Professor Robin Franklin
Adult neural stem cells and CNS regeneration
Email: rjf1000@cam.ac.uk
Laboratory: Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre
Departmental Affiliation: Clinical Neurosciences; Cambridge Neurosciences
Biography
Robin Franklin is Professor of Stem Cell Medicine. He obtained his undergraduate degrees in Physiology and Veterinary Medicine and his PhD in Neuroscience. He is at the forefront of studying the mechanisms of myelin regeneration (remyelination), providing insights into how adult stem cells differentiate into oligodendrocytes and other glial cell types, and how this process is altered by ageing. He was formerly Director of the UK MS Society Cambridge Centre for Myelin Repair, a consortium of Cambridge-based scientists and clinicians working towards stem-cell-based therapies for myelin regeneration. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and won the 2017 Barancik Prize for Research Innovation and the 2021 King Faisal Prize for Medicine.
Funding
MS Society, Wellcome, MRC, AMRF, BIRAX, Biogen, DDF
CNS progenitor cells isolated from the aged adult rodent brain (Credit: Dr Bjoern Neumann)
Research
The Franklin lab studies the mechanisms of Central Nervous System (CNS) regeneration with a particular focus on remyelination, a regenerative process mediated by adult stem cells in which new myelin sheaths are restored to demyelinated axons. Using a wide range of experimental approaches, we are examining extrinsic (environmental) and intrinsic (transcriptional/epigenetic) factors that govern the regenerative responses of adult CNS stem cells to injury and how this altered by ageing. The potential medical benefits of this research are to stop nerve cell degeneration and therefore provide a treatment for the currently untreatable secondary progressive phase of multiple sclerosis.
Group Members
Juan Cubillos, Penelope Dimas, Tanay Ghosh, Ginez Gonzalez, Myfanwy Hill, Peggy Assinck, Bjoern Neumann, Feride Oeztuerk-Winder, Khalil Rawji, Amar Sharma, Adam Young, Civia Chen, Chao Zhao
Interview for the US National Multiple Sclerosis Society can be read here.
Plain English
In our lab we study how stem cells in the adult brain respond to damage or disease and are able to replace lost cells. Our particular interest is in the regeneration of oligodendrocytes, the cells that make the insulating coating (myelin) around fibres on which their function and survival depends.
Key Publications
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Neumann B, Baror R, Zhao C, Segel M, Dietmann S, Rawji KS, Foerster S, McClain C, Chalut KC, van Wijngaarden P, Franklin RJM (2019) Metformin restores the potential of aged stem cells for remyelination of the central nervous system. Cell Stem Cell 25: 473-485. PMID: 31585093/PMCID: PMC6863391
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Segel M, Neumann B, Hill MFE, Weber I, Viscomi C, Zhao C, Young A, Agley CC, Thompson AJ, Gonzalez G, Sharma A, Holmqvist S, Rowitch DH, Franze K, Franklin RJM*, Chalut KC*. Niche stiffness underlies the aging of central nervous system progenitor cells. Nature 573: 130-134. PMID: 31413369/PMCID: PMC7025879
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McMurran CE, Guzman de la Fuente A, Penalva R, Ben Menachem-Zidon O, Dombrowski Y, Falconer J, Gonzalez GA, Zhao C, Krause FN, Young AMH, Griffin JL, Jones CA, Hollins C, Heimesaat MM, Fitzgerald DC*, Franklin RJM* (2019) The microbiota regulates murine inflammatory responses to toxin-induced CNS demyelination but has minimal impact on remyelination. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 15: 201905787. PMID: 31740610/PMCID: PMC6911206
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Ruckh JM, Zhao JW, ShadrachJL, van WijngaardenP, Rao TN, WagersAJ, Franklin RJM (2012) Rejuvenation of regeneration in the aging central nervous system. Cell Stem Cell 10: 96-103. PMCID:PMC3714794
- Huang JK, Jarjour AA, Nait Oumesmar B, Kerninon C, Williams A, Krezel W, Kagechika H, Bauer J, Zhao C, Baron van Evercooren A, Chambon P, ffrench-Constant C, Franklin RJM (2011) Retinoid X receptor gamma signaling accelerates CNS remyelination. Nature Neuroscience 14: 45-53. PMCID:PMC4013508
- Zawadzka M, Rivers LE, Fancy SPJ, Zhao C, Tripathi R, Jamen F, Young K, Goncharevich A, Pohl H, Rizzi M, Rowitch DH, Kessaris N, Suter U, Richardosn WD, Franklin RJM (2010) CNS-resident glial progenitor/stem cells prodcude Schwann cells as well as oligodendrocytes during repair of CNS demyelination. Cell Stem Cell 6: 578-590. PMCID:PMC3856868