Dr. Gold received his doctoral degree in Pharmacology from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark. He was a Research Fellow in the School of Medicine (Neurology and Neuropathology) and Research Fellow and Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences in the School of Hygiene and Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Prior to joining CROET, he was Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the College of Pharmacy, Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and Member of the Joint Graduate Program in Toxicology at the Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine/Rutgers University. Dr. Gold has special expertise in ultrastructural neuropathology, immunocytochemistry, electrophysiology, axonal transport, and neurotoxicology.

Dr. Gold’s main research objective is to understand the role of neuroimmunophilins and steroid receptor chaperone proteins in nerve regeneration. These studies have great potential for leading to the development of new drugs to treat workplace injuries and neuropathies produced by occupational or environmental toxins.

Neuronal (axonal) degeneration is produced by mechanical injury (as in carpal tunnel syndrome) following exposure to variety of occupational and environmental chemicals, and by metabolic and inheritable factors. Recovery of function is dependent upon regeneration of injured axons, which is a slow process. My laboratory was the first to discover that the systemic administration of the immunosuppressant drug FK506 dose-dependently accelerates functional recovery by increasing the rate of nerve regeneration following a peripheral nerve injury in rats. The development of nonimmunosuppressant and orally efficacious derivatives that enhance nerve regeneration demonstrated that these two properties are separable. These compounds also increase axonal regeneration following spinal cord injury and in neurotoxic chemical-induced models of human neurodegenerative disease (e.g., Parkinson’s disease). In regard to their potential clinical use, FK506 has been recently found to speed nerve regeneration in humans. Cell cultures are used to examine the underlying mechanism by which these compounds enhance nerve regeneration. Results from these studies reveal that neurite outgrowth is mediated via binding to a unique FK506-binding protein, FKBP-52, which is a component of steroid receptor complexes. Further studies implicate the involvement of the MAP kinase pathway as a down-stream mediator of FK506’s neurotrophic action. Components of steroid receptor complexes (e.g., FKBP-52 and Hsp-90) represent potential targets for the development of new drugs for the treatment of neurological disorders.

Gold BG and Villafranca JE. (2003) Neuroimmunophilin ligands: The development of novel neuroregenerative/neuroprotective compounds. Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry 3:1368-1375.

Udina E, Ceballos D, Gold BG and Navarro X. (2003) FK506 enhances
reinnervation by regeneration and collateral sprouting of peripheral nerve fibers. Exp Neurol 183:220-231.

Revill WP, Voda J, Reeves CR, Chung L, Schirmer A, Ashley G, Carney JR, Fardis M, Carreras C, Zhou Y, Tucker E, Robinson D and Gold BG. (2002) Genetically Engineered Analogs of Ascomycin for Nerve Regeneration. J Pharmacol Exp Therap 302:1278-1285.

Udina E, Ceballos D, Gold BG and Navarro X. (2002) Dose-dependence effects of FK506 on the rate of axonal regeneration in the mouse peripheral nerve. Muscle & Nerve, 26:348-355.

Gold, B.G. (2002) Immunophilin ligands in nerve regeneration. Science & Medicine March/April, 66-75.

Sulaiman, O.A.R., Voda, J., Gold, B.G. and Gordon, T. (2002) FK506 increases nerve regeneration afer chronic motoneuron axotomy but not after chronic Schwann cell denervation. Experimental Neurology, 175:127-137.

Gold, B.G. and Nutt, J. (2002) Neuroimmunophilin ligands in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Current Opinion in Pharmacology 2, 82-86.

Navarro, X., Udina, E., Ceballos, D. and Gold, B.G. (2001) Effects of FK506 on nerve regeneration and reinnervation after graft or tube repair of long nerve gaps. Muscle & Nerve 24, 905-915.

Gold B.G. (2000) Neuroimmunophilin ligands and the role of steroid hormone chaperone proteins in nerve regeneration. In: Immunophilins in the Brain. FKBP-ligands: Novel Strategies for the Treatment of Neurodegenerative Disorders (Gold, B.G., Fischer, G., Herdegen T., eds.) Prous Science, Barcelona pp 3-32.

Wang M.-S. and Gold B.G. (1999) FK506 increases the regeneration of spinal cord axons in a predegenerated peripheral nerve autograft. Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine 24, 287-296.

Gold B.G., Densmore V., Shou W., Martin M.M. and Gordon H.S. (1999) Immunophilin FK506-binding protein 52 (not FK506-binding Protein 12) mediates the neurotrophic action of FK506. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapy 289, 1202-1210.