Molecular Pharmacology & Physiology

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Paula Bickford

Paula Bickford, PHD

Distinguished Professor, Center of Excellence for Aging & Brain Repair

Contact Info

Education

  • PHD, Pharmacology, University of Colorado, 1984

Interdisciplinary and Emerging Signature Programs

  • Allergy, Immunology & Infectious Disease
  • Biomedical Engineering & Nanomedicine
  • Neurodegenerative Disease
  • Neuroscience

Awards/Honors

  • AIMBE Fellow (AIMBE - 2017)
  • AAAS Fellow (AAAS - 2013)

Recent Publications

  • Subbarayan MS, Joly-Amado A, Bickford PC, Nash KR. CX3CL1/CX3CR1 signaling targets for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Pharmacology & therapeutics. 231: 107989, 2022.
  • Moss LD, Sode D, Patel R, Lui A, Hudson C, Patel NA, Bickford PC. Intranasal delivery of exosomes from human adipose derived stem cells at forty-eight hours post injury reduces motor and cognitive impairments following traumatic brain injury. Neurochemistry international. 150: 105173, 2021.
  • Winter AN, Subbarayan MS, Grimmig B, Weesner JA, Moss L, Peters M, Weeber E, Nash K, Bickford PC. Two forms of CX3CL1 display differential activity and rescue cognitive deficits in CX3CL1 knockout mice. Journal of neuroinflammation. 17(1) : 157, 2020.
  • Subbarayan MS, Hudson C, Moss LD, Nash KR, Bickford PC. T cell infiltration and upregulation of MHCII in microglia leads to accelerated neuronal loss in an α-synuclein rat model of Parkinson''s disease. Journal of neuroinflammation. 17(1) : 242, 2020.
  • Portis SM, Chaput D, Burroughs B, Hudson C, Sanberg PR, Bickford PC. Effects of nutraceutical intervention on serum proteins in aged rats. GeroScience. 42(2) : 703-713, 2020.
  • Ma C, Hunt JB, Selenica MB, Sanneh A, Sandusky-Beltran LA, Watler M, Daas R, Kovalenko A, Liang H, Placides D, Cao C, Lin X, Orr MB, Zhang B, Gensel JC, Feola DJ, Gordon MN, Morgan D, Bickford PC, Lee DC. Arginase 1 Insufficiency Precipitates Amyloid- Deposition and Hastens Behavioral Impairment in a Mouse Model of Amyloidosis. Frontiers in immunology. 11: 582998, 2020.
  • Grimmig B, Hudson C, Moss L, Peters M, Subbarayan M, Weeber EJ, Bickford PC. Astaxanthin supplementation modulates cognitive function and synaptic plasticity in young and aged mice. GeroScience. 41(1) : 77-87, 2019.
  • Patel NA, Moss LD, Lee JY, Tajiri N, Acosta S, Hudson C, Parag S, Cooper DR, Borlongan CV, Bickford PC. Long noncoding RNA MALAT1 in exosomes drives regenerative function and modulates inflammation-linked networks following traumatic brain injury. Journal of neuroinflammation. 15(1) : 204, 2018.
  • Sawmiller D, Li S, Mori T, Habib A, Rongo D, Delic V, Bradshaw PC, Shytle RD, Sanberg C, Bickford P, Tan J. Beneficial effects of a pyrroloquinolinequinone-containing dietary formulation on motor deficiency, cognitive decline and mitochondrial dysfunction in a mouse model of Alzheimer''s disease. Heliyon. 3(4) : e00279, 2017.
  • Flowers A, Bell-Temin H, Jalloh A, Stevens SM, Bickford PC. Proteomic anaysis of aged microglia: shifts in transcription, bioenergetics, and nutrient response. Journal of neuroinflammation. 14(1) : 96, 2017.
  • El Bassit G, Patel RS, Carter G, Shibu V, Patel AA, Song S, Murr M, Cooper DR, Bickford PC, Patel NA. MALAT1 in Human Adipose Stem Cells Modulates Survival and Alternative Splicing of PKCδII in HT22 Cells. Endocrinology. 158(1) : 183-195, 2017.
  • Bickford PC, Flowers A, Grimmig B. Aging leads to altered microglial function that reduces brain resiliency increasing vulnerability to neurodegenerative diseases. Experimental gerontology. 94: 4-8, 2017.
  • Grimmig B, Kim SH, Nash K, Bickford PC, Douglas Shytle R. Neuroprotective mechanisms of astaxanthin: a potential therapeutic role in preserving cognitive function in age and neurodegeneration. GeroScience. 39(1) : 19-32, 2017.
  • Flowers A, Lee JY, Grimmig B, Acosta S, Hudson C, Small B, Sanberg CD, Bickford PC. Erratum to: NT-020 treatment reduces inflammation and augments Nrf-2 and Wnt signaling in aged rats. Journal of Neuroinflammation. 13(1) : 229, 2016.
  • Jin J, Grimmig B, Izzo J, Brown LA, Hudson C, Smith AJ, Tan J, Bickford PC, Giunta B. HIV Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor Efavirenz Reduces Neural Stem Cell Proliferation In Vitro and In Vivo. Cell transplantation. 25(11) : 1967-1977, 2016.
  • Bell-Temin H, Culver-Cochran AE, Chaput D, Carlson CM, Kuehl MN, Burkhardt BR, Bickford PC, Liu B, Stevens SM. Novel molecular insights into classical and alternative activation states of microglia as revealed by SILAC-based proteomics. Molecular & cellular proteomics : MCP. , 2015.
  • Nash KR, Moran P, Finneran DJ, Hudson C, Robinson J, Morgan D, Bickford PC. Fractalkine over expression suppresses α-synuclein-mediated neurodegeneration. Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy. 23(1) : 17-23, 2015.
  • Shahaduzzaman M, Nash K, Hudson C, Sharif M, Grimmig B, Lin X, Bai G, Liu H, Ugen KE, Cao C, Bickford PC. Anti-human α-synuclein N-terminal peptide antibody protects against dopaminergic cell death and ameliorates behavioral deficits in an AAV-α-synuclein rat model of Parkinson''s disease. PloS one. 10(2) : e0116841, 2015.
  • Bickford PC, Kaneko Y, Grimmig B, Pappas C, Small B, Sanberg CD, Sanberg PR, Tan J, Douglas Shytle R. Nutraceutical intervention reverses the negative effects of blood from aged rats on stem cells. Age (Dordrecht, Netherlands). 37(5) : 103, 2015.
  • Flowers A, Lee JY, Acosta S, Hudson C, Small B, Sanberg CD, Bickford PC. NT-020 treatment reduces inflammation and augments Nrf-2 and Wnt signaling in aged rats. Journal of neuroinflammation. 12(1) : 174, 2015.
  • Tajiri N, Acosta SA, Shahaduzzaman M, Ishikawa H, Shinozuka K, Pabon M, Hernandez-Ontiveros D, Kim DW, Metcalf C, Staples M, Dailey T, Vasconcellos J, Franyuti G, Gould L, Patel N, Cooper D, Kaneko Y, Borlongan CV, Bickford PC. Intravenous transplants of human adipose-derived stem cell protect the brain from traumatic brain injury-induced neurodegeneration and motor and cognitive impairments: cell graft biodistribution and soluble factors in young and aged rats. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 34(1) : 313-26, 2014.
  • Small BJ, Rawson KS, Martin C, Eisel SL, Sanberg CD, McEvoy CL, Sanberg PR, Shytle RD, Tan J, Bickford PC. Nutraceutical intervention improves older adults'' cognitive functioning. Rejuvenation research. 17(1) : 27-32, 2014.
  • Nash KR, Lee DC, Hunt JB, Morganti JM, Selenica ML, Moran P, Reid P, Brownlow M, Guang-Yu Yang C, Savalia M, Gemma C, Bickford PC, Gordon MN, Morgan D. Fractalkine overexpression suppresses tau pathology in a mouse model of tauopathy. Neurobiology of aging. 34(6) : 1540-8, 2013.
  • Winter AN, Bickford PC. Anthocyanins and Their Metabolites as Therapeutic Agents for Neurodegenerative Disease. Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland). 8(9) , 2019.
  • Acosta SA, Tajiri N, Shinozuka K, Ishikawa H, Grimmig B, Diamond DM, Diamond D, Sanberg PR, Bickford PC, Kaneko Y, Borlongan CV. Long-term upregulation of inflammation and suppression of cell proliferation in the brain of adult rats exposed to traumatic brain injury using the controlled cortical impact model. PloS one. 8(1) : e53376, 2013.
  • Shahaduzzaman M, Acosta S, Bickford PC, Borlongan CV. α-Synuclein is a pathological link and therapeutic target for Parkinson''s disease and traumatic brain injury. Medical hypotheses. 81(4) : 675-80, 2013.
  • Shahaduzzaman M, Golden JE, Green S, Gronda AE, Adrien E, Ahmed A, Sanberg PR, Bickford PC, Gemma C, Willing AE. A single administration of human umbilical cord blood T cells produces long-lasting effects in the aging hippocampus. Age (Dordrecht, Netherlands). 35(6) : 2071-87, 2013.
  • Apostolatos A, Song S, Acosta S, Peart M, Watson JE, Bickford P, Cooper DR, Patel NA. Insulin promotes neuronal survival via the alternatively spliced protein kinase CδII isoform. The Journal of biological chemistry. 287(12) : 9299-310, 2012.
  • Morganti JM, Nash KR, Grimmig BA, Ranjit S, Small B, Bickford PC, Gemma C. The soluble isoform of CX3CL1 is necessary for neuroprotection in a mouse model of Parkinson''s disease. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 32(42) : 14592-601, 2012.
  • Pabon MM, Jernberg JN, Morganti J, Contreras J, Hudson CE, Klein RL, Bickford PC. A spirulina-enhanced diet provides neuroprotection in an α-synuclein model of Parkinson''s disease. PloS one. 7(9) : e45256, 2012.
  • Shytle RD, Bickford PC, Rezai-zadeh K, Hou L, Zeng J, Tan J, Sanberg PR, Sanberg CD, Roschek B, Fink RC, Alberte RS. Optimized turmeric extracts have potent anti-amyloidogenic effects. Current Alzheimer research. 6(6) : 564-71, 2009.
  • Tajiri N, Acosta S, Glover LE, Bickford PC, Jacotte Simancas A, Yasuhara T, Date I, Solomita MA, Antonucci I, Stuppia L, Kaneko Y, Borlongan CV. Intravenous grafts of amniotic fluid-derived stem cells induce endogenous cell proliferation and attenuate behavioral deficits in ischemic stroke rats. PloS one. 7(8) : e43779, 2012.
  • Morgan D, Landreth G, Bickford P. The promise and perils of an Alzheimer disease vaccine: a video debate. Journal of neuroimmune pharmacology : the official journal of the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology. 4(1) : 1-3, 2009.
  • Shytle RD, Tan J, Bickford PC, Rezai-Zadeh K, Hou L, Zeng J, Sanberg PR, Sanberg CD, Alberte RS, Fink RC, Roschek B. Optimized turmeric extract reduces β-Amyloid and phosphorylated Tau protein burden in Alzheimer''s transgenic mice. Current Alzheimer research. 9(4) : 500-6, 2012.
  • Berglöf E, Small BJ, Bickford PC, Strömberg I. Beneficial effects of antioxidant-enriched diet for tyrosine hydroxylase-positive neurons in ventral mesencephalic tissue in oculo grafts. The Journal of comparative neurology. 515(1) : 72-82, 2009.
  • Kaneko Y, Cortes L, Sanberg C, Acosta S, Bickford PC, Borlongan CV. Dietary supplementations as neuroprotective therapies: focus on NT-020 diet benefits in a rat model of stroke. International journal of molecular sciences. 13(6) : 7424-44, 2012.
  • Morgan D, Munireddy S, Alamed J, DeLeon J, Diamond DM, Bickford P, Hutton M, Lewis J, McGowan E, Gordon MN. Apparent behavioral benefits of tau overexpression in P301L tau transgenic mice. Journal of Alzheimer''s disease : JAD. 15(4) : 605-14, 2008.
  • Bachstetter AD, Pabon MM, Cole MJ, Hudson CE, Sanberg PR, Willing AE, Bickford PC, Gemma C. Peripheral injection of human umbilical cord blood stimulates neurogenesis in the aged rat brain. BMC neuroscience. 9: 22, 2008.
  • Rogers JT, Morganti JM, Bachstetter AD, Hudson CE, Peters MM, Grimmig BA, Weeber EJ, Bickford PC, Gemma C. CX3CR1 deficiency leads to impairment of hippocampal cognitive function and synaptic plasticity. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 31(45) : 16241-50, 2011.
  • Rezai-Zadeh K, Ehrhart J, Bai Y, Sanberg PR, Bickford P, Tan J, Shytle RD. Apigenin and luteolin modulate microglial activation via inhibition of STAT1-induced CD40 expression. Journal of neuroinflammation. 5: 41, 2008.
  • Pabon MM, Bachstetter AD, Hudson CE, Gemma C, Bickford PC. CX3CL1 reduces neurotoxicity and microglial activation in a rat model of Parkinson''s disease. Journal of neuroinflammation. 8: 9, 2011.
  • Zhu Y, Bickford PC, Sanberg P, Giunta B, Tan J. Blueberry opposes beta-amyloid peptide-induced microglial activation via inhibition of p44/42 mitogen-activation protein kinase. Rejuvenation research. 11(5) : 891-901, 2008.
  • Zhu Y, Hou H, Rezai-Zadeh K, Giunta B, Ruscin A, Gemma C, Jin J, Dragicevic N, Bradshaw P, Rasool S, Glabe CG, Ehrhart J, Bickford P, Mori T, Obregon D, Town T, Tan J. CD45 deficiency drives amyloid-β peptide oligomers and neuronal loss in Alzheimer''s disease mice. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 31(4) : 1355-65, 2011.
  • Garbuzova-Davis S, Sanberg CD, Kuzmin-Nichols N, Willing AE, Gemma C, Bickford PC, Miller C, Rossi R, Sanberg PR. Human umbilical cord blood treatment in a mouse model of ALS: optimization of cell dose. PloS one. 3(6) : e2494, 2008.
  • Willis LM, Freeman L, Bickford PC, Quintero EM, Umphlet CD, Moore AB, Goetzl L, Granholm AC. Blueberry supplementation attenuates microglial activation in hippocampal intraocular grafts to aged hosts. Glia. 58(6) : 679-90, 2010.
  • Zhu Y, Hou H, Nikolic WV, Ehrhart J, Rrapo E, Bickford P, Giunta B, Tan J. CD45RB is a novel molecular therapeutic target to inhibit Abeta peptide-induced microglial MAPK activation. PloS one. 3(5) : e2135, 2008.
  • Paredes D, Acosta S, Gemma C, Bickford PC. Role of TNFα Induced Inflammation in Delay Eyeblink Conditioning in Young and Aged Rats. Aging and disease. 1(3) : 191-198, 2010.
  • Coultrap SJ, Bickford PC, Browning MD. Blueberry-enriched diet ameliorates age-related declines in NMDA receptor-dependent LTP. Age (Dordrecht, Netherlands). 30(4) : 263-72, 2008.
  • Gemma C, Bachstetter AD, Bickford PC. Neuron-Microglia Dialogue and Hippocampal Neurogenesis in the Aged Brain. Aging and disease. 1(3) : 232-244, 2010.
  • Willis LM, Small BJ, Bickford PC, Umphlet CD, Moore AB, Granholm AC. Dietary blueberry supplementation affects growth but not vascularization of neural transplants. Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism. 28(6) : 1150-64, 2008.
  • Acosta S, Jernberg J, Sanberg CD, Sanberg PR, Small BJ, Gemma C, Bickford PC. NT-020, a natural therapeutic approach to optimize spatial memory performance and increase neural progenitor cell proliferation and decrease inflammation in the aged rat. Rejuvenation research. 13(5) : 581-8, 2010.
  • Bachstetter AD, Jernberg J, Schlunk A, Vila JL, Hudson C, Cole MJ, Shytle RD, Tan J, Sanberg PR, Sanberg CD, Borlongan C, Kaneko Y, Tajiri N, Gemma C, Bickford PC. Spirulina promotes stem cell genesis and protects against LPS induced declines in neural stem cell proliferation. PloS one. 5(5) : e10496, 2010.
  • Smith A, Giunta B, Bickford PC, Fountain M, Tan J, Shytle RD. Nanolipidic particles improve the bioavailability and alpha-secretase inducing ability of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) for the treatment of Alzheimer''s disease. International journal of pharmaceutics. 389(1-2) : 207-12, 2010.
  • Shytle DR, Tan J, Ehrhart J, Smith AJ, Sanberg CD, Sanberg PR, Anderson J, Bickford PC. Effects of blue-green algae extracts on the proliferation of human adult stem cells in vitro: a preliminary study. Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research. 16(1) : BR1-5, 2010.
  • Kaneko Y Eve DJ Yu S Shojo H Bae EC Park DH Roschek B Jr Alberte RS Sanberg PR Sanberg CD Bickford PC Borlongan CV. Acute Treatment With Herbal Extracts Provides Neuroprotective Benefits in In Vitro and In Vivo Stroke Models, Characterized by Reduced Ischemic Cell Death and Maintenance of Motor and Neurological Functions. Cell Med. 1(3) : 137-142, 2010.
  • Bachstetter AD, Morganti JM, Jernberg J, Schlunk A, Mitchell SH, Brewster KW, Hudson CE, Cole MJ, Harrison JK, Bickford PC, Gemma C. Fractalkine and CX(3)CR1 regulate hippocampal neurogenesis in adult and aged rats. Neurobiology of aging. 32(11) : 2030-2044, 2009.