The Emborg Laboratory
Faculty > Marina Emborg
Marina Emborg
Senior Scientist, Wisconsin National Primate Research Center; Director, Preclinical Parkinson's Research Program - WNPRC; Associate Professor, Department of Medical Physics
Organ System/Disease Focus
Neurodegenerative disorders, Parkinson’s disease
Aligned Research Focus
Nonhuman primate models, neuroprotection, stem cells, dopaminergic neurons, drug delivery
Research Description
My lab focuses on understanding the physiopathology of, and developing treatments for neurological disorders, in particular Parkinson's disease. We are working toward developing better animal models of neurodegenerative disorders and therapeutic delivery systems, as well as identifying therapeutic targets that can affect disease development. We evaluate cell-based therapy approaches using stem cells, embryonic, progenitors and iPS. in the nonhuman primate brain. Ex vivo and in vivo approaches are used to deliver therapeutic molecules in the brain such as glial derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) on existing dopaminergic neurons in the brains of parkinsonian animal models. As a lab focused in clinical translation, the ethical considerations of what is needed to bring a therapy to the patients guide our research.
Selected References
Intracerebral transplantation of differentiated human embryonic stem cells to hemiparkinsonian monkeys. Emborg ME, Zhang Z, Joers V, Brunner K, Bondarenko V, Ohshima S, Zhang S-C. Cell Transplant. 2012 (in press).
The PPAR-γ agonist pioglitazone modulates inflammation and induces neuroprotection in parkinsonian monkeys. Swanson CR, Joers V, Bondarenko V, Brunner K, Simmons HA, Ziegler TE, Kemnitz JW, Johnson JA, Emborg ME. J Neuroinflammation. 2011 Aug 5;8:91. PMID: 21819568
Intraoperative intracerebral MRI-guided navigation for accurate targeting in nonhuman primates. Emborg ME, Joers V, Fisher R, Brunner K, Carter V, Ross C, Raghavan R, Brady M, Raschke J, Kubota K, Alexander A. Cell Transplant. 2010;19(12):1587-97. Epub 2010 Jun 29. PMID: 20587170
Research ethics. Beyond access vs. protection in trials of innovative therapies. London AJ, Kimmelman J, Emborg ME. Science. 2010 May 14;328(5980):829-30. No abstract available. PMID: 20466907
GDNF-secreting human neural progenitor cells increase tyrosine hydroxylase and VMAT2 expression in MPTP-treated cynomolgus monkeys. Emborg ME, Ebert AD, Moirano J, Peng S, Suzuki M, Capowski E, Joers V, Roitberg BZ, Aebischer P, Svendsen CN. Cell Transplant. 2008;17(4):383-95.