Home| Professor of Cell Biology |
Contact details:
| Tel: | +44 20 7882 2292 |
| Fax: | +44 20 7882 2180 |
| Email: | j.v.priestley@qmul.ac.uk |
| Address: | Centre for Neuroscience and Trauma, |
Biography
Prof Priestley was head of the Neuroscience Centre at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) until September 2008. He moved to QMUL in 1997 to take up a personal chair in the Anatomy Department, after spending 12 years in the Departments of Physiology and Biochemistry at the Medical School of Guy's and St Thomas's in London. Prior to that he spent a year at UNC Chapel Hill in North Carolina , after 6 years as a PhD student and a Beit Memorial Research Fellow at the Univerity of Oxford. In 1977 Prof Priestley had graduated in Natural Sciences from Clare College Cambridge.
Research Activity
Prof Priestley works on the anatomy and neurochemistry of somatosensory dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons and spinal cord neurons, with a particular focus on their response to injury and the organization of pain pathways. Most of this work involves sophisticated immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization techniques for localization of biomolecules in tissue sections, together with experimental studies manipulating spinal cord and peripheral nerves in vivo . In work funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Wellcome Trust he has examined the neurochemical properties of DRG neurons, including their expression of receptors and intracellular signalling molecules. This has revealed important principles concerning the regulation of DRG properties by target-derived and injury-derived growth factors, and has contributed to the ongoing development of novel therapies for peripheral neuropathies and neuropathic pain conditions.
Prof Priestley also has a strong track record of studies on the organization of the spinal cord, and in EU funded collaborative studies with Prof Steve McMahon (Kings), these two areas have been combined to show that neurotrophins can promote regeneration of dorsal root axons. In collaborative work with Prof Brown (University College) funded by the International Spinal Research Trust (ISRT) and European Union (FP5), Prof Priestley's group has explored the possibility of using biomaterials to bridge sites of spinal cord injury and has shown that fibronectin can be formed into conduits that support axonal regeneration. Current biomaterial work is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and by a biotechnology seed fund (Kinetique) and is studying extrudable forms of fibronectin, and silk-based conduits for peripheral nerve repair. In addition, in a collaborative study funded by a spinal injury charity (Corporate Action Trust) and involving two neurosurgeons at Queen Mary (Prof Peter Richardson and Mr Peter Hamlyn), Prof Priestley has established a group that brings together scientists and clinicians and especially focusses on translational aspects of spinal injury research. Under this programme, Prof Priestley is working to develop novel neuroprotective strategies for spinal injury patients. An exciting recent development has been the demonstration that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are neuroprotective in pre-clinical spinal injury studies. This work, which involves a collaboration with Dr Adina Michael-Titus who is a neuropharmacologist in the Neuroscience Centre, shows great promise for translation to the clinic.
Key Publications
• Ramer, M.S., Duraisingam, I., Priestley, J.V. and S.B. McMahon (2001) Two-tiered inhibition at the dorsal root entry zone. J. Neurosci. 21: 2651-2660.
• Averill, S., Delcroix, J.D., Michael, G.J., Tomlinson, D.R., Fernyhough, P. and J.V. Priestley (2001) Nerve growth factor modulates the activation status and fast axonal transport of ERK 1/2 in adult nociceptive neurones. Mol. Cell Neurosci. 18: 183-196.
• Averill, S., Davis, D.R., Shortland, P.J., Priestley, J.V. and S.P. Hunt (2002) Dynamic pattern of Reg-2 expression in rat sensory neurones following peripheral nerve injury. J. Neurosci. 22: 7493-7501.
• King, V.R., Henseler, M., Brown, R.A. and J.V. Priestley (2003) Mats made from fibronectin support oriented growth of axons in the damaged spinal cord of the adult rat. Exp. Neurol. 182: 383-398
• Averill , S.A. , Michael, G.J., Shortland, P.J., Leavesley, R.C., King, V.R., Bradbury, E.J., McMahon, S.B. and J.V. Priestley. (2004) NGF and GDNF ameliorate the increase in ATF3 expression that occurs in dorsal root ganglion cells in response to peripheral nerve injury. Eur. J. Neurosci. 19: 1437-1445
• Phillips, J.B., King, V.R., Ward, Z., Porter, R.A., Priestley, J.V. and Brown, R.A. (2004) Fluid shear in viscous fibronectin gels allows aggregation of fibrous materials for CNS tissue engineering. Biomaterials. 25: 2769-2779
• King, V.R., Phillips, J.B., Hunt-Grubbe, H., Brown, R. and J.V. Priestley (2006) Characterization of non-neuronal elements within fibronectin mats implanted into the damaged adult rat spinal cord. Biomaterials 27: 485-496.
• King, V.R., Huang, W.L., Dyall , S.C. , Curran, O.E., Priestley, J.V. and A.T. Michael-Titus (2006) 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
• Huang, W.L., George, K.J., Ibba, V., Liu, M.C., Averill, S., Quartu, M., Hamlyn, P.J. and J.V. Priestley (2007) The characteristics of neuronal injury in a static compression model of spinal cord injury in adult rats. Eur. J. Neurosci. 25: 362-372.
• Salio, C., Averill, S., Priestley, J.V. and A. Merighi (2007) Costorage of BDNF and neuropeptides within individual dense-cored vesicles in central and peripheral neurons. Developmental Neurobiology 67: 326-338.
• Huang, W.L., King, V.R., Curran, O.E., Dyall, S.C., Ward, R.E., Lal, N., Priestley, J.V. and A.T. Michael-Titus (2007) A combination of intravenous and dietary docosahexaenoic acid significantly improves outcome after spinal cord injury. Brain: 130: 3004-3019.
