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Isabelle Aubert

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Isabelle Aubert is a Canadian neuroscientist with expertise in developing regenerative therapies for neurodegenerative disorders (including Alzheimer's disease). She is a senior scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute (where she leads Sunnybrook's Brain Repair Group), and is a professor in laboratory medicine and pathobiology at the University of Toronto.[1] In 2019, Aubert was appointed as a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Brain Repair and Regeneration.[2][3]

Research

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Aubert's research involves developing treatments to protect and repair the brain after illness or injury, including a novel gene therapy to reprogram brain cells, and using low-intensity focused ultrasound guided by MRI to bypass the blood-brain barrier and deliver therapeutics to specific areas of the brain.[4][5][6] The latter is a minimally invasive technique, where using MRI to visualize target areas in the brain, microbubbles are injected into the bloodstream.[4] Focused ultrasound is then used to make the microbubbles vibrate, temporarily opening the blood-brain barrier for a few hours. During this time period, therapeutics can be injected into the bloodstream, which will reach the targeted areas in the brain.[4] Aubert is using this technique to develop regenerative therapies for neurodegenerative disorders.

Research from Aubert's lab has demonstrated that using focused ultrasound to deliver antibodies into the brains of mice with Alzheimer's disease results in a reduction of amyloid-beta plaques (a hallmark characteristic of Alzheimer's), and that it is possible to safely open the blood-brain barrier using focused ultrasound in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).[4][7][8] Aubert's lab has also demonstrated that MRI-guided focused ultrasound can be used to deliver the D3 molecule (a growth factor-related therapeutic) to cholinergic neurons (memory-related brain cells, which are vulnerable in Alzheimer's disease) into the brains of mice with Alzheimer's disease.[9][1][10][11]

Aubert has published over 150 academic publications, which have been cited over 6,000 times, resulting in an h-index and i10-index of 36 and 63 respectively.[12] In 2019, Aubert received a $100,000 one-year grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to "explore the use of genetic engineering of brain cells so that they can make antibodies against the toxic proteins related to the pathology of Alzheimer's disease."[13][14]

Selected academic publications

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  • Ultrasound delivery of a TrkA agonist confers neuroprotection to Alzheimer-associated pathologies. Kristiana Xhima, Kelly Markham-Coultes, Rikke Hahn Kofoed, H Uri Saragovi, Kullervo Hynynen and Isabelle Aubert. Brain. 2021.[10]
  • Apolipoprotein E4 allele as a predictor of cholinergic deficits and treatment outcome in Alzheimer disease. Judes Poirier, Marie-Claude Delisle, Remi Quirion, Isabelle Aubert, Martin Farlow, Debmoi Lahiri, Siu Hui, Philippe Bertrand, Josephine Nalbantoglu, and Brian M Gilfix. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 1995.[15]
  • Blood–brain barrier opening in Alzheimer's disease using MR-guided focused ultrasound. Nir Lipsman, Ying Meng, Allison J Bethune, Yuexi Huang, Benjamin Lam, Mario Masellis, Nathan Herrmann, Chinthaka Heyn, Isabelle Aubert, Alexandre Boutet, Gwenn S Smith, Kullervo Hynynen, and Sandra E Black. Nature Communications. 2018.[16]
  • Comparative alterations of nicotinic and muscarinic binding sites in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. I Aubert, DM Araujo, D Cecyre, Y Robitaille, S Gauthier, and R Quirion. Journal of neurochemistry. 1992.[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b Sexton, Samantha (2022-10-14). "Behind the research: New study finds focused ultrasound enhances delivery of brain therapeutic and improves cognition in Alzheimer's". Your Health Matters. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  2. ^ "Isabelle Aubert". Canada Research Chairs.
  3. ^ "From exploring immigrant identities to treating cancer: U of T awarded 31 Canada Research Chairs". University of Toronto News. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  4. ^ a b c d "Partner Content | 'Feasible science fiction': Toronto researchers team up to advance treatments to repair the brain". thestar.com. 2022-01-14. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  5. ^ "Breaching the blood-brain barrier - Your Impact - Sunnybrook Foundation". sunnybrook.ca. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  6. ^ André Picard (2019-01-01). "Focused ultrasounds allow scalpel-free brain surgery". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  7. ^ "Focused ultrasound successful in phase one of world-first trial to treat ALS: study - Sunnybrook Research Institute". sunnybrook.ca. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  8. ^ Abrahao, Agessandro; Meng, Ying; Llinas, Maheleth; Huang, Yuexi; Hamani, Clement; Mainprize, Todd; Aubert, Isabelle; Heyn, Chinthaka; Black, Sandra E.; Hynynen, Kullervo; Lipsman, Nir; Zinman, Lorne (2019-09-26). "First-in-human trial of blood–brain barrier opening in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis using MR-guided focused ultrasound". Nature Communications. 10 (1): 4373. Bibcode:2019NatCo..10.4373A. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-12426-9. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 6763482. PMID 31558719. S2CID 202762542.
  9. ^ Xhima, K.; Markham-Coultes, K.; Nedev, H.; Heinen, S.; Saragovi, H. U.; Hynynen, K.; Aubert, I. (2020-01-24). "Focused ultrasound delivery of a selective TrkA agonist rescues cholinergic function in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease". Science Advances. 6 (4): eaax6646. Bibcode:2020SciA....6.6646X. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aax6646. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 6976301. PMID 32010781.
  10. ^ a b Xhima, Kristiana; Markham-Coultes, Kelly; Hahn Kofoed, Rikke; Saragovi, H Uri; Hynynen, Kullervo; Aubert, Isabelle (2021-12-17). "Ultrasound delivery of a TrkA agonist confers neuroprotection to Alzheimer-associated pathologies". Brain. 145 (8): 2806–2822. doi:10.1093/brain/awab460. ISSN 0006-8950. PMC 9420023. PMID 34919633.
  11. ^ "Researchers first to use ultrasound to deliver a compound that stimulates brain cell communication in mice with Alzheimer's disease - Sunnybrook Research Institute". sunnybrook.ca. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  12. ^ "Isabelle Aubert". scholar.google.ca. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  13. ^ "Scientists secure investment from federal research funding agency - Sunnybrook Research Institute". sunnybrook.ca. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  14. ^ "Women in science: a lab of their own - SRI Magazine 2018 - Sunnybrook Research Institute". sunnybrook.ca. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  15. ^ Poirier, J; Delisle, M C; Quirion, R; Aubert, I; Farlow, M; Lahiri, D; Hui, S; Bertrand, P; Nalbantoglu, J; Gilfix, B M (1995-12-19). "Apolipoprotein E4 allele as a predictor of cholinergic deficits and treatment outcome in Alzheimer disease". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 92 (26): 12260–12264. Bibcode:1995PNAS...9212260P. doi:10.1073/pnas.92.26.12260. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 40336. PMID 8618881.
  16. ^ Lipsman, Nir; Meng, Ying; Bethune, Allison J.; Huang, Yuexi; Lam, Benjamin; Masellis, Mario; Herrmann, Nathan; Heyn, Chinthaka; Aubert, Isabelle; Boutet, Alexandre; Smith, Gwenn S.; Hynynen, Kullervo; Black, Sandra E. (2018-07-25). "Blood–brain barrier opening in Alzheimer's disease using MR-guided focused ultrasound". Nature Communications. 9 (1): 2336. Bibcode:2018NatCo...9.2336L. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04529-6. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 6060168. PMID 30046032.
  17. ^ Aubert, I.; Araujo, D. M.; Cécyre, D.; Robitaille, Y.; Gauthier, S.; Quirion, R. (February 1992). "Comparative Alterations of Nicotinic and Muscarinic Binding Sites in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases". Journal of Neurochemistry. 58 (2): 529–541. doi:10.1111/j.1471-4159.1992.tb09752.x. ISSN 0022-3042. PMID 1729398. S2CID 26476697.
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