Rate My Professor Bruce Appel

Bruce Appel, PhD, is Professor of Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics-Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, where he holds the Diane G. Wallach Chair of Pediatric Stem Cell Biology and serves as Section Head of Developmental Biology. He earned his PhD from the University of Utah in 1993 and his BS from McPherson College in 1983. Appel's research program employs zebrafish models to investigate mechanisms regulating oligodendrocyte precursor cell formation, spinal cord myelination, and myelin sheath formation and modification. His laboratory has demonstrated that microglia phagocytose myelin sheaths to refine developmental myelination, that oligodendrocytes utilize postsynaptic proteins to coordinate myelin formation on axons of distinct neurotransmitter classes, and that the Akt-mTOR pathway drives myelin sheath growth through cap-dependent translation. Additional studies have revealed roles for Fbxw7 in limiting myelination by inhibiting mTOR signaling, for Fmrp in promoting oligodendrocyte lineage specification, differentiation, and myelin sheath growth, and sequential Hedgehog and Notch signaling in specifying oligodendrocyte lineage cells.

Appel received the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Outstanding Investigator Award, an eight-year, $6.9 million grant supporting his project 'Mechanisms of Developmental Myelination,' aimed at elucidating how oligodendrocytes produce and modify myelin in response to brain activity. This work contributes to foundational knowledge for therapeutic strategies promoting myelination in diseased or injured brains. Key publications from his group include 'Microglia phagocytose myelin sheaths to modify developmental myelination' (Nature Neuroscience, 2020), 'Oligodendrocytes express synaptic proteins that modulate myelin sheath formation' (Nature Communications, 2019), 'The Akt-mTOR Pathway Drives Myelin Sheath Growth by Regulating Cap-Dependent Translation' (Journal of Neuroscience, 2021), 'Fmrp regulates oligodendrocyte lineage cell specification and differentiation' (Glia, 2021), 'Zebrafish spinal cord oligodendrocyte formation requires boc function' (Genetics, 2021), and 'Fbxw7 Limits Myelination by Inhibiting mTOR Signaling' (Journal of Neuroscience, 2015). His research has advanced understanding of neural development processes underlying learning, memory, and neurological disorders.