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Noble Lab

Mark D. Noble

Mark D. Noble

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Ph.D. 1977 Stanford University

Professor of Genetics and of Neurobiology and Anatomy

Primary Appointment: Department of Biomedical Genetics (BMG)

Secondary Appointment: Neurobiology & Anatomy (N&A)

Director, UR Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Institute

November 2011 TedX talk

Research Overview

Along with being Director of the University of Rochester Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Institute, I am a member of a three-laboratory team (with fellow University of Rochester faculty members Margot Mayer-Pröschel and Chris Pröschel) that addresses a wide range of areas related to the fields of stem cell medicine. The unifying theme of our research program is a focus on aspects of stem cell biology that are relevant to developing a mature field of stem cell medicine. The field of stem cell biology provides multiple opportunities to enhance the understanding and treatment of a variety of diseases, but we are only in the early stages of understanding how best to build the bridges between laboratory discoveries and clinical opportunities. We are particularly interested in identifying opportunities for bridge building that also extend the fields of stem cell biology and stem cell medicine into new territories.

Some areas of current interest include the following, with still other topics discussed on Margot Mayer-Pröschel’s and Chris Pröschel’s web pages. Clicking on each topic will link you to further information on that area of our work.

Projects

Cell discovery
Glial Progenitor Cells and the Development of Glial Repair StrategiesGlial progenitor cells and the development of glial repair strategies
  1. Oligodendrocyte replacement and repair of demyelinating damage
  2. Development of astrocyte transplantation therapies and the importance of pre-differentiation as a strategy for optimizing CNS repair
  3. Causing harm by transplanting the wrong cell type
Precursor cell dysfunction as a critical component of disease pathogenesis: Precursor cell diseases as a major clinical problem
Bystander diseases: Astrocytic dysfunction as a causal mechanism in neurological disease
Chemotherapy-induced Damage to the CNS as a Precursor Cell DiseaseChemotherapy-induced damage to the CNS as a precursor cell disease
  1. CNS precursor cells are as or more vulnerable than cancer cells to multiple chemotherapeutic agents
  2. Treatment with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) causes a syndrome of delayed CNS degeneration
Cellular and molecular analysis of glioma generation and biology
Precursor cell physiology: Regulation of development, signaling and disease by small changes in intracellular redox status

 

Precursor Cell Physiology
The Redox/Fyn/c-Cbl PathwayThe redox/Fyn/c-Cbl pathway: Environmental toxicants and other pro-oxidative stimuli disrupt progenitor cell function by enhancing degradation of specific receptor tyrosine kinases
Quantitative analysis of precursor cell biology
Stem cell ethics and other interactions between scientists and the public

Recent Publications

Examples of recent research papers related to the efforts of this team include the following, with publications in open-access journals indicated by an asterisk (*).

Dietrich, J., Lacagnina, M., Gass, D., Richfield, E., Mayer-Pröschel, M., Noble, M., Torres, C. and Pröschel, C. (2005) EIF2B5 mutations compromise generation of GFAP+ astrocytes from neural precursors in Vanishing White Matter leukodystrophy Nature Medicine 11, 277-283. View article in PubMed.

* Davies, J. E., Huang C., Proschel, C., Noble, M., Mayer-Proschel, M. and Davies, S. J. (2006) Astrocytes derived from glial-restricted precursors promote spinal cord repair. J Biol. 27;5(3):7 View article.

* Dietrich, J., Han, R., Yang, Y., Mayer-Pröschel, M and Noble, M. (2006) CNS progenitor cells and oligodendrocytes are targets of chemotherapeutic agents in vitro and in vivo. J. Biol. 5:22 View article.

* Li, Z., Dong, T., Pröschel, M. and Noble, M. (2007) Chemically diverse toxicants converge on Fyn and c-Cbl to disrupt precursor cell function. PLoS Biology 5:35 View article.

* Han, R. Yang, Y.M., Dietrich, J., Luebke, A., Mayer-Pröschel, M. and Noble, M. (2008) Systemic 5-fluorouracil treatment causes a syndrome of delayed myelin destruction in the CNS. J. Biol. 7:12 View article.

* Davies, J.A., Pröschel, C., Zhang, N., Noble, M., Mayer-Pröschel, M. and Davies, S.J.A. (2008) Transplanted astrocytes derived from BMP or CNTF treated glial restricted precursors have opposite effects on recovery and allodynia after spinal cord injury. J. Biol. 7:24. View article in Journal of Biology.

Ratan, R.R. and Noble, M. (2009) Novel multi-modal strategies to promote brain and spinal cord injury recovery. 2009 Mar;40(3 Suppl):S130-2. Epub 2008 Dec 8. (DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.108.534933). PMC2655641 View article in PubMed

Hyrien O, Chen R, Mayer-Pröschel M, Noble M. Saddlepoint Approximations to the Moments of Multitype Age-Dependent Branching Processes, with Applications. Biometrics. 2009 Jun 9. [Epub ahead of print] View article in PubMed

*Davies SJ, Shih C, Noble M, Mayer-Proschel M, Davies JE, Proschel C Transplantation of Specific Human Astrocytes Promotes Functional Recovery after Spinal Cord Injury PLoS ONE, in press

More papers:pub med icon

Graduate Program Affiliations