Astrid Cardona, Ph.D.

Dr. Astrid Cardona’s research is focused on investigations of the immune-pathology associated with chronic inflammatory diseases that affect the central nervous system, including multiple sclerosis and diabetes. 

Dr. Cardona is particularly interested in determining the contribution of fractalkine signaling on myeloid cells during neuroinflammation.  Although fractalkine and its receptor CX3CR1, are mainly expressed in the CNS by neurons and microglia respectively, they also have a distinctive peripheral pattern of expression. Fractalkine is found at in endothelial and epithelial cells and circulating monocytes, dendritic cells and NK cells express CX3CR1. 

Some of the questions we are addressing include: Does CX3CR1 play a role in the trafficking of microglial precursors? Does CX3CR1-deficiency on microglia or peripheral cells enhance neuronal/axonal pathology? How does CX3CR1-deficiency alter CNS immune responses? We intend to clarify the role of fractalkine/CX3CR1 in the brain, research that is instrumental for potential development of therapeutic agents.

• Publications

  For a full list of publications, please click here. 

  Garcia JA, Cardona SM, Cardona AE. Isolation and analysis of mouse microglial cells. Curr Protoc Immunol. 2014 Feb 4;104:Unit 14.35. 

  Bhaskar K, Maphis N, Xu G, Varvel NH, Kokiko-Cochran ON, Weick JP, Staugaitis SM, Cardona A, Ransohoff RM, Herrup K, Lamb BT. Microglial derived tumor necrosis factor-α drives Alzheimer's disease-related neuronal cell cycle events. Neurobiol Dis. 2014 Feb;62:273-85

  Sosa RA, Murphey C, Ji N, Cardona AE, Forsthuber TG. The kinetics of myelin antigen uptake by myeloid cells in the central nervous system during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. J Immunol. 2013 Dec 15;191(12):5848-57.

  Garcia JA, Pino PA, Mizutani M, Cardona SM, Charo IF, Ransohoff RM, Forsthuber TG, Cardona AE. Regulation of adaptive immunity by the fractalkine receptor during autoimmune inflammation. J Immunol. 2013 Aug 1;191(3):1063-72. 

  Mishra PK, Morris EG, Garcia JA, Cardona AE, Teale JM. Increased accumulation of regulatory granulocytic myeloid cells in mannose receptor C type 1-deficient mice correlates with protection in a mouse model of neurocysticercosis.. Infect Immun. 2013 Apr;81(4):1052-63.

  Garcia JA, Cardona SM, Cardona AE. Analyses of microglia effector function using CX3CR1-GFP knock-in mice. Methods Mol Biol. 2013;1041:307-17.