Ashley Frakes, Ph.D.

Post-doctoral Fellow

Research

I received my bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and cell and molecular biology from John Carroll University and my Ph.D. in biomedical science from the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.  During my graduate work in Dr. Brian Kaspar’s lab, I studied the cell non-autonomous mechanisms by which microglia and astrocytes mediate motor neuron death in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.  While studying neurodegeneration, it became clear to me that we do not fully understand how the non-diseased brain changes with age.  In the Dillin lab, my broad research goals are to better understand how protein homeostasis deteriorates with age in the central nervous system.  More specifically, I am interested in unraveling the cell non-autonomous mechanisms by which the ER unfolded protein response coordinates proteostasis across tissues. 

 

Publications

Ashley E. Frakes, Lyndsey Braun, Laura Ferraiuolo, Denis C. Guttridge, Brian K. Kaspar. Additive amelioration of ALS by co-targeting independent pathogenic mechanisms.  Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology. 2017 Jan 11. doi: 10.1002/acn3.375

Laura Ferraiuolo, Kathrin Meyer, Thomas Sherwood, Jonathan Vick, Shibi Likhite, Ashley E. Frakes, Carlos Miranda, Lyndsey Braun, Ricardo Pineda, Christine Beattie, Candice Askwith, Brian K. Kaspar. Oligodendrocytes contribute to motor neuron death in ALS via SOD1-dependent mechanism.  PNAS. 2016 Oct 18;113(42):E6496-E6505.  PMID: 27688759

Ahmed SS, Schattgen SA, Frakes AE, Sikoglu EM, Su Q, Li J, Hampton TG, Denninger AR, Kirschner DA, Kaspar B, Matalon R, Gao G.  rAAV Gene Therapy in a Canavan's Disease Mouse Model Reveals Immune Impairments and an Extended Pathology Beyond the Central Nervous System.  Molecular Therapy. 2016 Apr 4. doi: 10.1038/mt.2016.68. PMID: 27039844

Song S, Miranda CJ, Braun L, Meyer K, Frakes AE, Ferraiuolo L, Likhite S, Bevan AK, Foust KD, McConnell MJ, Walker CM, Kaspar BK.  Major histocompatibility complex class I molecules protect motor neurons from astrocyte-induced toxicity in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.  Nature Medicine. 2016 Apr;22(4):397-403. doi: 10.1038/nm.4052.  PMID: 26928464

Gu JM, Wang DJ, Peterson JM, Shintaku J, Liyanarachchi S, Coppola V, Frakes AE, Kaspar BK, Cornelison DD, Guttridge DC.  An NF-κB--EphrinA5-Dependent Communication between NG2(+) Interstitial Cells and Myoblasts Promotes Muscle Growth in Neonates.  Developmental Cell. 2016 Jan 25;36(2):215-24. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2015.12.018. PMID: 26777211

Ashley E. Frakes, Laura Ferraiuolo, Amanda M. Haidet-Phillips, Leah Schmelzer, Lyndsey Braun, Carlos J. Miranda, Adam Bevan, Kevin D. Foust, Jonathan P. Godbout, Phillip G. Popovich, Denis C. Guttridge, Brian K. Kaspar. Microglia Induce Motor Neuron Death via the Classical NF-кB Pathway in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Neuron. 2014 Mar 5;81(5):1009-23. PMID: 24607225

Laura Ferraiuolo, Ashley Frakes, Brian K. Kaspar. Neural stem cells as a therapeutic approach for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Molecular Therapy. 2013 Mar;21(3):503-5. PMID: 23449106

Jonathan A. Fidler, Christopher M. Treleaven, Ashley Frakes, Amy Eagle, Thomas J. Tamsett, Seng H. Cheng, Lamya S Shihabuddin, Brian K. Kaspar, James C. Dodge. Disease progression in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: the influence of chronic stress and corticosterone. FASEB J. 2011 Dec;25(12):4369-77. PMID: 21876068

Amanda M. Haidet, Mark E. Hester, Carlos J. Miranda, Lyndsey Braun, Ashley Frakes, SungWon Song, Matthew J Murtha, Kevin D. Foust, Meghan Rao, Amy Eagle, Jerry R. Mendell, Arthur H.M. Burghes, Brian K. Kaspar. Astrocytes from Familial and Sporadic ALS Patients are Toxic to Motor Neurons. Nature Biotechnology. 2011 Aug 10;29(9):824-8. PMID: 21832997