Pröschel Lab
Christoph Pröschel
Ph.D. 1995 University College London
Assistant Professor of Genetics
Primary Appointment: Department of Biomedical Genetics (BMG)
Research Overview
Within the context of our work on glial progenitor cells, we are now focusing on the different stages of astrocytic differentiation and the role of astrocytes as critical modulators in response to injury or stress. The importance of understanding this process is emphasized by our discovery that the generation of mature astrocytes may be impaired in Vanishing White Matter leukodystrophy (Nat Med. 2005 Mar;11(3):277-83.). The ability to study astrocyte development in normal and pathological conditions, provides a unique opportunity to test the utility of glial precursor cells and their astrocytic progeny for cell transplantation therapy in genetic CNS disease paradigms, such as Vanishing White Matter leukodystrophy and spinal cord and traumatic brain injury.
More recently we have identified distinct astrocyte populations that demonstrate different functional properties with respect to their ability to promote injury repair upon transplantation into the injured nervous system. While one type shows little benefit and may even cause neuropathic pain syndrome, the other remodels the injured host tissue, enables axon outgrowth and extensive functional recovery (J Biol 2006 Apr 27, 5(3):7; J Biol 2008 Sep 19;7(7):245). As a prerequisite for the transition to the clinic we are analyzing the factors secreted by these astrocytes and have now derived homologous astrocyte populations from human glial precursors. (PLoS ONE, in press).
Projects
- Lineage restriction and the astroglial cell fate
- Precursor cells and disease
- Precursor cells and tissue repair paradigms
Recent Publications
Davies SJA, Shih C-H, Noble M, Mayer-Proschel M, Davies JE, et al. 2011 Transplantation of Specific Human Astrocytes Promotes Functional Recovery after Spinal Cord Injury. PLoS ONE 6(3): e17328. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017328
Davies JE, Proschel C, Zhang N, Noble M, Mayer-Proschel M and Davies SJ Transplanted astrocytes derived from BMP or CNTF treated glial restricted precursors have opposite effects on recovery and allodynia after spinal cord injury. J Biol. 2008 Sep 19;7(7):24. View article in PubMed
Li, Z., Dong, T., Pröschel, C. and Noble, M. Chemically diverse toxicants converge on Fyn and c-Cbl to disrupt precursor cell function. (2007) PLoS Biology Feb, 5(2):35. View article in PubMed
Davies JE, Huang C, Proschel C, Noble M, Mayer-Proschel M, Davies SJ. Astrocytes derived from glial-restricted precursors promote spinal cord repair. (2006) J Biol. Apr 27 5(3):7. View article in PubMed
More papers: 
Graduate Program Affiliations
Contact
Christoph Pröschel
University of Rochester
Box 633
601 Elmwood Ave.
Rochester, NY 14642
KMRB 2-9629
Phone: (585) 273-5368
Fax: (585) 273-1450
chris_proschel@urmc.
rochester.edu
Lab Members
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Michelle Cooney Lacagnina |
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Chung-Hsuan (Richard) Shih |
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Thomas Osinksi |
