| Module Leader |
Professor Perry Bartlett |
| Host Organisation |
Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland
|
Module description
The production of neurons in the hippocampus of adult mammals is now thought to underpin many aspects of memory and learning, especially those associated with spatial and temporal memory. Loss of the neuronal production is thought to lead to impaired memory and dementia in the ageing animal.
Evidence is emerging, also, that impaired neurogenesis in the hippocampus may result in depression. Thus, identifying the molecular mechanisms that regulate hippocampal neurogenesis has the potential to lead to the development of novel therapeutic approaches to treat some of the commonest and costliest diseases facing an ageing population.
Professor Bartlett’s laboratory was first to identify the precursor in the ventricular zone of the forebrain (PNAS 1992, Nature 2001) and most recently they have successfully been able to identify both the stem cell and neuronal progenitor cell in the hippocampus (JNeuroscience 2008). His laboratory have also discovered that a large proportion of these precursors are quiescent, but can be activated to divide and produce neurons by factors released from stimulated hippocampal neurons. Thus, uniquely, they now have the in vitro and in vivo assays available to define the molecular nature of these regulators that can activate this large latent pool and lead to a large neurogenic response. Using gene microarray to identify genes activated by neural stimulation in vitro, the module have found and confirmed several candidate molecules that may be involved in the regulation.
Module Leader biography
Professor Perry Bartlett, FAA is internationally renowned in the field of cellular and molecular neuroscience, as highlighted by his election as a Fellow of the Australian Academy and awarding of an Australian Research Council Federation Fellowship in 2003. Professor Bartlett was appointed Foundation Chair in Molecular Neuroscience at the University of Queensland in 2002, and the inaugural Director of the Queensland Brain Institute in 2003. He initially introduced neuroscience into the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.
His work has led to several paradigm shifts in our understanding of the nervous system. In 1992, his laboratory co-discovered the presence of stem cells in the adult brain that had the capacity to produce new neurons, overturning the long-held belief that neuronal production ceased in early life. In a paper – front cover of Nature, 2001 – his group was first to isolate and characterise these stem cells. His group has gone on to reveal the presence of a latent hippocampal stem cell population that can be activated by synaptic stimulation and give rise to new neurons. These discoveries underpin the current concept of functional stem cells in the adult mammalian brain and the burgeoning interest in their importance to learning and memory and to activating the endogenous stem cells to repair damaged or diseased CNS. Professor Bartlett has published more than 180 peer-reviewed papers, and is the recipient of a number of prizes for neuroscience excellence.
Contact details
Selected publications
- Cohen J, Burne JF, Winter J, Bartlett PF (1986) Retinal ganglion cells lose response to laminin with maturation. Nature 322: 465-467.
- Richards LJ, Kilpatrick TJ, Bartlett PF (1992) De novo generation of neuronal cells from the adult mouse brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 89: 8591-8595.
- Nurcombe V, Ford MD, Wildschut JA, Bartlett PF (1993) Developmental regulation of neural response to FGF-1 and FGF-2 by heparan sulfate proteoglycan. Science 260:103-106
- Kilpatrick TJ, Bartlett PF (1993) Cloning and growth of multipotential neural precursors: requirements for proliferation and differentiation. Neuron 10: 255-265.
- Barrett GL, Bartlett PF (1994) The p75 nerve growth factor receptor mediates survival or death depending on the stage of sensory neuron development. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 91: 6501-6505.
- Rietze RL, Valcanis H, Brooker GF, Thomas T, Voss AK, Bartlett PF (2001) Purification of a pluripotent neural stem cell from the adult mouse brain Nature 412: 736-739 [front cover]
- Turnley AM, Faux CH, Rietze RL, Coonan JR, Bartlett PF (2002) Suppressor of cytokine signalling 2 regulates neuronal differentiation by inhibiting growth hormone signalling. Nature Neuroscience 5: 1155-1162
- Bull ND, Bartlett PF (2005) The adult mouse hippocampal progenitor is neurogenic but not a stem cell. Journal of Neuroscience 25: 10815-10821 [front cover]
- Young KM, Merson TD, Sotthibundhu A, Coulson EJ, Bartlett PF (2007) p75 neurotrophin receptor expression defines a population of BDNF-responsive neurogenic precursor cells. Journal of Neuroscience 27: 5146-5155. Recommended by the Faculty of 1000
- Walker TL,White A, Black DM, Wallace RH, Sah P, Bartlett PF (2008) Latent stem and progenitor cells in the hippocampus are activated by neural excitation. Journal of Neuroscience 28: 5240-5247. (front cover)