MARIO I. ROMERO-ORTEGA, PH.D
Assistant Professor
Department of Neurology
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Blvd. Dallas Texas, 75390-9036
Tel. 214-648-2564 Fax. 214-649-6306
E-Mail mario.romero-ortega@utsouthwestern.edu
Director
Gene Transfer and Nerve Regeneration Division
Seay Center for Musculoskeletal Research
Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children
2222 Welborn St. Dallas, Texas 75219
Office: 214-648-8455 Lab: 214-648-8377 Fax. 214-559-8384
E-Mail: mario.romero@tsrh.org
PERSONNEL:
PEDRO GALVAN-GARCIA, M.S., Senior Research Assistant
RUSS DANIEL, Laboratory Technician
AREAS OF INTEREST:
NERVE DEVELOPMENT, INJURY, AND REPAIR
The studies conducted in my lab focus on understanding the mechanisms that govern nerve development and the biology of nerve injury, and in the incorporation of that knowledge into novel repair strategies for nerve regeneration.
The complex development of the brain and spinal cord is dictated by molecular cues that instruct axonal growth and guidance, target recognition and synaptogenesis. Our studies have identified the role of ephrin-B3 as a midline repellent that prevents the re-crossing of corticospinal axons in the spinal cord, and suggested a link between ephrin-B3 and mirror movement disorders in humans.
ENTICING NERVE GROWTH THROUGH GENE TRANSFER
The developmental nervous system is permissive for neuronal growth. We have aimed at recapitulating the developmental growth program in the injured adult nervous system. By using novel gene transferring methods to induce conditional expression of neurotrophic factors and guidance molecules, we have successfully induced a subpopulation of sensory axons to regenerate into the injured spinal cord. This regeneration was extremely robust, and it resulted in near normal recovery of thermal sensation.
THE TSRHC BIOSYNTHETIC NERVE IMPLANT (BNI)
The diagnosis and treatment of injury to the peripheral nervous system is one of the greatest challenges in neurological and orthopedic surgery. While most of these injuries involve nerves within the head and spine, 5-10% of patients are found to have peripheral nerve defects. Nerve gaps created by tissue loss are repaired by the sacrifice of healthy nerves (i.e., an autologous nerve), which are then used as grafts to bridge the nerve defect. This method is currently the gold standard in peripheral nerve gap repair; however, this approach is less than optimal and bears significant side effects.
Non-neural tissue and synthetic biomaterials have been used as alternatives for nerve grafts for over a century, with some success.
Our goal is to develop a biosynthetic nerve that not only will eliminate the burden of sacrificing healthy nerves, but that will incorporate modern genetic and biomaterial technology to entice and direct of peripheral nerve regeneration.
Selected Publications:
Ma L, Harada T, Harada H, Romero MI, Hebert JM, McConnell SK, Parada LF (2002) Neurotrophin-3 is required for appropriate establishment of thalamocortical connections. Neuron 36:623-634.
Romero MI, Rangappa N, Garry MG, Smith GM (2001). Functional regeneration of chronically-injured sensory afferents into adult spinal cord following neurotrophin gene therapy. J Neuroscience. 21(21):8408-8416.
Zhu Y, Romero MI, Ghosh P, Ye Z, Charnay P, Rushing EJ, Marth JD, Parada LF (2001). Ablation of NF1 function in neuruons induces abnormal development of cerebral cortex and reactive gliosis in brain. Genes and Development 15:859-876.
Yokoyama N. Romero MI*. Cowan CA. Galvan P. Helmbacher F. Charnay P. Parada LF. Henkemeyer M (2001). Forward signaling mediated by ephrin-B3 prevents contralateral corticospinal axons from recrossing the spinal cord midline. Neuron 29(1):85-97.
Romero MI, Rangappa N, Li L, Lightfoot S, Garry MG, Smith GM (2000). Extensive sprouting of sensory afferents and hyperalgesia induced by conditional expression of NGF into the adult spinal cord. J Neuroscience 20(12):4435-4445.
Mario I. Romero received his Ph.D. from Tulane University. Honors include Associate Membership to the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation Research Consortium on Spinal Cord Injury.
