Bjoern Bauer, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmaceutical Sciences Office: 119 Life Science, Duluth Telephone Number: 218-726-6036 E-mail Address: bjbauer@d.umn.edu

Education:

2007      Postdoctoral Fellowship, NIEHS/NIH, Research Triangle Park, NC
2002      Ph.D., Pharmaceutical Sciences/Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg, Germany
1997      B.S. Pharmacy, University of Heidelberg, Germany

Research Interests:

Over 1.5 billion people worldwide suffer from brain disorders, including depression, epilepsy, stroke, brain tumors, neuro-AIDS, and Alzheimer’s disease. Thus, there is a huge demand for effective treatments. However, pharmacotherapy of brain disorders is greatly impaired by the blood-brain barrier. The molecular basis for active barrier function is a group of drug efflux transporters such as P-glycoprotein (P-gp), multidrug resistance proteins (MRPs) and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP). These efflux transporters limit therapeutic drugs from getting into the brain and thus, are a major obstacle for effective treatment of brain disorders.

One strategy to increase drug levels in the brain for better treatment of brain disorders is to manipulate the regulation of efflux transporters at the blood-brain barrier. However, despite the importance of these transporters for the therapy of brain disorders, little is known about their regulation.

We have addressed this fundamental and clinically relevant problem and have described several mechanisms by which drug efflux transporters are regulated at the blood-brain barrier (see figure). Several of these mechanisms provide potential molecular targets for therapy. We are now interested in translating these mechanisms into clinical applications to improve treatment of brain disorders.

Currently, we are working on the following projects:

1. Regulation of P-glycoprotein in epilepsy
2. P-glycoprotein in Alzheimer’s disease
3. Modulation of BCRP to treat brain tumors 

Publications:

Research Articles 
Bauer B., Hartz A.M.S., Pekcec A., Toellner K., Miller D.S. and Potschka H., Seizure-induced upregulation of P-glycoprotein at the blood-brain barrier through glutamate and COX-2 signaling (submitted).

Bauer B., Hartz A.M.S., Lucking J.R., Yang X., Pollack G.M., Fricker G. and Miller D.S., Coordinated nuclear receptor regulation of the efflux transporter, Mrp2, and the phase-II metabolizing enzyme, GSTpi, at the blood-brain barrier (submitted).

Hartz A.M.S., Bauer B., Block M.L., Hong J.S. and Miller D.S., Diesel exhaust particles alter P-glycoprotein expression and transport function at the blood-brain barrier (submitted).

Bauer B., Hartz A.M.S. and Miller D.S., TNF-alpha and endothelin-1 increase P-glycoprotein expression and transport activity at the blood-brain barrier, Molecular Pharmacology 71(3):667-675 (2007).

Bauer B., Yang X., Hartz A.M.S., Olson E.R., Zhao R., Kalvass J.C., Pollack G.M. and Miller, D.S., In vivo activation of human PXR tightens the blood-brain barrier to methadone through P-glycoprotein up-regulation, Molecular Pharmacology 70(4):1212-1219 (2006).

Hartz A.M.S., Bauer B., Fricker G. and Miller D.S., Rapid modulation of P-glycoprotein-mediated transport at the blood-brain barrier by TNF-alpha and LPS, Molecular Pharmacology 69(2):462-470 (2006).

Bauer B., Hartz A.M.S., Fricker G. and Miller, D.S., Pregnane X receptor up-regulation of P-glycoprotein expression and transport function at the blood-brain barrier, Molecular Pharmacology 66(3):413-419 (2004).

Hartz A.M.S., Bauer B., Fricker G. and Miller, D.S., Rapid regulation of P-glycoprotein at the blood-brain barrier by endothelin-1, Molecular Pharmacology 66(3):387-394 (2004).

Bauer B., Miller D.S. and Fricker G., Compound profiling for P-glycoprotein at the blood-brain barrier using a microplate screening system, Pharmaceutical Research 20(8):1170-1176 (2003).

Fellner S., Bauer B., Miller D.S., Schaffrik M., Fankhänel M., Spruß T., Bernhardt G., Graeff C., Färber L., Gschaidmeier H., Buschauer A. and Fricker G., Transport of paclitaxel (Taxol) across the blood-brain barrier in vitro and in vivo, Journal of Clinical Investigation 110(9):1309-1318 (2002).

Nobmann S., Bauer B. and Fricker G., Ivermectin excretion by isolated functionally intact brain endothelial capillaries, British Journal of Pharmacology 132(3):722-728 (2001).

Review Articles
Hartz A.M.S., Bauer B., Baehr C.H., Miller D.S. and Fricker G., Drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier, Current Nanoscience 1:203-209 (2005).

Bauer B., Hartz A.M.S., Fricker G. and Miller D.S., Modulation of P-glycoprotein transport function at the blood-brain barrier, Molecular Biology and Medicine 230:118-127 (2005).