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Tara Spires-Jones

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Tara L Spires-Jones, DPhil, FMedSci
2019 by Sparatires
Born
Tara Spires
Alma materUniversity of Texas at Austin University of Oxford
Known forResearching mechanisms of synapse degeneration in Alzheimer’s disease.
Scientific career
FieldsNeuroscience
InstitutionsMassachusetts General Hospital

Harvard Medical School

University of Edinburgh
Thesis Genetic and epigenetic interactions in activity-dependent cortical plasticity.  (2003)

Tara Spires-Jones is professor of neurodegeneration and Director of the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh.[1]

Education and career

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Spires-Jones studied as an undergraduate at the University of Texas at Austin, where she graduated as a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and a Bachelor of Arts in French in 1999. She was awarded a British Marshall Scholarship, which enabled her to undertake a D.Phil. in environmental influences on synapse development and degeneration with Prof Sir Colin Blakemore at the University of Oxford.[2] After completing her D.Phil. in 2004, Spires-Jones worked with Dr Bradley T Hyman as a postdoctoral research fellow in neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where she undertook research on synaptic degeneration and Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis.[2][3] Following her fellowship she remained at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School as an instructor from 2006 to 2011 and assistant professor from 2011 to 2013.[2] In 2013 Spires-Jones moved to Scotland to join the University of Edinburgh as reader and Chancellor's Fellow. She was awarded the Personal chair of Neurodegeneration at the university in 2017.

Spires-Jones is a Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS)-KAVLI Network of Excellence scholar,[2] a Scientific Advisory Board Member for Alzheimer's Research UK and the former chair of their Grant Review Board [4] and served as a member of the Scottish Government's Scottish Science Advisory Council.[5] Spires-Jones is founding editor of the translational neuroscience journal Brain Communications.[6] In 2024, Prof Spires-Jones was elected a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences.

She is an active member of the British Neuroscience Association, the UKs national society for neuroscientists, serving as president elect from 2021-2023, president 2023-2025, and immediate past president 2025-2027.[7]

Spires-Jones regularly engages in science communication, outreach and engagement,[8][9][10][11][12][13] and is a member of the Science Media Centre, advising journalists on science reporting, and commenting on new science stories.[14]

Research

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Spires-Jones' research focuses on mechanisms of neurodegeneration in diseases that cause dementia, other neurodegenerative diseases, and ageing.[15] She focuses specifically on the degeneration of synapse connections between neuronal braincells in Alzheimer's disease. She made the important discovery that soluble forms of amyloid beta and tau proteins that accumulate in neuropathological lesions in Alzheimer's disease both accumulate within synapses where they contribute to degeneration and cognitive decline. This work started in model systems where she showed that lowering levels of these toxic proteins allows functional recovery. Importantly, her team was the first to discover synaptic localisation of amyloid beta [16] and tau [17] in synapses in human Alzheimer’s brain. This was achieved using a technique she pioneered for use in human autopsy tissue.[18] She has several collaborations with industry, one of which has contributed to a clinical trial of a drug to remove amyloid beta from synapses in Alzheimer’s disease.[19]

The spread of tau pathology through the brain in Alzheimer’s disease correlates strongly with cognitive symptoms, and weherever tau pathology appears in the brain, neuron death occurs. Spires-Jones discovered that in addition to accumulating within synapses, tau spreads trans-synaptically through neural circuits. As a postdoc, she characterized tau pathology and neurodegeneration in the rTg4510 mouse model of tauopathy, the first robust tau mouse model.[20] As a junior faculty member at Harvard Medical School, Tara published a series of papers with Alix de Calignon who she co-supervised as a PhD student. In these studies, they found that tau aggregation in neurons counterintuitively protects cells from acute death [21] and that tau pathology propagates through neural circuits in mice.[22] In human brain, Tara’s group recently observed tau in pre and post-synapses supporting potential tau spread through synapses in human disease.[17] This paper won the Alzheimer's Association's 2024 Inge Grundke-Iqbal prize recognising the most impactful paper published over the previous two years. These data are important because stopping the spread of tau pathology through the brain has the potential to stop disease progression.

Spires-Jones’ research has also shown that alpha-synuclein protein builds up in synapses in Dementia with Lewy Bodies, suggesting that these connections enable the protein to jump between cells, spreading damage through the brain and causing symptoms of dementia.[23][24]

She has also made important discoveries linking two genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease, Apolipoprotein E4 and Clusterin to synaptic degeneration[25] and has contributed to understanding of synapse degeneration in motorneurone disease, and schizophrenia.[26]

Personal life

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As well as her academic career, Spires-Jones is also a member of the University of Edinburgh’s Acapella group. She is a tenor.

References

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  1. ^ "Prof Tara Spires-Jones". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
  2. ^ a b c d Office, FENS. "Tara SPIRES-JONES". FENS.org. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
  3. ^ "Professor Tara Spires-Jones | The Scottish Science Advisory Council". www.scottishscience.org.uk. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
  4. ^ "Scientist Focus: Dr Tara Spires-Jones | Alzheimer's Research UK Blog". www.dementiablog.org. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  5. ^ "Professor Tara Spires-Jones | The Scottish Science Advisory Council". www.scottishscience.org.uk. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  6. ^ "Brain Communications". Retrieved 2023-10-04.
  7. ^ "ANNOUNCING OUR NEW BNA PRESIDENT-ELECT: TARA SPIRES-JONES". British Neuroscience Association. 2021-04-15. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
  8. ^ "NCTalks with Tara Spires-Jones: ApoE4, synapse degeneration and Alzheimer's - Neuro Central". Neuro Central. 2018-04-09. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  9. ^ "Long Interview: Tara Spires-Jones, 14/07/2018, Good Morning Scotland - BBC Radio Scotland". BBC. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  10. ^ "expert reaction to study looking at nutrient drink and prodromal Alzheimer's disease | Science Media Centre". www.sciencemediacentre.org. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  11. ^ "Pharma giant ending Alzheimer's research". BBC News. 2018. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  12. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - BBC Inside Science, Alzheimers research, Lucy in the Scanner, Smart bandages, From supernovae to Hollywood". BBC. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  13. ^ "Tara Spires-Jones: the brain is complicated but funding research will bring progress | The Centre for Dementia Prevention". The Centre for Dementia Prevention. 2016-12-02. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  14. ^ "How the Science Media Centre Helps Avoid Face-Palm Moments When Reading the News - Digital Science". Digital Science. 2015-09-01. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  15. ^ "Tara Spires-Jones - Edinburgh Research Explorer". www.research.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  16. ^ Koffie, R. M., Hashimoto, T., Tai, H.-C., Kay, K. R., Serrano-Pozo, A., Joyner, D., Hou, S., Kopeikina, K. J., Frosch, M. P., Lee, V. M., Holtzman, D. M., Hyman, B. T., & Spires-Jones, T. L. (2013). "Apolipoprotein E4 effects in Alzheimer's disease are mediated by synaptotoxic oligomeric amyloid-beta". Brain. 135 (7): 2155–2168. doi:10.1093/brain/aws127. PMC 3381721. PMID 22637583.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ a b Colom-Cadena, M., Davies, C., Sirisi, S., Lee, J.-E., Simzer, E. M., Tzioras, M., Querol-Vilaseca, M., Sánchez-Aced, É., Chang, Y. Y., Holt, K., McGeachan, R. I., Rose, J., Tulloch, J., Wilkins, L., Smith, C., Andrian, T., Belbin, O., Pujals, S., Horrocks, M. H., Lleo, A., Spires-Jones, T. L. (2023). "Synaptic oligomeric tau in Alzheimer's disease—A potential culprit in the spread of tau pathology through the brain". Neuron. 111 (14): 2170–2183. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2023.04.020. hdl:20.500.11820/fd5293ab-4c35-452e-8a3e-7d7dbc5fa29f. PMID 37192625.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ Kay, K. R., Smith, C., Wright, A. K., Serrano-Pozo, A., Pooler, A. M., Koffie, R., Bastin, M. E., Bak, T. H., Abrahams, S., Kopeikina, K. J., McGuone, D., Frosch, M. P., Gillingwater, T. H., Hyman, B. T., & Spires-Jones, T. L. (2013). "Studying synapses in human brain with array tomography and electron microscopy". Nature Protocols. 8 (7): 1366–1380. doi:10.1038/nprot.2013.078. PMC 3712649. PMID 23787894.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ "CT1812". AlzForum. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
  20. ^ Santacruz, K., Lewis, J., Spires, T., Paulson, J., Kotilinek, L., Ingelsson, M., Guimaraes, A., DeTure, M., Ramsden, M., McGowan, E., Forster, C., Yue, M., Orne, J., Janus, C., Mariash, A., Kuskowski, M., Hyman, B., Hutton, M., & Ashe, K. H. (2005). "Tau suppression in a neurodegenerative mouse model improves memory function". Science. 309 (5733): 476–481. Bibcode:2005Sci...309..476S. doi:10.1126/science.1113694. PMC 1574647. PMID 16020737.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ de Calignon, A., Fox, L. M., Pitstick, R., Carlson, G. A., Bacskai, B. J., Spires-Jones, T. L., & Hyman, B. T. (2010). "Caspase activation precedes and leads to tangles". Nature. 464 (7292): 1201–1204. Bibcode:2010Natur.464.1201D. doi:10.1038/nature08890. PMC 3091360. PMID 20357768.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. ^ de Calignon, A., Polydoro, M., Suárez-Calvet, M., William, C., Adamowicz, D. H., Kopeikina, K. J., Pitstick, R., Sahara, N., Ashe, K. H., Carlson, G. A., Spires-Jones, T. L., & Hyman, B. T. (2012). "Propagation of tau pathology in a model of early Alzheimer's disease". Neuron. 73 (4): 685–697. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2011.11.033. PMC 3292759. PMID 22365544.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ "UK DRI: UK Dementia Research Institute | UK DRI: UK Dementia Research Institute". UK DRI: UK Dementia Research Institute. UK DRI: UK Dementia Research Institute. 2018-10-12. Retrieved 2018-10-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  24. ^ Colom-Cadena, M., Pegueroles, J., Herrmann, A. G., Henstridge, C. M., Muñoz, L., Querol-Vilaseca, M., Martín-Paniello, C. S., Luque-Cabecerans, J., Clarimon, J., Belbin, O., Núñez-Llaves, R., Blesa, R., Smith, C., McKenzie, C.-A., Frosch, M. P., Roe, A., Fortea, J., Andilla, J., Loza-Alvarez, P., Gelpi, E., Hyman, B. T., Spires-Jones, T. L.*, & Lleó, A. * (2017). "Synaptic phosphorylated α-synuclein in dementia with Lewy bodies". Brain. 140 (12): 3204–3214. doi:10.1093/brain/awx275. PMC 5841145. PMID 29177427.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  25. ^ Jackson, R. J., Rose, J., Tulloch, J., Henstridge, C., Smith, C., & Spires-Jones, T. L. (2019). "Clusterin accumulates in synapses in Alzheimer's disease and is increased in apolipoprotein E4 carriers". Brain Communications: fcz003. doi:10.1093/braincomms/fcz003. PMC 6904249. PMID 31853523.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ Tzioras, M., Stevenson, A. J., Boche, D., & Spires-Jones, T. L. (2020). "Microglial contribution to synaptic uptake in the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia". Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology. 47 (2): 346–351. doi:10.1111/nan.12660. PMID 32892388.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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