 13; [Epub ahead of print] in

Enzymatic formation of modular cell-instructive synthetic fibrin analogs for tissue engineering

M. Ehrbar, S.C. Rizzi, R. Hlushchuk, V. Djonov, A.H. Zisch, J.A. Hubbell, F.E. Weber, and M.P. Lutolf
Published in Biomaterials, 28(26), 3856-3866 (2007) in

Synthetic biomaterials as instructive extracellular microenvironments for morphogenesis in tissue engineering

M.P. Lutolf* and J.A. Hubbell*
Published in Nature Biotechnology, 23 (1): 47-55 (2005) in

Molecularly engineered PEG hydrogels: a novel model system for proteolytically mediated cell migration

G.P. Raeber, M.P. Lutolf, and J.A. Hubbell
Published in Biophysical Journal, Aug; 89 (2): 1374-1388 (2005) in

Cell-demanded release of VEGF from synthetic, biointeractive cell-ingrowth matrices for vascularized tissue growth

A.H. Zisch*, M.P. Lutolf*, M. Ehrbar, G.P. Raeber, V. Djonov, D. Bezuidenhout, N. Davis, H. Schmoekel, P. Zilla, and J.A. Hubbell (* equal contribution)
Published in FASEB 17(15), 2260-2262 (2003) in

Repair of bone defects using synthetic mimetics of collagenous extracellular matrices

M.P. Lutolf, F.E. Weber, H. Schmoekel, J.C. Schense, T. Kohler, R. Mueller, and J.A. Hubbell
Published in Nature Biotechnology 21, 513-518 (2003) in

Synthetic MMP-sensitive hydrogels for the conduction of tissue regeneration: Engineering cell-invasion characteristics

M.P. Lutolf, J.L. Lauer-Fields, H. Schmoekel, A.T. Metters, F.E. Weber, H. Nagase, G.B. Fields, and J.A. Hubbell
Published in Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100 (9), 5413-5418 (2003) in

Cell-responsive synthetic hydrogels

M.P. Lutolf, G.P. Raeber, A.H. Zisch, N. Tirelli, and J.A. Hubbell
Published in Advanced Materials 15 (11), 888-892 (2003) in