Jonathan Francis, PhD

Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School
Department of Neurology

The Day Laboratory’s Dr. Jonathan Francis is a scientist with a longstanding interest in the use of non-viral vectors for the delivery of therapeutic proteins to motor neurons. Dr. Francis is currently working on the modification growth factors (proteins that promote the growth and survival of neurons) for the purpose of improving their access to target motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. He is currently in the process of evaluating the delivery of these experimental drugs to the brain and spinal cord of normal mice, and testing the drugs’ ability to extend the survival of ALS mice.

Publications

Ay I, Francis JW, and Brown RH Jr. VEGF increases blood-brain barrier
permeability to Evans Blue Dye and tetanus toxin fragment C but not adeno
associated virus in ALS mice. Brain Res. 2008. In Press.
Larsen KE, Benn SC, Ay I, Chian RJ, Celia SA, Remington MP, Bejarano M, Liu M, Ross J, Carmillo P, Sah D, Phillips KA, Sulzer D, Pepinsky RB, Fishman PS, Brown RH Jr, Francis JW. A glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF):tetanus toxin fragment C protein conjugate improves delivery of GDNF to spinal cord motor neurons in mice. Brain Res. 2006 Nov 20;1120(1):1-12. Epub 2006 Oct 3.
Benn SC, Ay I, Bastia E, Chian RJ, Celia SA, Pepinsky RB, Fishman PS, Brown RH Jr, Francis JW. Tetanus toxin fragment C fusion facilitates protein delivery to CNS neurons from cerebrospinal fluid in mice. J Neurochem. 2005 Nov;95(4):1118-31.
Francis JW, Bastia E, Matthews CC, Parks DA, Schwarzschild MA, Brown RH Jr, Fishman PS.
Tetanus toxin fragment C as a vector to enhance delivery of proteins to the CNS. Brain Res. 2004 Jun 11;1011(1):7-13.
Francis JW, Figueiredo D, vanderSpek JC, Ayala LM, Kim YS, Remington MP, Young PJ, Lorson CL, Ikebe S, Fishman PS, Brown RH Jr. A survival motor neuron:tetanus toxin fragment C fusion protein for the targeted delivery of SMN protein to neurons. Brain Res. 2004 Jan 2;995(1):84-96.