Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Dr Brent Neumann obtained his BSc (Honours) at the University of South Australia and completed his PhD in Prof Tom Gonda's lab at The University Of Queensland's Diamantina Institute. In 2008 he joined A/Prof Massimo Hilliard's lab at the Queensland Brain Institute studying the mechanisms of degeneration and regeneration in the nervous system. In 2015 Brent established the Nervous System Development and Repair laboratory within the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology at Monash University.
Injuries to the nervous system can cause lifelong disabilities due to ineffective repair. Understanding the basic molecular mechanisms regulating axonal regeneration is therefore essential for the development of effective therapies. As a postdoctoral fellow with Massimo Hilliard, Brent identified a mechanism of repair known as axonal fusion in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (Dev Dyn 2011). This highly efficient means of nervous system repair occurs such that severed axons spontaneously repair themselves by regrowing, reconnecting and fusing with their separated counterparts.
Through a detailed molecular characterisation of the process, Brent discovered that regenerative axonal fusion shares much of its molecular machinery with the process of apoptosis (Nature 2015). Following injury, the composition of the axonal membrane is altered, such that the phospholipid phosphatidylserine is exposed on the external surface to serve as a recognition, or 'save-me' signal for the regrowing axon. This 'save-me' signal is recognized by secreted ligands and receptors on the regrowing axon to allow recognition between the two axon segments. Understanding precisely how axonal fusion occurs in the nematode may allow it to be applied to other organisms and potentially allow similar mechanisms of nervous system repair to be induced in a clinical setting.
Brent's research also focuses on axonal degeneration, which can occur as a result of nerve injury or through the disruption of neuronal maintenance mechanisms, and is a common hallmark among many neurodegenerative disorders including motor neurone, Alzheimer's, and Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) diseases. We lack a complete understanding of the mechanisms employed by neurons to preserve their axons over a lifetime, which has hampered the development of effective therapies.
From a genetic screening method aimed at identifying molecules that cause axonal degeneration when they become inactive through genetic mutations, Brent found that mutation of the and alpha-tubulin acetyltransferase protein, MEC-17/ATAT1 led to spontaneous, adult onset and progressive axonal degeneration (Cell Rep 2014). MEC-17 is highly conserved across species and normally protects against degeneration by stabilising the cytoskeletal structure. Brent's laboratory in the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology aims to identify and characterise additional cellular mechanisms necessary for the maintenance of axonal structure, and also uses C. elegans to model CMT, the most common inherited disorder of the peripheral nervous system. By modelling the disease in C. elegans, novel information about how the disease develops can be identified, and a better understanding of the disease provided to offer valuable insight for the future generation of therapeutics.
Research interests
Nervous system development and repair:
- Cellular and molecular mechanisms of axonal regeneration
- Molecular mechanisms of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
- Maintenance of nervous system structure over time
Research area keywords
- Caenorhabditis elegans
- C. elegans
- Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
- axonal degeneration
- Molecular Biology
- Molecular Genetics
- Nervous system repair
- Neurobiology
- Neurodegenerative Diseases/Disorders
- axon regeneration
- molecular neuroscience
- cell biology
- axonal reconnection
- cell membrane
- mitochondria
- mitochondrial dynamics
- molecular basis of disease
Network
Projects
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Discovering effective therapeutics for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
1/02/17 → 31/01/19
Project: Research
Research output
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Disruption of genes associated with Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 2 lead to common behavioural, cellular and molecular defects in Caenorhabditis elegans
Soh, M. S., Cheng, X., Vijayaraghavan, T., Vernon, A., Liu, J. & Neumann, B., 15 Apr 2020, In : PLoS ONE. 15, 4, 29 p., e0231600.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile4 Citations (Scopus) -
Axonal fusion: An alternative and efficient mechanism of nerve repair
Neumann, B., Linton, C., Giordano-Santini, R. & Hilliard, M. A., 1 Feb 2019, In : Progress in Neurobiology. 173, p. 88-101 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile6 Citations (Scopus) -
Axonal repair by fusion: pitfalls, consequences and solutions
Neumann, B. & Hilliard, M. A., Dec 2019, In : The FASEB Journal. 33, 12, p. 13071-13074 4 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Disruption of mitochondrial dynamics affects behaviour and lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans
Byrne, J. J., Soh, M. S., Chandhok, G., Vijayaraghavan, T., Teoh, J-S., Crawford, S., Cobham, A. E., Yapa, N. M. B., Mirth, C. K. & Neumann, B., May 2019, In : Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences. 76, 10, p. 1967-1985 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile18 Citations (Scopus) -
Disruption of RAB-5 Increases EFF-1 Fusogen Availability at the Cell Surface and Promotes the Regenerative Axonal Fusion Capacity of the Neuron
Linton, C., Riyadh, M. A., Ho, X. Y., Neumann, B., Giordano-Santini, R. & Hilliard, M. A., 10 Apr 2019, In : Journal of Neuroscience. 39, 15, p. 2823-2836 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
3 Citations (Scopus)
Prizes
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ASMR Postgraduate Student Conference poster prize
Neumann, Brent (Recipient), 2005
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Best QBI Publication Prize for 2014
Neumann, Brent (Recipient), 2014
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Best QBI Publication Prize for 2015
Neumann, Brent (Recipient), 2015
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Brisbane Cell and Developmental Biology Meeting oral presentation prize
Neumann, Brent (Recipient), 2014
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Conference registration fee fellowship, Madison, USA.
Neumann, Brent (Recipient), 2010
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
- 6 Membership of an advisory panel/policy group/ board
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Australasian Neuroscience Society Inc. (External organisation)
Brent Neumann (Member)
1 Jan 2015Activity: Industry, Government and Philanthropy Engagement and Partnerships › Membership of an advisory panel/policy group/ board
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ANZSCDB (External organisation)
Brent Neumann (Member)
1 Jan 2015Activity: Industry, Government and Philanthropy Engagement and Partnerships › Membership of an advisory panel/policy group/ board
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International Society for Neurochemistry (ISN) (External organisation)
Brent Neumann (Member)
1 Oct 2014Activity: Industry, Government and Philanthropy Engagement and Partnerships › Membership of an advisory panel/policy group/ board
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Society for Neuroscience (SfN) (External organisation)
Brent Neumann (Member)
1 Jan 2010Activity: Industry, Government and Philanthropy Engagement and Partnerships › Membership of an advisory panel/policy group/ board
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Genetics Society of America (GSA) (External organisation)
Brent Neumann (Member)
25 Mar 2009Activity: Industry, Government and Philanthropy Engagement and Partnerships › Membership of an advisory panel/policy group/ board