Jeffrey Milbrandt, M.D., Ph.D, professor of pathology and immunology, of medicine and of neurology, was installed as the first David Clayson Professor of Neurology Sept. 22.
The professorship was established by David Clayson, Ph.D., a 1963 graduate of the University, to support scientific studies relevant to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the fatal neurodegenerative disorder known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
“Dr. Clayson’s generous contribution to the Department of Neurology demonstrates his lifelong commitment to our University,” Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton said. “We are honored that his name will be associated with Washington University in perpetuity.”
Clayson, who was a faculty member at Cornell University for nearly four decades, had ALS and died of the disorder in 2001.
“Jeff Milbrandt has been involved in studies over the last 15 years that were peripherally related to motor neuron disease or ALS,” said David Holtzman, M.D., the Andrew B. and Gretchen P. Jones Professor and head of the Department of Neurology.
“However, some of his recent discoveries are likely directly related to understanding the pathogenesis of ALS and developing new treatments.”
In patients with ALS, motor nerve cells, which are the nerve cells that control muscles, gradually die off, paralyzing patients and eventually making it impossible for them to breathe on their own.
Scientists who study ALS and other neurodegenerative disorders have begun to suspect in recent years that nerve cell die-off begins with the loss of synapses, the areas where nerve cells meet, and axons, the tree-branch like structures that extend from the main body of nerve cells to synapses.
Milbrandt’s group showed last year that axons could be protected from degeneration by a pathway involving NAD, a molecule linked to cell metabolism, and Sirt1, a protein associated with longevity.
The realization provides a new set of targets for the development of ALS treatments.
“If this mechanism for delaying or preventing axonal degeneration after an injury proves to be something we can activate via genetic or pharmaceutical treatments, then we may be able to use it to delay or inhibit nerve cell death in neurodegenerative diseases,” Milbrandt said.
Milbrandt’s lab has also collaborated with the laboratory of Eugene Johnson, Ph.D., professor of neurology and of molecular biology and pharmacology, to discover a family of neurotrophic factors and receptors that are important to the development and maintenance of nerve cells and axons.
These molecules may be useful for the treatment of a wide range of neurological disorders. One of them, a protein called Neurturin, is now entering clinical trials for Parkinson’s disease.
Earlier this summer, Milbrandt and his co-workers identified a new molecule that contributes to the construction and maintenance of a protective sheath over nerve cells and their branches.
The process, which may play a role in nerve regeneration, is linked to Schwann cells, a type of support cell that surrounds nerves in the peripheral nervous system but not the central nervous system.
“Peripheral nerves can regenerate after they’re injured, but nerves in the central nervous system don’t regenerate so well,” Milbrandt said.
“Scientists are intrigued by the potential contributions Schwann cells may be making to this distinction.”
Milbrandt was actively involved in the recent establishment of the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, a new collaboration that pools the intellectual and financial resources of the University and Hope Happens for Neurological Disorders.
The center is dedicated to supporting and accelerating research that uncovers molecular mechanisms that contribute to neurodegenerative diseases and uses these discoveries to develop new treatments for the diseases.
“Jeff’s role at the Hope Center fits very well into the goals of the Clayson professorship,” Holtzman said.
“Many of the discoveries that he has made not only have the potential to be important for understanding and treating ALS, they may also be helpful for other neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis.”
Clayson was professor emeritus at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University.
He had served as head and director of clinical training of psychology in psychiatry at the medical college for 25 years, and he co-founded The Association of Professors of Psychology in Medical Schools, the first nationwide organization of its kind in the United States and Canada.
“As he faced the disorder that took his life, it was very compassionate of Dr. Clayson to think of what he could do to help others who may someday be afflicted with the same condition,” Milbrandt said.