JEFFREY L. SPEES

Associate Professor, Medicine

Ph.D., University of California, Davis 2001
Postdoctoral training, Tulane University Health Sciences

Jeffrey.Spees@uvm.edu

The Spees Lab explores the amazing ability of adult stem cells to repair tissues both ex vivo and in vivo. We are currently characterizing different sub-populations of adult non-hematopoietic stem cells and their potential to ameliorate cardiac and neural tissue injury through cellular differentiation, cell fusion, and growth factor/cytokine secretion.

With collaborators in the Center for Gene Therapy, Tulane University, we recently discovered a new mode of tissue repair: mitochondrial transfer from adult stem cells to cells with non-functional mitochondria. We are currently testing the repair of damaged cardiac myocytes by mito-transfer.

We have proposed a series of experiments to test the central hypothesis that sub-populations of adult stem cells from human bone marrow can effectively engraft and repair the injured brain by influencing the proliferation and differentiation of endogenous CNS progenitors.

Shimada IS, Borders A, Aronshtam A, Spees JL. (2011) Proliferating Reactive Astrocytes Are Regulated by Notch-1 in the Peri-Infarct Area After Stroke. Stroke.

Bakondi B, Shimada IS, Peterson BM, Spees JL. (2011) SDF-1α secreted by human CD133-derived multipotent stromal cells promotes neural progenitor cell survival through CXCR7. Stem Cells Dev. 20(6):1021-9.

Shimada IS, Spees JL. (2011) Stem and progenitor cells for neurological repair: minor issues, major hurdles, and exciting opportunities for paracrine-based therapeutics. J Cell Biochem. 112(2):374-80.

Kendirci M, Trost L, Bakondi B, Whitney MJ, Hellstrom WJ, Spees JL. (2010) Transplantation of nonhematopoietic adult bone marrow stem/progenitor cells isolated by p75 nerve growth factor receptor into the penis rescues erectile function in a rat model of cavernous nerve injury. J Urol. 184(4):1560-6.

Shimada IS, Peterson BM, Spees JL. (2010) Isolation of locally derived stem/progenitor cells from the peri-infarct area that do not migrate from the lateral ventricle after cortical stroke. Stroke. 41(9).

Bakondi B, Shimada IS, Perry A, Munoz JR, Ylostalo J, Howard AB, Gregory CA, Spees JL. (2009) CD133 identifies a human bone marrow stem/progenitor cell sub-population with a repertoire of secreted factors that protect against stroke. Mol Ther. 17(11):1938-47.

Spees JL, Olson SD, Whitney MJ, Prockop DJ. (2006). Mitochondrial transfer between cells can rescue aerobic respiration. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.103(5):1283-8.

Munoz JR, Stoutenger BR, Robinson AP, Spees JL, Prockop DJ. (2005). Human stem/progenitor cells from bone marrow promote neurogenesis of endogenous neural stem cells in the hippocampus of mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 102(50):18171-6.

Gregory CA, Prockop DJ, Spees JL. (2005). Non-hematopoietic bone marrow stem cells: molecular control of expansion and differentiation. Exp Cell Res. 306(2):330-5.

Spees JL, Gregory CA, Singh H, Tucker HA, Peister A, Lynch PJ, Hsu SC, Smith J, Prockop DJ. (2004) Internalized antigens must be removed to prepare hypoimmunogenic mesenchymal stem cells for cell and gene therapy. Mol Ther. 9(5):747-56.

Spees JL, Olson SD, Ylostalo J, Lynch PJ, Smith J, Perry A, Peister A, Wang MY, Prockop DJ. (2003). Differentiation, cell fusion, and nuclear fusion during ex vivo repair of epithelium by human adult stem cells from bone marrow stroma. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 100(5):2397-402.

Publications via PubMed