Research Program: Transplant Biology & Therapy
Albert D. and Eva J. Corniea Chair
Director, Stem Cell/Gene Therapies
Associate Professor
Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Department of Pediatrics

tolar003@umn.edu
612-625-2912 — office
Lab phone: 612-624-4975
Preferred method of contact: email

Dr. Tolar's clinical profile
(University of Minnesota Physicians website)

Dr. Tolar is originally from the Czech Republic, and received his medical education in Prague at the Charles University. In 1992, he came to the University of Minnesota, where he completed his Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology and Genetics. He is currently an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Blood and Marrow Transplantation, the Albert D. and Eva J. Corniea Chair, and the Director of Stem Cell/Gene Therapies. He is a member of the graduate faculty of the Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology (MICaB) Program, the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and Genetics (MCDB&G) Program, and the Stem Cell Biology (SCB) Program.

Dr. Tolar has a clinical practice through the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital.

Dr. Tolar's interests include educating and mentoring new physicians, and he has been the Director of the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology rotation at the University of Minnesota since 2005.

Dr. Tolar is active in many professional societies, and is a strong advocate for cooperation and communication within the clinical and research communities.

Research Interests

• Integrating clinical observation, molecular biology, immunology, and laboratory research in studying and treating children with lethal diseases—cancer, inborn errors of metabolism, and other devastating genetic disorders.
• Developing cellular therapies (including mesenchymal stromal cells and cellular reprogramming).
• Improving the safety of existing therapies (hematopoietic cell transplantation and its conditioning regimens).
• Investigating mechanisms by which stem cell transplantation is effective in repair of damaged tissues (e.g., heart, skin and brain).

Clinically, Dr. Tolar is currently working on protocols using hematopoietic stem cell transplant as a treatment for Hurler syndrome, Fanconi anemia, recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, dyskeratosis congenita, and severe aplastic anemia.

Selected Publications

Osborn MJ, Defeo AP, Blazar B, Tolar J. Synthetic zinc finger nuclease design and rapid assembly. Hum Gene Ther 2011 [Epub ahead of print].

Tolar J, Blazar BR, Wagner JE. Concise review: Transplantation of human hematopoietic cells for extracellular matrix protein deficiency in epidermolysis bullosa. Stem Cells 2011;29:900-906.

Tolar J, Adair JE, Antoniou M, Bartholomae CC, Becker PS, Blazar BR, Bueren J, Carroll T, Cavazzana-Calvo M, Clapp DW, Dalgleish R, Galy A, Gaspar HB, Hanenberg H, Von Kalle C, Kiem HP, Lindeman D, Naldini L, Navarro S, Renella R, Rio P, Sevilla J, Schmidt M, Verhoeyen E, Wagner JE, Williams DA, Thrasher AJ. Stem Cell Gene Therapy for Fanconi Anemia: Report from the 1st International Fanconi Anemia Gene Therapy Working Group Meeting. Mol Ther 2011[Epub ahead of print].

Bothun ED, Decanini A, Summers CG, Orchard PJ, Tolar J. Outcome of penetrating keratoplasty for mucopolysaccharidoses. Arch Ophthalmol.2011;129:138-144.

Tolar J, Xia L, Riddle M, Lees CJ, Eide C, McElmurry RT, Titeux M, Osborn MJ, Lund TC, Hovnanian A, Wagner JE, Blazar BR. Induced pluripotent stem cells from individuals with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. J Invest Dermatol. 2011; 131:848-856.

Palpant NJ, Bedada FB, Peacock B, Blazar BR, Metzger JM, Tolar J. Cardiac disease in mucopolysaccharidosis type I attributed to catecholaminergic and hemodynamic deficiencies. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2011;300:H356-365.

Tolar J, Park IH, Xia L, Lees CJ, Peacock B, Webber B, McElmurry RT, Eide CR, Orchard PJ, Kyba M, Osborn MJ, Lund TC, Wagner JE, Daley GQ, Blazar BR. Hematopoietic differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells from patients with mucopolysaccharidosis type I (Hurler syndrome). Blood;2011;117:839-847.

Wagner JE, Ishida-Yamamoto A, McGrath JA, Hordinsky M, Keene DR, Woodley DT, Chen M, Osborn MJ, Lund T, Dolan M, Blazar BR*, Tolar J* (* co-last authors) Bone marrow transplantation for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. N Engl J Med. 2010;363:629-639.

Tolar J, Le Blanc K, Keating A, Blazar BR. Concise review: hitting the right spot with mesenchymal cells. Stem Cells 2010;281446-1455.

Dietz A, Orchard P, Baker KS, Giller R, Savage S, Alter B, Tolar J. Disease-specific hematopoietic cell transplantation: nonmyeloablative conditioning regimen for dyskeratosis congenita. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2010;46:98-104.

Tolar J, Hippen KL, Blazar BR. Immune regulatory cells in umbilical cord blood: T regulatory cells and mesenchymal stromal cells. Brit J Haematol. 2009;147:200-2006.

Highfill SL, Kelly RM, O'Shaughnessy MJ, Zhou Q, Xia L, Panoskaltsis-Mortari A, Taylor PA, Tolar J*, Blazar BR* (*co-last authors). Multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPC) can suppress graft-versus-host disease via prostaglandin E2 synthesis and only if localized to sites of allopriming. Blood. 2009;114:693-701.

Tolar J, Ishida-Yamamoto A, Riddle M, McElmurry RT, Osborn M, Xia L, Lund T, Slattery C, Uitto J, Christiano AM, Wagner JE, Blazar BR. Amelioration of epidermolysis bullosa by transfer of wild-type bone marrow cells. Blood. 2000;113:1167-1174.

Tolar J, Grewal SS, Bjoraker, KJ, Whitley CB, Shapiro EG, Charnas L, Orchard PJ: Combination of enzyme replacement and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation as therapy for Hurler syndrome. Bone Marrow Transplant 2008;41:531-535.

Tolar J, Orchard PJ, Bjoraker KJ, Ziegler RS, Shapiro EG, Charnas L. N-acetyl-L-cysteine improves outcome of advanced cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2007;39:211-215.

Tolar J, Wang X, Braunlin E, McElmurry RT, Nakamura Y, Bell S, Xia L, Zhang J, Hu Q, Panoskaltsis-Mortari A, Zhang J, Blazar BR: The host immune response is essential for the beneficial effect of adult stem cells after myocardial ischemia. Exp Hem 35(4):682-90 (2007).

Tolar J, Nauta AJ, Osborn MJ, Panoskaltsis-Mortari A, McElmurry RT, Bell S, Xia L, Zhou N, Riddle M, Schroeder TM, Westendorf JJ, McIvor RS, Hogendoom PCW, Szuhai K, Oseth L, Hirsch B, Yant SR, Kay MA, Peister A, Prockop DJ, Fibbe WE, Blazar BR: Sarcoma derived from cultured mesenchymal stem cells. Stem Cells 25(2):371-9 (2006).

Tolar J, O'shaughnessy MJ, Panoskaltsis-Mortari A, McElmurry RT, Bell S, Riddle M, McIvor RS, Yant SR, Kay MA, Krause D, Verfaillie CM, Blazar BR. Host factors that impact the biodistribution and persistence of multipotent adult progenitor cells. Blood. 2006; 107:4182-8.

Tolar J, Osborn M, Bell S, McElmurry R, Xia L, Riddle M, Panoskaltsis-Mortari A, Jiang Y, McIvor R, Contag C, Yant S, Kay M, Verfaillie C, Blazar B. Real time in vivo imaging of stem cells following transgenesis by transposition. Mol Ther. 2005;12:42-8.

Tolar J, Teitelbaum SL, Orchard P. Molecular etiology of human osteopetrosis. N Eng J Med. 2004;351:2839-49.