Assoc Prof James Bourne - Researcher Profile

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Address

Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences
Monash University, Clayton

Contact Details

Tel: +61 3 990 29622

Email: James.Bourne@monash.edu


Biography

Kick-start for brain regeneration

Current treatments for brain injury ignore the potential of the brain to repair itself. They focus instead on rehabilitation of the patient once the brain has been damaged. However, Dr James Bourne’s research suggests it may be possible to kick-start the brain’s regenerative capacity following an injury.

James is leading a research team searching for clues within the developing and adult primate brain for mechanisms that stimulate brain repair. “Too many people have been focusing on the end point – I believe we can actually switch on regeneration through looking at what is happening during development,” James says.

Car accidents are the most common cause of brain injury. The Victorian Neurotrauma Initiative estimates that brain and spinal cord injuries from car accidents cost Australia $10.5 billion a year. Add strokes and workplace accidents to this and the cost of brain injury is even greater. James believes that neural regenerative medicine could significantly reduce both the financial and emotional burden of brain injuries.

When the brain matures, many of the proteins involved in development are switched off. James and his team are focusing on which proteins and other factors can be switched back on to help rebuild the brain in adulthood.

Neonatal brains recover from trauma much better than mature brains because of their plasticity. James believes these ‘plastic’ brains contain important molecules that guide cells to correct themselves. Directing cells from areas of the brain that produce cells into the damaged areas could reverse the effects of injury.

“We can take a chunk of brain and culture from these neural progenitors cells (junior cells) and place them back into the brain,” James says. “The neural progenitors are precursor cells and can go down any lineages. We place these cells back in the brain and can show whether they reintegrate and became part of a functional circuit.”

The chemicals that cells use to send signals to other parts of the brain are toxic when released in large amounts. When damaged, these chemicals cause death and degeneration of the surrounding tissue. Other cells cause scarring when damaged, acting like a brick wall and preventing the brain from rewiring.

“We haven’t shown full regeneration yet – that is the next big thing – but we have demonstrated we can prevent scarring,” he says. The technique of replacing cells and molecules could be used on humans within the next five years.

In 2007, James received one the country’s highest scientific honours, an award from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for scientific and leadership excellence in the health and medical field. The NHMRC funds his fellowship and ongoing projects.

Keywords

Commentary: neurobiology, regenerative medicine, Supervision: neuroscience

Qualifications

NEUROPHARMACOLOGY
Institution: Kings College, London
Year awarded: 1999
BIOCHEMISTRY
Institution: Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine
Year awarded: 1994

Publications

Journal Articles

Lui, L.L., Dobiecki, A.E., Bourne, J.A., Rosa, M.G., 2012, Breaking camouflage: responses of neurons in the middle temporal area to stimuli defined by coherent motion, European Journal Of Neuroscience [P], vol 36, issue 1, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd, UK, pp. 2063-2076.

Garcia-Moreno, F., Vasistha, N.A., Trevia, N., Bourne, J.A., Molnar, Z., 2012, Compartmentalization of cerebral cortical germinal zones in a lissencephalic primate and gyrencephalic rodent, Cerebral Cortex [P], vol 22, issue 2, Oxford University Press, UK, pp. 482-492.

Teo, L., Homman-Ludiye, J., Rodger, J., Bourne, J.A., 2012, Discrete ephrin-B1 expression by specific layers of the primate retinogeniculostriate system continues throughout postnatal and adult life, Journal of Comparative Neurology [P], vol 520, issue 13, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., USA, pp. 2941-2956.

Teo, L., Rosenfeld, J.V., Bourne, J.A., 2012, Models of CNS injury in the nonhuman primate: a new era for treatment strategies, Translational Neuroscience [P], vol 3, issue 2, Versita, Poland, pp. 181-195.

Martin, K., Corlett, A., Dubach, D., Mustafa, T., Coleman, H.A., Parkington, H.C., Merson, T.D., Bourne, J.A., Porta, S., Arbones, M.L., Finkelstein, D.I., Pritchard, M.A., 2012, Over-expression of RCAN1 causes Down syndrome-like hippocampal deficits that alter learning and memory, Human Molecular Genetics [P], vol 21, issue 13, Oxford University Press, UK, pp. 3025-3041.

Warner, C.E., Kwan, W., Bourne, J.A., 2012, The early maturation of visual cortical area MT is dependent on input from the retinorecipient medial portion of the inferior pulvinar, Journal Of Neuroscience [P], vol 32, issue 48, Society for Neuroscience, USA, pp. 17073-17085.

Homman-Ludiye, J., Merson, T.D., Bourne, J.A., 2012, The early postnatal nonhuman primate neocortex contains self-renewing multipotent neural progenitor cells, PLoS ONE [P], vol 7, issue 3 (e34383), Public Library of Science, USA, pp. 1-9.

Solomon, S.S., Tailby, C., Gharaei, S., Camp, A.J., Bourne, J.A., Solomon, S., 2011, Visual motion integration by neurons in the middle temporal area of a New World monkey, the marmoset, Journal Of Physiology-London [P], vol 589, issue Pt. 23, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd, UK, pp. 5741-5758.

Goldshmit, Y., Galley, S., Foo, D.C., Sernagor, E., Bourne, J.A., 2010, Anatomical changes in the primary visual cortex of the congenitally blind Crx-/- mouse, Neuroscience [P], vol 166, Pergamon, UK & France, pp. 886-898.

Gantier, M.P.M., Irving, A.T., Liaskos, M., Xu, D., Evans, V., Cameron, P.U., Bourne, J.A., Ferrero, R.L., John, M., Behlke, M.A., Williams, B.R.G., 2010, Genetic modulation of TLR8 response following bacterial phagocytosis, Human Mutation [P], vol 31, issue 9, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., USA, pp. 1069-1079.

Homman-Ludiye, J., Manger, P.R., Bourne, J.A., 2010, Immunohistochemical parcellation of the ferret (Mustela putorius) visual cortex reveals substantial homology with the cat (Felis catus), Journal of Comparative Neurology [P], vol 518, issue 21, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., USA, pp. 4439-4462.

Warner, C.E., Goldshmit, Y., Bourne, J.A., 2010, Retinal afferents synapse with relay cells targeting the middle temporal area in the pulvinar and lateral geniculate nuclei, Frontiers in Neuroanatomy [P], vol 4, issue 8, Frontiers Research Foundation, Switzerland, pp. 1-16.

Bourne, J.A., 2010, Unravelling the development of the visual cortex: implications for plasticity and repair, Journal Of Anatomy [P], vol 217, issue 4, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd, UK, pp. 449-468.

Goldshmit, Y., Bourne, J.A., 2010, Upregulation of EphA4 on astrocytes potentially mediates astrocytic gliosis after cortical lesion in the marmoset monkey, Journal of Neurotrauma [P], vol 27, issue 7, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Publishers, USA, pp. 1321-1332.

Rosa, M.G., Palmer, S.M., Gamberini, M., Burman, K.J., Yu, H., Reser, D.H., Bourne, J.A., Tweedale, R., Galletti, C., 2009, Connections of the dorsomedial visual area: pathways for early integration of dorsal and ventral streams in extrastriate cortex, Journal Of Neuroscience [P], vol 29, issue 14, Society for Neuroscience, USA, pp. 4548-4563.

Bourne, J.A., Warner, C.E., Upton, D., Rosa, M.G., 2007, Chemoarchitecture of the middle temporal visual area in the marmoset monkey (Callithrix jacchus): Laminar distribution of calcium-binding proteins (Calbindin, Parvalbumin) and nonphosphorylated neurofilament, The Journal of Comparative Neurology, vol 500, issue 5, Wiley-Liss, Div John Wiley & Sons Inc, Hoboken NJ USA, pp. 832-849.

Burman, K.J., Lui, L., Rosa, M.G., Bourne, J.A., 2007, Development of non-phosphorylated neurofilament protein expression in neurones of the New World monkey dorsolateral frontal cortex, European Journal of Neuroscience, vol 25, issue 6, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford England UK, pp. 1767-1779.

Maseko, B.C., Bourne, J.A., Manger, P.R., 2007, Distribution and morphology of cholinergic, putative catecholaminergic and serotonergic neurons in the brain of the Egyptian rousette flying fox, Rousettus aegyptiacus, Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy, vol 34, issue 3-4, Elsevier Science BV, Amsterdam Netherlands, pp. 108-127.

Lui, L., Bourne, J.A., Rosa, M.G., 2007, Spatial and temporal frequency selectivity of neurons in the middle temporal visual area of new world monkeys (Callithrix jacchus), European Journal of Neuroscience, vol 25, issue 6, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford England UK, pp. 1780-1792.

Lui, L., Bourne, J.A., Rosa, M.G., 2007, Spatial summation, end inhibition and side inhibition in the middle temporal visual area (MT), Journal of Neurophysiology, vol 97, issue 2, American Physiological Society, Bethesda USA, pp. 1135-1148.

Lui, L., Bourne, J.A., Rosa, M.G.P., 2006, Functional response properties of neurons in the dorsomedial visual area of new world monkeys (Callithrix jacchus), Cerebral Cortex, vol 16, issue 2, Oxford University Press, UK, pp. 162-177.

Bourne, J.A., Rosa, M.G., 2006, Hierarchical development of the primate visual cortex, as revealed by neurofilament immunoreactivity: early maturation of the middle temporal area (MT), Cerebral Cortex, vol 16, issue 3, Oxford University Press, UK, pp. 405-414.

Rosa, M.G., Palmer, S.M., Gamberini, M., Tweedale, R., Pinon, M.C., Bourne, J.A., 2005, Resolving the organization of the New World monkey third visual complex: the dorsal extrastriate cortex of the marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), Journal of Comparative Neurology, vol 483, issue 2, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, USA, pp. 164-191.

Lui, L., Bourne, J.A., Rosa, M.G., 2005, Single-unit responses to kinetic stimuli in New World monkey area V2: physiological characteristics of cue-invariant neurones, Experimental Brain Research, vol 162, issue 1, Springer-Verlag, Germany, pp. 100-108.

Bourne, J.A., Warner, C.E., Rosa, M.G., 2005, Topographic and laminar maturation of striate cortex in early postnatal marmoset monkeys, as revealed by neurofilament immunohistochemistry, Cerebral Cortex, vol 15, issue 6, Oxford University Press, UK, pp. 740-748.

Bourne, J.A., Lui, L., Tweedale, R., Rosa, M.G.P., 2004, First- and second-order stimulus length selectivity in New World monkey striate cortex, European Journal of Neuroscience, vol 19, issue 1, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford UK, pp. 169-180.

Bourne, J.A., 2003, Intracerebral microdialysis: 30 years as a tool for the neuroscientist, Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology, vol 30, issue 1-2, Blackwell Publishing Asia, Carlton Vic Australia, pp. 16-24.

Bourne, J.A., Rosa, M.G.P., 2003, Laminar expression of neurofilament protein in the superior colliculus of the marmoset monkey (Callithrix jacchus), Brain Research, vol 973, issue 1, Elsevier, The Netherlands, pp. 142-145.

Bourne, J.A., Rosa, M.G.P., 2003, Neurofilament protein expression in the geniculostriate pathway of a New World monkey (Callithrix jacchus), Experimental Brain Research, vol 150, issue 1, Springer-Verlag, New York USA, pp. 19-24.

Bourne, J.A., Rosa, M.G.P., 2003, Preparation for the in vivo recording of neuronal responses in the visual cortex of anaesthetised marmosets (Callithrix jacchus), Brain Research Protocols, vol 11, issue 3, Elsevier, The Netherlands, pp. 168-177.

Bourne, J.A., Tweedale, R., Rosa, M.G.P., 2002, Physiological Responses of New World Monkey V1 Neurons to Stimuli Defined by Coherent Motion, Cerebral Cortex, vol 12, issue 11, Oxford University Press Inc, USA, pp. 1132-1145.

Bourne, J., 2001, SCH 23390: The first selective dopamine D1-like receptor antagonist, CNS Drug Reviews, vol 7, issue 4, NEVA Press, Branford CT USA, pp. 399-414.

Postgraduate Research Supervisions

Current Supervision

Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Genetic analysis of neocortical development in mice..
Supervisors:
Heng, J (Main), Bourne, J (Associate).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
NOVEL CONJUGATED BIOMATERIALS IN THE TREATMENT OF NEUROTRAUMA AND NEURODEGENERATION.
Supervisors:
Bourne, J (Main), Rosenfeld, J (Associate).

Completed Supervision

Student:
Lui, L.
Program of Study:
Functional response properties of neurones in motion processing areas of marmoset monkey visual cortex. (PHD) 2007.
Supervisors:
Rosa, M (Main), Bourne, J (Associate).