Christopher Von bartheld

Christopher Von Bartheld, M.D.

Professor, Physiology and Cell Biology

Summary

Christopher (Chris) S. von Bartheld is a professor in the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. He is a neuroscientist with broad research interests that include evolutionary neurobiology, developmental neurobiology, quantitative neuromorphology, growth factor biology, using vertebrate animal models as well as human tissues. His current focus is on gene expression in human extraocular muscles and the relationship between strabismus and schizophrenia.

Chris von Bartheld received his M.D. degree at the University of Göttingen in Germany in 1985, and trained at UCSD (Scripps Institution of Oceanography) and the University of Washington in Seattle. He was recruited as an associate professor to the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine in 1997. Dr. von Bartheld's research has been funded by several NIH institutes, including NINDS, NICHD, NEI, NIDCD, NIMH, NCRR and NIGMS, and through multiple types of grants (R01, R03, R21, R29, NRSA, P20, and most recently U54). He has published 110 peer-reviewed journal articles and four book chapters in areas including comparative neurobiology, growth factor biology, quantitative morphology and extraocular muscle biology.

Dr. von Bartheld has served his institution as the vice chair and acting chair of the IRB and as the Director of the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) in Cell Biology (Phase I), an NIH-funded faculty development program. He is also in charge of the neuroscience curriculum for medical students and the founder and two-term president of the award-winning Sierra Nevada Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience. He has served on numerous NIH study sections, has reviewed manuscripts for 78 different international journals and was appointed guest editor for the journals Brain, Behavior & Evolution and Cell & Tissue Research.

For more information about his COBRE in Cell Biology, please visit the COBRE's website.

Education

Research Interests

We are interested in the function of neurotrophic factors in the developing central nervous system. Neurotrophic factors are messengers in the communication between neurons. They regulate neuronal differentiation and may he instrumental in the formation, stabilization and plasticity of synapses. Targeting of neurotrophic factors to their proper intracellular destination is essential for trophic signalling. Our goal is to understand how trophic factors regulate the development and connectivity of neural circuits. A major focus of our lab is to determine how neurotrophic factors are transported along the axon and how they are released from the axon terminals. We use several model systems, including the developing visual system of chick embryos and rodents as well as the hypoglossal motor nucleus to quantify anterograde and retrograde axonal transport of the neurotrophic factors (Fig. 1).

Fig 1. Transport of radio-iodinated NT-3 from the retina to the isthmo-optic nucleus (ION) and the optic tectum (TeO)) in chick embryos. (von Bartheld, et al., Neuron 12:639-654, 1994 and Nature 379:830-833. 1996)

We manipulate with pharmacological agents the release of these factors from nerve terminals, and we localize them by immunohistochemical and autoradiography techniques at both the light- and electron microscopic level (Fig. 2). By combining molecular, morphological, and pharmacological techniques, we hope to gain insights into the mechanisms and dynamics of trafficking of neurotrophic factors and to better understand how they affect the development, plasticity and possibly regeneration of neuronal connections in the brain.

Fig. 2. Accumulation of NT-3 in terminals of the optic nerve after anterograde axonal transport (von Bartheld et al., Nature 379:830-833,1996).

A second major focus of my lab is the function of neurotrophic factors in the developing oculomotor system, with the long-term goal to strengthen weak eye muscles and their innervation. A third topic of interest is the improvement of methods for counting particles in microscopic tissue sections (part of UNR's COBRE, PI: J. Hume). Workers in the lab include Rafal Butowt, Ph.D. (Res. Assistant Professor: axonal transport of trophic factos and pathogens, electron microscopy and molecular biology), Larisa Baryshnikova (postdoctoral fellow: electron microscopy and quantitative morphology), two graduate students: Scott Croes (neuromuscular development, immunocytochemistry, fluorescence imaging, and electrophysiology/ force measurements), and Chengyuan Feng (Transport of trophic factors, RT-PCR, molecular biology) and one medical student. We are also interested in the evolution of neurotrophic factors and recently organized an international symposium on this topic ("Karger workshop" of the J.B. Johnston Club, a satellite event at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Nov. 10, Washington DC, 2005), published as a special issue in Brain, Behavior & Evolution, 2006.

Selected publications

2016

  • Agarwal AB, Feng CY, Altick AL, Quilici DR, Wen D, Johnson LA, von Bartheld CS. 2016.Altered protein composition and gene expression in strabismic human extraocular muscles and tendons.Investigative Ophthalmology Visual Sciences 57:5576-5585.
  • von Bartheld, C.S., Bahney, J.,Herculano-Houzel, S. 2016.The search for true numbers of neurons and glial cells in the human brain: a review of 150 years of cell counting.Classical review. Journal of Comparative Neurology 524:3865-3895.

2015

  • Herculano-Houzel S, von Bartheld CS, Miller DJ, Kaas JH. 2015. How to count cells: the advantages and disadvantages of the isotropic fractionator compared with stereology.Cell & Tissue Research 360:29-42.
  • von Bartheld CS, Houmanfar R, Candido A.2015.Prediction of junior faculty success in biomedical research: comparison of metrics and effects of mentoring programs.Peer Journal 3:e1262.

2014

  • von Bartheld, C.S.2014.Trafficking of Neurotrophins and their Receptors: Physiological and Pathological Significance. Kostrzewa RM (ed) Handbook of Neurotoxicity, Springer, Part IV, pages 1973-2000.

2012

  • Altick AL, Feng CY, Schlauch K, Johnson LA, von Bartheld CS.2012.Differences in gene expression between strabismic and normal human extraocular muscles.Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 53:5168-5177.

2011

  • Li, T., Feng, C.-Y., C.S. von Bartheld.2011.How to make rapid eye movements “rapid”: the role of growth factors for muscle contractile properties. Pflugers Archive: European Journal of Physiology 461:373-386.
  • von Bartheld, C.S., A.L. Altick.2011.Multivesicular bodies in neurons: distribution, protein content and trafficking functions.Progress in Neurobiology 93:313-340.
  • Feng, C.-Y., Wiggins, L.M., C.S. von Bartheld.2011.The locus coeruleus responds to signaling molecules obtained from the CSF by transfer through tanycytes.Journal of Neuroscience 31:9147-9158.
  • von Bartheld, C.S., F. Giannessi.2011.The paratympanic organ: A barometer and altimeter in the middle ear of birds?Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B Molecular and Developmental Evolution 316:402-408.

2010

  • von Bartheld, C.S., Croes, S.A., Johnson, L.A. Strabismus, Levin, L.A., Albert, D.M. (eds.).2010.Ocular Disease: Mechanisms and Management.Elsevier, (Chapter 59, pages 454-460).

2007

  • Croes, S.A., Baryshnikova, L.M., Kaluskar, S.S., and C.S. von Bartheld.2007.Acute and long-term effects of botulinum neurotoxin on the function and structure of developing chick extraocular muscles. Neurobiology of Disease 25:649-664.
  • Ronald W. Oppenheim, C.S. von Bartheld.2007.Programmed Cell Death and Neurotrophic Factors. Fundamental Neuroscience (3rd edition). L. Squire (Editor), Elsevier, San Diego (in press).

2006

  • von Bartheld, C.S., and Fritzsch, B.2006.Comparative analysis of neurotrophin receptors and ligands in vertebrate neurons: tools for evolutionary stability or changes in neural circuits?Brain, Behavior & Evolution 68: 157-172.

2005

  • Rind, H.B., Butowt, R., C.S. von Bartheld.2005.Synaptic targeting of retrogradely transported trophic factors in motoneurons: comparison of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor and cardiotrophin-1 with tetanus toxin. Journal of Neuroscience 25: 539-549.

2004

  • von Bartheld, C.S.2004.Axonal transport and neuronal transcytosis of trophic factors, tracers and pathogens. Journal of Neurobiology 58:294-314.
  • Chen, J., von Bartheld, C.S.2004.Role of exogenous and endogenous trophic factors in the regulation of extraocular muscle strength during development. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 45:3538-3545.

2003

  • Butowt, R., C.S. von Bartheld.2003.Connecting the dots: trafficking of neurotrophins, lectins and diverse pathogens by binding to the neurotrophin receptor p75NTR. European Journal of Neuroscience 17:673-680.

2002

  • von Bartheld, C.S.2002.Counting particles in tissue sections: choices of methods and importance of calibration to minimize bias. Histology & Histopathology 17:639-648.
  • Wang, X.X., R. Butowt, M.R. Vasko, C.S. von Bartheld.2002.Mechanisms of the release of anterogradely transported neurotrophin-3 from axon terminals. Journal of Neuroscience 22:931-945.

2001

  • von Bartheld, C.S., X.X. Wang, R. Butowt.2001.Anterograde axonal transport, transcytosis and recycling of neurotrophic factors: the concept of trophic currencies in neural networks. Molecular Neurobiology 24:1-28.
  • von Bartheld, C.S.2001.Comparison of 2-D and 3-D counting: the need for calibration and common sense. Trends in Neurosciences 24:504-506.
  • von Bartheld, C.S.2001.Tracing with radiolabeled neurotrophins. Methods in Molecular Biology 169:195-216.

1996

  • von Bartheld, C.S., M.R. Byers, R. Williams, M. Bothwell.1996.Anterograde transport of neurotrophins and axodendritic transfer in the developing visual system. Nature 379:830-833.

Subject experts database for media

The subject experts database is an online index of University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine doctors, educators, and professionals where media can easily find experts on a wide range of topics at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine.

  • Cell Biology
  • Cell Counting Techniques
  • Extraocular Muscle Biology
  • Neuroscience
  • Trophic Factors