David Attwell

Before a post-doc researching the retina with Frank Werblin in Berkeley, Prof. Attwell completed a PhD in Neuroscience with Julian Jack at Oxford; he then established his own lab at UCL. Using techniques like patch-clamping, 2-photon imaging, immunolabelling and mathematical modelling, the Attwell Lab carries out a diverse research focusing on the intercommunication between neurons, glial cells (microglia, oligodendrocytes, astrocytes) and the vasculature, and on the energy supply to the brain. Attwell’s lab has made progress in different studies, among which, as a glance into the lab’s research topics, their findings on the pericyte has demonstrate its role in controlling of brain blood flow, which can be dysregulated during ischaemic conditions, where the pericytes are readily killed. The lab also showed that oligodendrocyte death induced by calcium influx through novel TPR channels during ischaemia may contribute to white matter damage. By employing the knowledge the molecular features behind tissue damage, the Attwell Lab is actively transferring their findings in rodents models towards new treatments for human patients. They are working on pericyte as a therapeutic target in stroke, and have already discovered a drug which prevents them constricting capillaries and dying in ischaemia. Furthermore, Attwell and his group are investigating the properties of human pericytes in living tissue taken from neurosurgical operations, and extending their work on brain pericytes to other organs.

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University College London

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Microglia 1 Oligodendrocytes 1 TRP Channels 1 Astrocytes 1 Brain Energy Use 1 Pericytes 1

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  1. Nortley R, Korte N, Izquierdo P, Hirunpattarasilp C, Mishra A, Jaunmuktane Z, Kyrargyri V, Pfeiffer T, Khennouf L, Madry C, Gong H, Richard-Loendt A, Huang W, Saito T, Saido TC, Brandner S, Sethi H, Attwell D. (2019) Amyloid oligomers constrict human capillaries in Alzheimer's disease via signaling to pericytes. Science 365, 250 DOI: 10.1126/science.aav9518.

  2. Krasnow, A.M., Ford, M.C., Valdivia, L.E., Wilson, S.W. & Attwell, D. (2018) Regulation of developing myelin sheath elongation by oligodendrocyte calcium transients in vivo. Nature Neurosci. 21, 24-28.

  3. Jolly, S., Bazargani, N., Quiroga, A.C., Pringle, N.P., Attwell, D., Richardson, W.D. & Li, H. (2018) G protein-coupled receptor 37-like 1 modulates astrocyte glutamate transporters and neuronal NMDA receptors and is neuroprotective in ischemia. Glia 66, 47-61.

  4. Madry, C., Kyrargyri, V., Arancibia-Cárcamo, I.L., Jolivet, R., Kohsaka, S., Bryan, R.M. & Attwell, D. Microglial Ramification, Surveillance, and Interleukin-1 Release Are Regulated by the Two-Pore Domain K+ channel THIK-1. Neuron. 2018 Jan 17;97, 299-312.

  5. O'Farrell, F.M., Mastitskaya, S., Hammond-Haley, M., Freitas, F., Wah, W.R. & Attwell, D. (2017) Capillary pericytes mediate coronary no-reflow after myocardial ischaemia. Elife. 2017 Nov 9;6. pii: e29280. doi: 10.7554/eLife.29280.


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