The Ebert Laboratory
Faculty > Allison D. Ebert
Allison D. Ebert
Associate Scientist, Neurology
aebert@wisc.edu
Organ System/Disease Focus
Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, Spinal Muscular Atrophy
Aligned Research Focus
Therapeutic uses of stem cells, Disease modeling
Research Description
My research interests are in the area of neurodegenerative diseases, both understanding the molecular basis for the disease progression and finding effective experimental therapies. My current research focuses on ex vivo gene therapy for Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases using neural progenitor cells as growth factor delivery vehicles in rodent and primate models of disease. The growth factors I am actively examining are glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), insulin like growth factor (IGF-1), brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). I am also interested in understanding if and how the survival, migration, and differentiation of transplanted progenitor cells are altered depending on the disease model used, which could have important clinical relevance. Finally, I am interested in using iPS cells derived from patient populations to understand disease mechanisms and if growth factors aid in neuron survival.
Selected References
A.D.Ebert, J. Yu, F.F. Rose, Jr., V.B. Mattis, C.L. Lorson, J.A. Thomson, C.N. Svendsen. Induced pluripotent stem cells from a spinal muscular atrophy patient. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature07677. Epub Dec. 21, 2008.
A.D. Ebert, E.L. McMillan, C.N. Svendsen. Isolating, expanding, and infecting human and rodent fetal neural progenitor cells. Curr Protoc Stem Cell Biol, Chapter 2:Unit 2D.2. 2008.
S. Behrstock*, A.D. Ebert*, S. Klein, M. Schmitt, J.M. Moore, C.N. Svendsen. Lesion-induced increase in survival and migration of human neural progenitor cells releasing GDNF. Cell Trans 17(7):753-62. 2008. *equal contributions
M.E. Emborg, A.D. Ebert, J. Moirano, S. Peng, M. Suzuki, E. Capowski, V. Joers, B.Z. Roitberg, P. Aebischer, C.N. Svendsen. GDNF-secreting human neural progenitor cells increase tyrosine hydroxylase and VMAT2 expression in MPTP-treated cynomolgus monkeys. Cell Trans 17(4):383-95. 2008.
A.D. Ebert, A.J. Beres, A.E. Barber, C.N. Svendsen. Human neural progenitor cells over-expressing IGF-1 protect dopamine neurons and restore function in a rat model of Parkinson’s disease. Exp Neurol 209(1):213-223. 2008.