Peter Brophy Group
Professor Peter Brophy
BSc, PhD, FIBiol, FMedSci, FRSE
Director, Centre for Neuroregeneration
Chancellor's Building
University of Edinburgh
49 Little France Crescent
Edinburgh
EH16 4SB
Telephone: +44 (0) 131 242 7980
Fax: +44 (0) 131 242 7980
Email: Peter.Brophy@ed.ac.uk
Click for a single-page printable CV
Biographical Profile
Peter Brophy received his BSc from King's College, London University and PhD from Guy's Hospital Medical School, London University. He has been at Edinburgh since 1995 and Director of the Centre for Neuroregeneration (formerly the Centre for Neuroscience Research) since 2002.
He has served on the research panels of a variety of bodies, including Action Research, the MS Society and the Neurosciences and Mental Health Panel at the Wellcome Trust. In 2008, Brophy served as the Chair of the International Gordon Conference on Myelin.
Research Overview
In the developing vertebrate nervous system, oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells not only play a vital role in promoting neuron survival, but they also produce the myelin sheath, which is essential for the normal function of the nervous system, a fact underscored by the debilitating consequences of demyelination in multiple sclerosis (CNS) and in peripheral neuropathies of the Charcot-Marie-Tooth (PNS) type. In one project we are building on our discovery of the Periaxin (Prx) gene in Schwann cells. Mice lacking a functional Prx gene ensheath and myelinate peripheral nerve axons in an apparently normal manner but the sheath later destabilizes and the mice develop a severe demyelinating neuropathy. In collaboration with colleagues in Paris we have identified a human disease called CMT-4F caused by similar mutations. In a second project, we have shown that two isoforms of neurofascin, one glial, the other neuronal, play distinct but vital roles in the assembly of the node of Ranvier. The role of these proteins during both normal development and during nerve repair is the subject of current work.
Group Members
- Heather Anderson, Research Technician
- Anne Desmazieres, ARSEP Research Fellow
- Stuart Fleming, Technician
- Matthew Grove, Postdoctoral Fellow
- Quishi Li, Technician
- Diane Sherman, Senior Research Scientist
- Natalie Wu, Postgraduate Student
- Barbara Zonta, Postdoctoral Fellow
- Ao Zhang, PhD student
Funding
Our work is primarily supported by a Programme Grant from the Wellcome Trust, and a grant from the EU-FP7 Programme.
Select Recent Publications
Camara, J., Z. Wang, C. Nunes-Fonseca, H.C. Friedman, M. Grove, D.L. Sherman, N.H. Komiyama, S.G. Grant, P.J. Brophy, A. Peterson, and C. ffrench-Constant. (2009). Integrin-mediated axoglial interactions initiate myelination in the central nervous system. J Cell Biol. 185:699-712.Zonta B, Tait S, Melrose S, Anderson H, Harroch S, Higginson J, Sherman DL, and Brophy PJ (2008). Glial and neuronal isoforms of Neurofascin have distinct roles in the assembly of nodes of Ranvier in the central nervous system, J Cell Biology 181: 1169-1177.
Grove M, NH Komiyama, K-A Nave, Seth G Grant, DL Sherman and PJ Brophy (2007). FAK is required for axonal sorting by Schwann cells. J Cell Biol 176: 277-282.
Sherman DL, S Tait, S Melrose, R Johnson, B Zonta, FA Court, WB Macklin, S Meek, AJ Smith, DF Cottrell, and PJ Brophy (2005). Organization of axonal domains for saltatory conduction requires the neurofascins. Neuron 48: 737-742 (Cover) .
Court F A, DL Sherman, T Pratt, EM Garry, RR Ribchester, DF Cottrell, SM Fleetwood-Walker, and PJ Brophy (2004). Restricted growth of Schwann cells lacking Cajal bands slows conduction in myelinated nerves. Nature 431: 191-195 (Cover).
Saito F, SA Moore, R Barresi, MD Henry, A Messing, SE Ross-Barta , RD Cohn, RA Williamson, KA Sluka, DL Sherman, PJ Brophy, JD Schmelzer, PA Low, L Wrabetz, ML Feltri and KP Campbell (2003). Unique role of dystroglycan in peripheral nerve myelination and sodium channel clustering. Neuron 38:747-758.
Charles P, S Tait, C Faivre-Sarrailh, G Barbin, F Gunn-Moore, N Denisenko-Nehrbass, A-M Guennoc, J-A Girault, PJ Brophy and C Lubetzki (2002). Neurofascin is a glial receptor for the paranodin/caspr-contactin axonal complex at the axoglial junction. Current Biology 12: 217-220. (Featured Article).
Sherman DL, C Fabrizi, CS Gillespie and PJ Brophy (2001). Specific disruption of a Schwann cell dystrophin-related protein complex in a demyelinating neuropathy. Neuron 30: 677-687. (see commentary: Wrabetz L and M L Feltri. (2001), Do Schwann cells stop, DR(o)P2, and roll? Neuron 30, 642-644).
Key Earlier Publications
Gillespie, C.S., D.L. Sherman, S.M. Fleetwood-Walker, D.F. Cottrell, S. Tait, E.M. Garry, V.C.J. Wallace, J. Ure, I.R. Griffiths, A. Smith and P.J. Brophy (2000). Peripheral demyelination and neuropathic pain behavior in periaxin-deficient mice. Neuron 26, 523-531.
Tait, S., F. Gunn-Moore, J.M. Collinson, J. Huang C. Lubetzki, L. Pedraza, D.L. Sherman, D.R. Colman and P.J. Brophy (2000). An oligodendrocyte cell adhesion molecule at the site of assembly of the paranodal axo-glial junction. J. Cell Biol. 150, 657-666.
(see also commentary: Trapp, B.D. and G.J. Kidd. 2000. Axo-glial septate junctions. The maestro of nodal formation and myelination? J Cell Biol. 150, F97-F100).
Sherman, D.L. and P.J. Brophy (2005). Mechanisms of axon ensheathment and myelin growth. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 6:683-690 (Cover).
last updated 30 October 2009