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Walter C. Low, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Neurosurgery E-mail: lowwalt@umn.edu

Research Interests:

The research in my laboratory focuses on the translational development of novel therapies for the treatment of neurological disorders. Research in the area of cell therapy involves the use of neural progenitor and stem cell transplants to repair neural connections in disorders such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, ataxia, and stroke. Research in the area of gene therapy involves the use of viral constructs and transposons to correct neurogenetic defects. Research in the area of neuroprotection involves the identification of novel compounds to prevent neuronal death.

Selected Publications:

Garcia-Rivera MF, Colvin-Wanshura LE, Nelson MS, Nan Z, Khan SA, Rogers TB, Maitra I, Low WC, Gupta P. Characterization of an immunodeficient mouse model of mucopolysaccharidosis type I suitable for preclinical testing of human stem cell and gene therapy. Brain Res Bull. 2007 Nov 1;74(6):429-38.

Wu A, Oh S, Gharagozlou S, Vedi RN, Ericson K, Low WC, Chen W, Ohlfest JR. In vivo vaccination with tumor cell lysate plus CpG oligodeoxynucleotides eradicates murine glioblastoma. J Immunother (1997). 2007 Nov-Dec;30(8):789-97.

Djalilian HR, Caicedo E, Lessan K, Grami V, Le CT, Spellman SR, Pambuccian S, Hall WA, Low WC, Ondrey FG. Efficacy of an osmotic pump delivered, GM-CSF-based tumor vaccine in the treatment of upper aerodigestive squamous cell carcinoma in rats. Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2007 Aug;56(8):1207-14.

Wu A, Oh S, Ericson K, Demorest ZL, Vengco I, Gharagozlou S, Chen W, Low WC, Ohlfest JR. Transposon-based interferon gamma gene transfer overcomes limitations of episomal plasmid for immunogene therapy of glioblastoma. Cancer Gene Ther. 2007 Jun;14(6):550-60.

Wu A, Wiesner S, Xiao J, Ericson K, Chen W, Hall WA, Low WC, Ohlfest JR. Expression of MHC I and NK ligands on human CD133+ glioma cells: possible targets of immunotherapy. J Neurooncol. 2007 Jun;83(2):121-31. E

Tkac I, Dubinsky JM, Keene CD, Gruetter R, Low WC. Neurochemical changes in Huntington R6/2 mouse striatum detected by in vivo 1H NMR spectroscopy.
J Neurochem. 2007 Mar;100(5):1397-406.

Rustamzadeh E, Hall WA, Todhunter DA, Vallera VD, Low WC, Liu H, Panoskaltsis-Mortari A, Vallera DA. Intracranial therapy of glioblastoma with the fusion protein DTAT in immunodeficient mice. Int J Cancer. 2007 Jan 15;120(2):411-9.

Rivard AL, Steer CJ, Kren BT, Rodrigues CM, Castro RE, Bianco RW, Low WC. Administration of tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) reduces apoptosis following myocardial infarction in rat. Am J Chin Med. 2007;35(2):279-95.

Naylor MC, Negia M, Noetzel M, Burns TC, Demorest ZL, Low WC. Heparan sulfate mediates neuroprotection from degeneration in experimental glutaric aciduria. Cell Transplant. 2007;16(3):187-95

Burns TC, Ortiz-Gonzalez XR, Gutierrez-Perez M, Keene CD, Sharda R, Demorest ZL, Jiang Y, Nelson-Holte M, Soriano M, Nakagawa Y, Luquin MR, Garcia-Verdugo JM, Prosper F, Low WC, Verfaillie CM. Thymidine analogs are transferred from prelabeled donor to host cells in the central nervous system after transplantation: a word of caution. Stem Cells. 2006 Apr;24(4):1121-7.

Sam TN, Roehrich H, Xiao, J, Low WC, and Gregerson DS Tissue-restricted expression of a reporter gene associated with differentiated retinal photoreceptor cells by engrafted neural stem cells that home to retina, Cell Transplantation 15:147-60 (2006).

Former Graduate Students:

Murray Blackmore (Ph.D. 2005,Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).

Terence Burns (Ph.D. 2007,Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).

Sandra L. Gage (Ph.D. 1991, Neuroscience).

Elizabeth M. Jansen (Ph.D. 1996, Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).

William F. Kaemmerer (Ph.D. 2000, Molecular Pathology).

C. Dirk Keene (Ph.D. 2003, Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).

Ying Jie Li (Ph.D. 1994, Physiology).

Stephen M. Onifer (Ph.D. 1990, Physiology).

Xilma Ortiz-Gonzalez (Ph.D. 2004, Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).

Lee Phebus (Ph.D. 1990, Neuroscience).

Andrew Rivard (M.D., M.S., 2005, Physiology, University of Minnesota).

Stephen Spellman (M.S., 2000, Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota).

Bonnie J. Tarricone (Ph.D. 1991, Neuroscience).

Marcus A. Westerman (Ph.D. 2001, Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).