Wise Young Professor II Rutgers University Cell Biology & Neuroscience Director W M Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience Nelson Labs Piscataway. NJ 08854 (732) 445-2061 FAX - 445-2063 wisey@pipeline.com young@biology.rutgers.edu carecure.rutgers.edu sciwire.com

Brain and spinal cord injury research

The W. M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience studies brain and spinal cord injury. using a wide variety of techniques to assess mechanisms and treatments of acute injury. apoptosis. demyelination. degeneration. and dysfunction. These techniques include molecular and genetic analyses of the injury response with custom-made "gene chips". atomic absorption spectroscopy to assess tissue damage. immunohistochemistry and ELISA to assess proteins. and behavioral scoring of motor and sensory deficits in rats. We culture and characterize stem and progenitor cells isolated from embryonic and neonatal rats. transplant these cells to injured brain. spinal cord. and muscles. We study a variety of therapies in the well-standardized IMPACTOR model of rat spinal cord injury. including glucocorticoids and other anti-inflammatory drugs. neurotransmitter receptor blockers. growth factors. novel antioxidants. enzyme inhibitors. cell adhesion molecule molecules. stem and other progenitor cells. ion channel blockers. hormones. and biomaterials

Our main research goals are to discover. test. and develop practical therapies for brain and spinal cord injury. These therapies are aimed at preventing progressive damage in the brain and spinal cord. optimizing the function of surviving axons. remyelination. and regeneration. We collaborate with many laboratories around the world. in order to move therapies quickly from laboratory to clinical trial.

Selected Publications

Mathews, D.J., Sugarman, J., Bok, H., Blass,D.M., Coyle,J.T., Duggan, P., Finkel, J., Greely,H.T., Hillis, A., Hoke, A., Johnson, R., Johnston, M., Kahn, J., Kerr, D., Kurtzberg, J., Liao, S.M., McDonald, J.W., McKhann, G., Nelson,K.B., Rao, M., Regenberg, A., Siegel, A.W., Smith, K., Solter, D., Song, H., Vescovi, A., Young, W., Gearhart, J.D. and Faden, R. (2008) Cell-based interventions for neurologic conditions. Ethical challenges for early human trials. Neurology. 2008 May 7. [Epub ahead of print]

Iseda, T., Okuda, T., Kane-Goldsmith, N., Mathew, M., Ahmed, S., Chang, Y.W., Young, W. and Grumet, M. (2008) Single, high-dose intraspinal injection of chondroitinase reduces glycosaminoglycans in injured spinal cord and promotes corticospinal axonal regrowth after hemisection but not contusion. J Neurotrauma 25: 334-49.

Wersinger, S.R., Temple, J.L., Caldwell, H.K. and Young, W.S. (2008) Inactivation of the oxytocin and the vasopressin (Avp) 1b receptor genes, but not the Avp 1a receptor gene, differentially impairs the Bruce effect in laboratory mice (Mus musculus). Endocrinology 149: 116-21.

Wersinger, S.R., Caldwell, H.K., Christiansen, M. and Young, W.S. (2007) Disruption of the vasopressin 1b receptor gene impairs the attack component of aggressive behavior in mice. Genes Brain Behav 6: 653-60.

Hashimoto M, Sun D, Rittling SR, Denhardt DT, Young W. (2007) Osteopontin-deficient mice exhibit less inflammation, greater tissue damage, and impaired locomotor recovery from spinal cord injury compared with wild-type controls. J Neurosci. 27(13):3603-11.

Xiao G. Rabson AB. Young W. Qing G. Qu Z. (2006) Alternative pathways of NF-kappaB activation: A double-edged sword in health and disease. Cytokine Growth Factor Rev. 17(4):281-93.

Anderson AJ. Najbauer J. Huang W. Young W. Robert S. (2005) Upregulation of complement inhibitors in association with vulnerable cells following contusion-induced spinal cord injury. J Neurotrauma. 22(3):382-97.

Matsumoto M. Sasaki T. Nagashima H. Ahn ES. Young W. Kodama N. (2005) Effects of N-methyl-d-aspartate. glutamate. and glycine on the dorsal column axons of neonatal rat spinal cord: in vitro study. Neurol Med Chir (Tokyo). 45(2):73-80.

Anderson AJ. Robert S. Huang W. Young W. Cotman CW. (2004) Activation of complement pathways after contusion-induced spinal cord injury. J Neurotrauma. (12):1831-46.

Carmel JB. Kakinohana O. Mestril R. Young W. Marsala M. Hart RP. (2004) Mediators of ischemic preconditioning identified by microarray analysis of rat spinal cord. Exp Neurol. 185(1):81-96.

Sasaki T. Sakuma J. Ichikawa T. Matsumoto M. Tiwari P. Young W. Kodama N. (2002) Effects of methylprednisolone on axonal depression induced by hypoxia. gamma-aminobutyric acid. and (+/-)-8-hydroxy-dipropylaminotetralin hydrobromide. Neurosurgery. 51(6):1477-83.

Young W. (2002) Spinal cord contusion models. Prog Brain Res. 137:231-55.

Pan JZ. Ni L. Sodhi A. Aguanno A. Young W. Hart RP. (2002) Cytokine activity contributes to induction of inflammatory cytokine mRNAs in spinal cord following contusion. J Neurosci Res. 68(3):315-22.

Nesic O. Svrakic NM. Xu GY. McAdoo D. Westlund KN. Hulsebosch CE. Ye Z. Galante A. Soteropoulos P. Tolias P. Young W. Hart RP. Perez-Polo JR. (2002) DNA microarray analysis of the contused spinal cord: effect of NMDA receptor inhibition. J Neurosci Res. May 15;68(4):406-23.

Young W. (2002) Methylprednisolone and spinal cord injury. J Neurosurg. 96(1 Suppl):141-2.

Carmel JB. Galante A. Soteropoulos P. Tolias P. Recce M. Young W. Hart RP. (2001) Gene expression profiling of acute spinal cord injury reveals spreading inflammatory signals and neuron loss. Physiol Genomics. 7(2):201-13.