Mary Stenzel-Poore
The Stenzel-Poore research program involves injury, inflammation and neuroprotection in stroke. We are interested in how the brain normally responds to cerebral ischemia (stroke) and how we can improve that response by pretreatment, i.e. preconditioning, with various stimuli. Some preconditioning stimuli include brief periods of ischemia, and low doses of bacterial- or viral-associated molecules such as endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) and non-methylated CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs). Via microarray profiling, we have discovered that the brain's response to stroke injury is completely reprogrammed in the setting of prior preconditioning. Such reprogramming leads to a novel response to cerebral ischemia, which is dominated by the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines that are known to be neuroprotective (e.g. TGFβ and IFNβ). We are striving to identify (1) the essential molecular mediators common among these models of preconditioning and (2) the essential molecular mediators specific to each individual preconditioning paradigm. Our students have recently advanced to a very relevant preclinical model of stroke. This work involves collaborations with scientists from the Advanced Imaging Center at OHSU and the Oregon National Primate Research Center. We have begun a translational research program around neuroprotection in stroke using candidate therapeutics.
Biography
Mary Stenzel-Poore is Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at OHSU. She received her PhD in Immunology from Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU) in 1986. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute in San Diego prior to joining the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology (MMI) at OHSU as an Assistant Professor in 1995. She was appointed chair of MMI in 2010.
Key Publications
Stenzel-Poore MP, Stevens SL, Xiong Z, Lessov NS, Harrington CA, Mori M, Meller R, Rosenzweig HL, Tobar E, Shaw TE, Chu X, and Simon RP. (2003) Effects of Ischemic preconditioning on genomic response to cerebral ischemia: similarity to neuroprotective strategies in hibernation and hypoxia-tolerant states. The Lancet 362:1028-1037.
Marsh BJ, and Stenzel-Poore MP. (2008) Toll-like receptors: novel pharmacological targets for the treatment of neurological diseases. Current Opinion in Pharmacology, 8:8-13.
Stevens SL, Ciesielski TM, Marsh BJ, Yang T, Homen DS, Boule JL, Lessov NS, Simon RP, and Stenzel-Poore MP. (2008) Toll-like receptor 9: A new target of ischemic preconditioning in the brain. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab, 28(5): 1040-1047.
Marsh B, Stevens SL, Packard AE, Gopalan B, Hunter B, Leung PY, Harrington CA, and Stenzel-Poore MP. (2009) Systemic lipopolysaccharide protects the brain from ischemic injury by reprogramming the response of the brain to stroke: a critical role for IRF3. J. Neuroscience 29:9839-9849.
See a full listing of Dr. Stenzel-Poore's publications.
