Sanders-Brown Faculty

Peter T. Nelson, M.D.,Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Departmental Affiliation(s):

Pathology, Division of Neuropathology

Research Focus:

Non-coding RNA in neurodegenerative disease

In the lab:

Dr. Wang-Xia Wang

Dr. Bernard R. Wilfred

Ms. Willa Huang

James Dimayuga

Work on RNA biology may help point toward strategies to 'un-tangle' the biological questions of Alzheimer's disease, such as why neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles develop in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. (lower left figure shows a low-power photomicrograph depicting miRNA in situ hybridization from human hippocampus; and, at lower right, a medium-power photomicrograph shows human brain stained with a silver impregnation technique to highlight the abnormal and unhealthy-appearing brain microenvironment).

Research Interests:

Dr. Nelson is an experimental neuropathologist whose research focuses upon the molecular neurochemistry of the human brain —in health and in neurodegenerative disease —particularly in the context of RNA biology. The study of small regulatory RNAs is a relatively new and unexplored research field with much potential. Dr. Nelson's work has focused upon the predominant small regulatory RNA subtype in humans (and in all animals), which are termed microRNAs (miRNAs). MiRNAs subserve fundamental biological functions in all animals studied. He invented new techniques to analyze and manipulate these small molecules, and studies how miRNA biology is altered in neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Nelson seeks both to understand how miRNAs contribute to disease pathogenesis, and to explore how specially-designed RNAs may be applied for therapeutic strategies.

Recent Publications:

Wang W-X, Rajeev, BW, Stromberg AJ, Ren N, Tang G, Huang Q, Rigoutsos I, and Nelson PT. The expression of microRNA miR-107 decreases early in Alzheimer’s disease and may accelerate disease progression through regulation of BACE1. J Neurosci (in Press).

Nelson PT, Wang, W-X, Wilfred, BR, and Tang, G, Technical variables in high-throughput miRNA expression profiling: much work remains to be done. BBA Gene Regulatory Mechanisms (Submitted).

Wang, W-X, Rajeev, BW, Baldwin, DA, Isett, RB, Ren N, Stromberg, A., and Nelson PT. Focus on RNA isolation: obtaining RNA for microRNA (miRNA) expression profiling analyses of neural tissue. BBA Gene Regulatory Mechanisms (In Press).

Nelson PT, Wang, W-X, and Rajeev, BW. MicroRNAs in neurodegeneration. Brain Pathology (In press).

Wang, W-X, Nelson PT, and Tang, G, RNA interference and miRNA pathways: mechanisms and protein machinery. Wiley Encyclopedia of Chemical Biology (In press).

Nelson PT, Jicha, GA, Schmitt, FA, Liue, H, Davis, DG, Mendiondo, MS, Abner, EL, and Markesbery, WR, Clinicopathological correlations in a large Alzheimer Disease Center autopsy cohort: neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles "do count" when staging disease severity. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2007 Dec; 66(12): 1136-1146.

Nelson PT, De Planell-Saguer M, Lamprinaki S, Kiriakidou M, Zhang P, O'Doherty U, Mourelatos Z. A novel monoclonal antibody against human Argonaute proteins reveals unexpected characteristics of miRNAs in human blood cells. RNA. 2007 Oct;13(10):1787-92.

Nelson PT, Keller JN. RNA in brain disease: no longer just "the messenger in the middle". J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2007 Jun;66(6):461-8.

Kiriakidou M, Tan GS, Lamprinaki S, De Planell-Saguer M, Nelson PT, Mourelatos Z. An mRNA m7G cap binding-like motif within human Ago2 represses translation. Cell. 2007 Jun 15;129(6):1141-51.

Wilfred BR, Wang WX, Nelson PT. Energizing miRNA research: a review of the role of miRNAs in lipid metabolism, with a prediction that miR-103/107 regulates human metabolic pathways. Mol Genet Metab. 2007 Jul;91(3):209-17.

Nelson PT, Zhang PJ, Spagnoli GC, Tomaszewski JE, Pasha TL, Frosina D, Caballero OL, Simpson AJ, Old LJ, Jungbluth AA. Cancer/testis (CT) antigens are expressed in fetal ovary. Cancer Immun. 2007 Jan 12;7:1.