William James Bowers, Ph.D.

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The Bowers laboratory is interested in assessing the contribution of inflammation in the context of Alzheimers disease (AD) pathophysiology. Novel transgenic modeling and gene transfer-based methodologies are being employed to experimentally control the expression and/or activity of potent inflammatory cytokines/chemokines due to their purported role(s) in brain inflammation and neurodegeneration. Elucidating the role of inflammation in the AD pathogenic cascade will undoubtedly result in the development of novel diagnostic methodologies and stage-specific therapeutics. The laboratorys line of research addresses both the role of inflammation temporally and spatially in pathogenesis as well as examines the interplay between disease-modifying therapies and inflammation to either slow or exacerbate neurodegeneration. The laboratory also develops novel vaccines and therapeutics based upon the Herpes simplex virus (HSV) amplicon vector platform for future clinical implementation. Amplicon vectors are attractive because they may be manipulated to express virtually any combination of genes and possess the largest transgene capacity of any virus vector in current use. The laboratory continues to refine amplicon-based therapeutics in preclinical disease models and is currently engaged in translation of amplicon-based therapies for Phase I clinical trial evaluation. The laboratory has recently adapted the amplicon vector platform for efficient and long-term molecular manipulation of neural stem cells during embryogenesis in situ, thus providing a novel and robust means for gene replacement/repair in neurodegenerative diseases arising during early mammalian development.

Current Appointments

• Associate Professor - Department of Neurology, Center for Neural Development & Disease (SMD)
• Associate Professor - Department of Pharmacology and Physiology (SMD)
• Associate Professor - Department of Microbiology and Immunology (SMD)

Education
BS Biotechnology	Rochester Inst Technology	1990
MS Microbiology	University of Rochester	1992
PhD Microbiology	University of Rochester	1995

Post-Doctoral Training & Residency
Improvement of herpes simplex virus amplicon vectors for therapeutic gene delivery to the CNS	1995 - 1998

Lab Description

Dissecting the dynamic interplay between inflammation and Alzheimer's disease pathophysiology using novel transgenic modeling and immunotherapy.

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Lab Website

http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/cndd/research-labs/bowers/

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Recent Journal Articles
Showing the 5 most recent journal articles. (70 available)
Desai MK; Sudol KL; Janelsins MC; Mastrangelo MA; Frazer ME; Bowers WJ. "Triple-transgenic Alzheimer's disease mice exhibit region-specific abnormalities in brain myelination patterns prior to appearance of amyloid and tau pathology." Glia. 2009; 57(1):54-65.
Federoff HJ; Chiu YG; Bowers WJ; Lim ST; Ryan DA. "Effects of HSV amplicon transduction on murine dendritic cells." Human gene therapy. 2009; Epub 2009 Feb 06.
Bancos S; Cao Q; Bowers WJ; Crispe IN. "Dysfunctional memory CD8+ T cells after priming in the absence of the cell cycle regulator E2F4." Cellular immunology. 2009; Epub 2009 Mar 21.
Sudol KL; Mastrangelo MA; Narrow WC; Frazer ME; Levites YR; Golde TE; Federoff HJ; Bowers WJ. "Generating Differentially Targeted Amyloid-beta Specific Intrabodies as a Passive Vaccination Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease." Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy. 2009; Epub 2009 Jul 28.
Park KM; Yule DI; Bowers WJ. "Tumor necrosis factor-alpha-mediated regulation of the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor promoter." The Journal of biological chemistry. 2009; 284(40):27557-66. Epub 2009 Aug 07.