Associate Professor Elizabeth Coulson - Nerve Cell Survival

Associate Professor Elizabeth Coulson

 Contact Information

 e.coulson@uq.edu.au
  Building: QBI Building #79
  Room: 628
  Tel: +61 7 334 66392

 Mailing Address

  Queensland Brain Institute
  The University of Queensland
  Brisbane, 4072
  Queensland,
  Australia

 Links

 Lab Members

 Lab Home Page

Short biography

Research directions

Current collaborations

Selected publications

Short biography

Dr Lizzie Coulson did her undergraduate Honours degree at the University of Melbourne, majoring in Genetics and Biochemistry. Her PhD (1997) in the Department of Pathology, University of Melbourne, with Professor Colin Masters, was on the normal function of the amyloid precursor protein of Alzheimer’s disease. Following a year at the ZMBH, University of Heidelberg, Germany, she pursued postdoctoral work studying neuronal cell death in neurodegeneration and development at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute before being recruited in 2003 to the University of Queensland as a founding member of the Queensland Brain Institute.

Research directions

As the fastest growing segment of our population is that which includes individuals over the age of 60, the burden of neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease, motor neuron disease and stroke, represents a compounding medical and societal challenge. The laboratory's primary research goal is to identify and characterise the regulators of neurodegeneration and neuronal death in order to increase our understanding of  molecular mechanisms. The longer-term goal is to translate these findings into candidate therapeutics to treat neurodegenerative diseases. The focus has been to characterise the cell death signalling pathway mediated by the p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR), a neural death receptor which is activated in a number of neurodegenerative conditions including Alzheimer's disease and motor neuron disease. The specific aims capitalise on the laboratory's expertise in studying the structure and function of p75NTR.
 
Role of p75NTR in neurodegenerative disease.
 
The laboratory recently reported that p75NTR death signalling can be promoted by amyloid-ß peptide that characteristically accumulates in Alzheimer’s disease. We are investigating the regulation and activation of p75NTR death signalling in cholinergic neurons in this condition, and testing whether disrupting p75NTR function can prevent cholinergic degeneration, and cognitive decline, in animal models. As an extension of this work we are developing methods to assess cholinergic degeneration and amyloid plaque deposition in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
 
How neurotransmitter- and neurotrophin-mediated signals determine cell survival.
 
We are investigating the basic molecular mechanisms by which neurotransmitter receptor activation and receptor trafficking affect p75NTR activation and subsequent death signalling using molecular and biochemical techniques in in vitro and in vivo models. We are also investigating the role of p75NTR cleavage in promoting death signalling, using confocal microscopy techniques to image live cells and cell membranes in real time. This project will lead to a greater understanding of p75NTR biology, and will also provide knowledge of the kinetics of p75NTR-mediated death signals and the time frame within which they can be inhibited.

Current Collaborations

Prof Anders Nykjaer       Aarhus University, Denmark
A/Prof Jakob Hort           Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
A/Prof  Stephen Rose    UQCCR
Prof Pankaj Sah             QBI
A/Prof Fred Meunier       QBI
Prof Maree Smith           Pharmacy
Prof Ian Brereton            CAI
Prof Andrew Wittaker     CAI

Selected publications

  • EJ Coulson, LM May, AM Sykes, AS Hamlin (2009) The role of the p75 neurotrophin receptor in cholinergic dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease. The Neuroscientist 15:317-23
  • A Sotthibundhu, QX Li, W Thangnipon, EJ Coulson (2009) Aβ1–42 stimulates adult SVZ neurogenesis through the p75 neurotrophin receptor. Neurobiology of Aging 30:1975-1985
  • VS Catts, N Al-Menhali, THJ Burne, MJ Colditz, EJ Coulson (2008) The p75 neurotrophin receptor regulates hippocampal neurogenesis and related behaviours. European Journal of Neuroscience 28:883-92
  • CK Underwood, EJ Coulson (2008) Molecules in Focus: p75 neurotrophin receptor. International Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology 40: 1664-68.
  • A Sotthibundhu, AM Sykes, B Fox, CK Underwood, W Thangnipon, EJ Coulson (2008) β-amyloid1-42 induces neuronal death through the p75 neurotrophin receptor C-terminal fragment. Journal of Neuroscience 28: 3941-46
  • EJ Coulson, LM May, SL Osborne, K Reid, CK Underwood, F Meunier, PF Bartlett, P Sah (2008) p75 neurotrophin receptor mediates neuronal cell death by activating GIRK channels through phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate. Journal of Neuroscience 28: 315-24.
  • CK Underwood, K Reid, LM May, PF Bartlett, EJ Coulson (2008) Palmitoylation of the C-terminal fragment of p75NTR regulates death signaling and is required for subsequent cleavage by γ-secretase. Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience 37: 346-58
  • KM Young, T Merson, A Sotthibundhu, EJ Coulson, PF Bartlett (2007). p75NTR expression defines a population of BDNF-responsive neurogenic precursor cells. Journal of Neuroscience 27:5146-55
  • EJ Coulson. (2006) Does the p75 neurotrophin receptor mediate Aβ-induced toxicity in Alzheimer’s disease? Journal of Neurochemistry 98:654-60
  • EJ Coulson, K Reid, K Shipham, S Morley, TJ Kilpatrick, PF Bartlett. (2004) The role of neurotransmission and the Chopper domain in p75NTR death signaling. Progress in Brain Research 143:41-62
  • EJ Coulson, K Reid, M Baca, K A Shiphan, S M Hulett, TJ Kilpatrick, PF Bartlett (2000) Chopper, a new death domain of the p75 neurotrophin receptor which mediates rapid neuronal cell death. Journal of Biological Chemistry 275:30537-45
  • EJ Coulson, K Reid, GL Barrett, PF Bartlett (1999) p75NTR-mediated neuronal death is promoted by Bcl-2 and protected by BclxL. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 274:16387-91

 

On this site

Go to top