Robert Nickells, Ph.D.
Professor
6640 Medical Sciences Center
1300 University Ave.
Madison, WI 53706-1532
608 265-6037
| Degrees: | B.S. 1983, University of Victoria Ph.D., 1987, University of Calgary |
| Appointments: | Physiology, UW Comprehensive Cancer Center, Institute on Aging. Eye Research Institute, Department of Ophthalmology Vice Chair of Research. |
| Fellowships: | Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1987-90, California Institute of Technology |
| Research: | Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness world-wide. Although an increase in intraocular pressure is often associated with this disease, it is marked by the progressive death of retinal ganglion cells. Previous studies by my laboratory and others have shown that ganglion cell death occurs by a mechanism that is characteristic of apoptosis - a form of programmed cell death that is regulated by a successive activation of genes from within the dying cell. Hypothetically, neuronal cell death can be blocked or prevented by agents that interrupt key biochemical pathways that are controlled by these genes. This form of treatment, termed "neuroprotection" may provide important avenues of therapy for many neurodegenerative disorders which includes glaucoma. My laboratory studies some of the earliest events that occur in retinal ganglion cells during the cell death process. For these studies we make use of mice lacing genes critical for the cell death process. Our current focus is on epigenetic changes that lead to silencing of normal gene expression well in advance of the committed step in the apoptotic pathway. |
| Publications: | Li Y, Schlamp CL, Poulsen KP, Nickells RW. Bax-dependent and independent pathways of retinal ganglion cell death induced by different damaging stimuli. Exp Eye Res 71:209-213, 2000. Schlamp CL, Johnson EC, Li Y, Morrison JC, Nickells RW. Changes in Thy1 gene expression associated with damaged retinal ganglion cells. Mol Vis 7:192-201, 2001. Li Y, Schlamp CL, Poulsen GL, Jackson MW, Griep AE, Nickells RW. P53 regulates apoptotic ganglion cell death induced by N-methyl-D-aspartate. Mol Vis 8:341-350, 2002. Schlamp CL, Thliveris AT, Li Y, Kohl LP, Knop C, Dietz JA, Larsen IV, Imesch P, Pinto LH, Nickells RW. Insertion of the Geo promoter trap gene is inserted into the Fem1c gene of Rosa3 mice. Mol Cell Biol 24:3794-3803, 2004. PMID: 15082774. Libby RT, Li Y, Savinova OV, Barter J, Smith RS, Nickells RW, John SWM. Susceptibility to neurodegeneration in glaucoma is modified by Bax gene dosage. PLoS Genetics. 1:17-26, 2005. PMID: 16103918. Schlamp CL, Li Y, Dietz JA, Janssen KT, Nickells RW. Progressive ganglion cell loss and optic nerve degeneration in DBA/2J mice is variable and asymmetric. BMC Neurosci. 7:66, 2006. PMID: 17018142. Nickells RW. From ocular hypertension to ganglion cell death - a theoretical sequence of events leading to glaucoma. Can. J. Ophthalmol. 42:278-287, 2007. PMID: 17392853. Dietz JA, Li Y, Chung LM, Yandell BS, Schlamp CL, Nickells RW. Rgcs1, a dominant QTL that affects retinal ganglion cell death after optic nerve crush in mice. BMC Neurosci. 9:74, 2008. PMID: 18671875. |