Rhona Seijffers, Ph.D. Instructor Neural Plasticity Research Group Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School 149 13th Street, Room 4309 Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129-2000 E-mail: rseijffers@partners.org Tel. : +1-617-724-3614 Fax. : +1-627-724-3632

Background

Received the B.Sc. degree in Biology in 1993 from Tel-Aviv University, Israel.
Received the M.Sc. degree in Microbiology in 1995 from Tel-Aviv University, Israel.
Received the Ph.D. degree in Molecular Endocrinology in 2001, Tel-Aviv University, Israel.

Research

My research focuses on defining the molecular mechanisms and pathways that control nerve regeneration and neuronal survival in the adult nervous system after injury and in degenerative states such as ALS. Nerve regeneration and neuronal survival are complex processes that require the integration and synchronization of several gene pathways. My goals are to identify master regulatory genes that control these pathways. Recently, I have discovered that the transcription factor ATF3 is such a key regulator that induces the expression of growth-associated and survival genes to promote nerve regeneration. Currently, studies to elucidate the role of this transcription factor in ALS disease and to identify the components of the ATF3 pathway involved in neuronal survival and axonal growth are underway.

Selected Publications

Seijffers R, Woolf CJ. Utilization of an HSV-based amplicon vector encoding the axonal marker hPLAP to follow neurite outgrowth in cultured DRG neurons. J Neurosci Methods. 2004; 132:169-76.
 
Seijffers R, Allchorne AJ, Woolf CJ. The transcription factor ATF-3 promotes neurite outgrowth. Mol Cell Neurosci. 2006; 32:143-54.

Seijffers R, Mills CD, Woolf CJ. ATF3 increases the intrinsic growth state of DRG neurons to enhance peripheral nerve regeneration. J. Neurosci. 2007; 27:7911-20.

Seijffers R and Benowitz LI. 2008. Intrinsic Determinants of Axon Regeneration. In: CNS Regeneration: Basic Science and Clinical Advances, 2nd edition (Kordower and Tuszynski, editors).

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