Home| Professor of Neuroscience |
Contact details:
| Tel: | +44 20 7882 2290 |
| Fax: | +44 20 7882 2180 |
| Email: | a.t.michael-titus@qmul.ac.uk |
| Address: | Centre for Neuroscience and Trauma, |
Biography
Adina Michael-Titus was awarded a Doctorat en Sciences ( University of Rouen , France ) in 1988, for studies on novel inhibitors of opioid peptide-degrading enzymes. She continued post-doctoral studies on opioid peptides, using various behavioural and neurochemical techniques, in Rouen and Paris until 1990, when she was offered the position of Lecturer in Physiology and Pharmacology in the School of Biological Sciences at Queen Mary, She became subsequently a Lecturer in Pharmacology (1992) at St. Bartholomew's and the Royal London School of Medicine at Queen Mary, and a Senior Lecturer in 2001. Between 2002 and 2004 she spent sabbatical research time as a Senior Scientist and then Head of Section, with the pharmaceutical company Lundbeck A/S in Copenhagen , Denmark . She was awarded the title of Reader in 2007.
Research Activity
Over the last decade, research in my laboratory has covered several topics including: peptidergic systems and the co-release of active peptides and their metabolites, excitatory amino acid transmission and the pathogenesis of depression, and more recently, new strategies in neuroprotection using neuroactive lipids.
Our studies on peptides have been devoted to tachykinins, peptides involved in nociception, anxiety and depression. We have demonstrated the formation in the central nervous system of active metabolites of substance P, we have documented their intrinsic effects in the basal ganglia, and we have described for the first time the clearance in vivo of related tachykinins, a complex case of co-transmission.
Other projects have explored central excitatory amino acid systems, their role in the pathogenesis of depression and their modification by antidepressant treatment. This is an entirely new concept in the field of depression. Our work has led to the suggestion that antidepressant therapy may have an as yet unexploited neuroprotective potential, by possibly countering a latent form of excitotoxicity associated with depression. During a sabbatical research period, my work was focused on the characterization of developmental models of schizophrenia and new therapeutic targets in this disease.
Since 2003, we have been working on various neuroprotective strategies in neurological trauma, with a particular focus on polyunsaturated fatty acids. Our work has shown that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids have a significant therapeutic effect in spinal cord injury. These findings are very important, as the potential for translation to the clinic is very significant. Parallel to this, we are exploring the role of retinoid signaling, which can be activated by fatty acids, in aging, spinal cord injury and motor neurone disease.
Key Publications
• Michael-Titus, A.T ., Fernandes, K., Setty, H., Whelpton, R.: In vivo metabolism and clearance of substance P and co-expressed tachykinins in rat striatum. Neuroscience, 110, 277-286. (2002).
• Flagstad, P., Mørk, A., Glenthøj, B.Y., van Beek, J., Michael-Titus, A.T., Didriksen, M.: Disruption of neurogenesis at gestational day 17 in the rat c au ses behavioural changes relevant to positive and negative schizophrenia symptoms and alters amphetamine-induced dopamine release in nucleus accumbens. Neuropsychopharmacology, 29, 2052-2064. (2004).
• Penschuck, S , Flagstad, P , Didriksen, M , Leist, M , Michael-Titus AT .: Decrease in parvalbumin-expressing neurons in the hippocampus and increased phencyclidine-induced locomotor activity in the rat methylazoxymethanol (MAM) model of schizophrenia. Eur. J. Neurosci., 23, 279-284. (2006).
• King, V.R., Huang, W.L., Dyall , S.C. , Curran, O.E., Priestley. J.V ., Michael-Titus, A.T. : Omega-3 fatty acids improve recovery, whereas omega-6 fatty acids worsen outcome, after spinal cord injury in the adult rat. J. Neurosci., 26, 4672-4680 (2006).
• Dyall, S.C ., Michael, G.J ., Whelpton, R ., Scott, A.G ., Michael-Titus, AT .: Dietary enrichment with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids reverses age-related decreases in the GluR2 and NR2B glutamate receptor subunits in rat forebrain. Neurobiol. Aging, 28,424-439 (2007).
• Huang, W.L., King, V.R., Curran, O.E., Dyall , S.C. , Ward, R.E., Lal, N., Priestley, J.V., Michael-Titus A.T. : A combination of intravenous and dietary docosahexaenoic acid significantly improves outcome after spinal cord injury, Brain 130, 3004-3019 (2007).
• King, V.R., Torup , L., Averill , S.A. , Priestley, J.V., Michael-Titus, A.T .: Erythropoietin and carbamylated erythropoietin are neuroprotective following spinal cord hemisection in the rat, European Journal of Neuroscience, 26, 90-100 (2007).
