Biography
Dr. Houle was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in 1987 and attained the rank of Professor in 1998. Houle served as the Director of the Division of Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology and the Director of the Neuroscience Research Core Facility at UAMS. He joined the faculty of Drexel University College of Medicine in March, 2005 as the Director of the Spinal Cord Research Center.
Research
Houle has a longstanding interest in spinal cord injury and the potential to promote structural and functional repair in acute and chronic injury situations. Research in the laboratory is designed to examine multiple aspects of the neuronal and glial cell response to spinal cord injury with the intent of designing a combinatorial treatment strategy for regeneration leading to functional recovery. He has received funding as the Principal Investigator (PI) from the NIH (both RO1 and PO1 grants), Paralyzed Veteran’s of America, The Daniel Heumann Spinal Cord Fund, and the New York State Spinal Cord Injury Research Program. His primary NIH grant has been funded continually since 1988. In 2004, Houle was awarded a Jacob Javits Investigator Award for a distinguished record in neurological science research. He is the PI of the current Program Project entitled Spinal Cord Injury, Plasticity andTransplant Mediated Repair.
Houle has authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications and has served as an ad hoc and regular member for several NIH study sections, the National Science Foundation, the Christopher Reeve Foundation, Department of Veteran’s Affairs and the New Jersey Commission on Spinal Cord Research. He served for 6 years on the scientific review panel for the Kentucky Spinal Cord and Head Injury Research Trust and currently is on the review panel for the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act (in CA) and the Paralyzed Veterans of America.
Research Interests
Houle has a long standing interest in spinal cord injury and the potential to promote structural and functional repair in acute and chronic injury situations. It is important to understand that a spinal cord injury is an evolving condition where for weeks to months after injury there continues to be change/modulation of the cellular and molecular components affected directly or indirectly by the injury. These changes often are most prominent at the site of injury but it is critical that we also understand how cells/tissues remote to the injury are affected. An example would be the effect of spinal cord injury on neurons in the brain that normally transfer information through axon pathways that have been damaged. The response to injury by neurons in the brain may include cell atrophy, cell death, change in gene expression, retraction of the damaged axonal process or an attempt to re-grow the damaged axonal process.
Research in the laboratory is designed to examine multiple aspects of the neuronal and glial cell response to spinal cord injury with the intent of designing a combinatorial treatment strategy for regeneration leading to functional recovery. To accomplish this difficult task we use a variety of approaches, including:
1) neurotransplantation to provide a substratum that will support the regrowth of injured axons and which may provide a source of precursor cells to form new neurons and glial cells, replacing those lost after spinal cord injury;
2) treatment with neurotrophic and/or growth factors to provide essential molecules for cell survival and for initiating and maintaining axonal growth;
3) modulation of glial scar tissue and associated extracellular matrix to reduce the negative features of what has been characterized as a structural and chemical barrier to axonal growth;
4) exercise of injured limbs in the attempt to maintain joint fluidity and muscle strength and to re-train regions of the spinal cord that have been separated from descending input from the brain. There is strong evidence of activity dependent plasticity within the brain and spinal cord after exercise and we are especially interested in applying physical therapy and rehabilitation medicine techniques to determine if enhanced spinal cord plasticity will translate into greater behavioral recovery. As more information is gathered and placed into the puzzle, our understanding of the sequence of steps to be followed to promote recovery of function will become clearer.
Research techniques used in the laboratory range from gross anatomical examination to quantifying gene expression of single neurons. A typical experiment will include animal surgery, transplantation, physical therapy, a battery of behavioral analyses, preparation of tissue samples for light microscopy and immunocytochemical detection of specific cell types or tissue components, isolation of specific cells by laser micro dissection for extraction of RNA for analysis of gene expression by quantitative PCR, isolation of proteins for analysis of cell signaling by Western Blot or multiplex arrays.
Lab Members
Research Associate:
Dr. Veronica Tom
Dr. Victoria Zhukareva
Dr. Gang Liu
Dr. Anita Singh
Postdoctoral Fellow:
Dr. Marie-Pascale Cote
Graduate Students:
Benjamin Keeler
Arthi Amin
Research Assistant:
Lauren Santi
Kassi Miller
Rachel Siegfried
Selected Publications
"Forced exercise as a rehabilitation strategy after unilateral cervical spinal cord contusion injury"
Sandrow-Feinberg HR, Izzi J, Shumsky JS, Zhukareva V and Houle JD
J. Neurotrauma, In Press.
"NMDA receptor subunit expression in GABAergic interneurons in prefrontal cortex: application of laser micro dissection technique"
Dong X, Keeler B, Zhang W, Houle JD, and Gao WJ
J. Neuroscience Methods, 176:172-181, 2009.
"Aspiration of a cervical spinal contusion injury in preparation for delayed peripheral nerve grafting does not impair forelimb behavior or axon regeneration"
Sandrow HR, Shumsky J, Amin A and Houle JD
Exp. Neurol. 210: 489-500, 2008.
"Intraspinal microinjection of chondroitinase ABC following injury promotes axonal regeneration out of a peripheral nerve graft"
Tom V and Houle JD
Exp. Neurol. 211: 315-319, 2008.
"Combining an autologous peripheral nerve bridge and matrix modification by chondroitinase allows robust functional regeneration across a hemisection lesion of the adult rat spinal cord"
Houle JD, Tom V, Mayes D, Wagoner G, Phillips N, Silver J
J. Neuroscience, 26: 7405-7415, 2006.
"Fetal spinal cord transplant and passive exercise help to restore motoneuronal properties after spinal cord transection in rats"
Beaumont E, Houle JD, Peterson CF and Gardiner PF
Muscle & Nerve 29:234-242, 2004.
"Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) promotes neuroprotection and neurorepair after spinal cord injury"
Dolbeare D and Houle JD
J. Neurotrauma 20: 1251-1261, 2003.
"Cycling exercise and fetal spinal cord transplantation act synergistically on atrophied muscle following chronic spinal cord injury in rats"
Peterson CA, Murphy RJL, Dupont-Versteegden EE and Houle JD
Neurorehab and Neural Repair 14: 85-91, 2001.
"Mechanisms contributing to restoration of muscle size with exercise and fetal transplants after spinal cord injury";
Dupont-Versteegden EE, Murphy RJL, Houle JD, Gurley CM and Peterson CA
Am. J. Physiol. 279: C1677-C1684, 2000.
"Two experimental strategies to restore muscle mass in adult rats following spinal cord injury"
Murphy RJL, Dupont-Versteegden EE, Peterson CA and Houle JD
Neurorehab Neural Repair 13:125-134, 1991. |