Director of Research

David Pleasure, M.D.
Distinguished Professor, UC Davis
Honorary Member, American Neurological Association
2425 Stockton Blvd, Room 602A, Sacramento, CA 95817
(916) 453-2331
depleasure (at) ucdavis.edu
Education
- BA Yale College
- MD College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University
Research Interests
Development and regeneration of the nervous system; pathogenesis of demyelinative diseases.
Current Research
Purkinje cell dendritic atrophy in aspartoacylase-deficient Canavan leukodystrophy mice (“CD mice”) can be reversed by inhibiting brain N-acetyl-L-aspartate synthesis via intracisternal administration of an Nat8l antisense oligonucleotide.
Noteworthy Publications
TITLE | AUTHOR(s) | YEAR | DOWNLOAD |
Antisense oligonucleotide reverses leukodystrophy in Canavan disease mice. Ann Neurol, in press (PMID:31925837). | Hull, Wang, Burns, Zhang, Sternbach, McDonough, Guo, Pleasure | 2020 | HTML |
Brain Nat8l knockdown suppresses spongiform leukodystrophy in an aspartoacylase-deficient Canavan disease mouse model | Bannerman P, Guo F, Chechneva O, Burns T, Zhu X, Wang Y, Kim B, Singhal NK, McDonough J, Pleasure D | 2018 | HTML |
Differing intrinsic biological properties between forebrain and spinal oligodendroglial lineage cells | Horiuchi M, Suzuki-Horiuchi Y, Akiyama T, Itoh A, Pleasure D, Carstens E, Itoh T | 2017 | HTML |
Suppressing N-Acetyl-l-Aspartate Synthesis Prevents Loss of Neurons in a Murine Model of Canavan Leukodystrophy. J Neurosci. 2017 Jan 11;37(2):413-421. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2013-16.2016. PMID: 28077719 | Sohn J, Bannerman P, Guo F, Burns T, Miers L, Croteau C, Singhal NK, McDonough JA, Pleasure D. | 2017 | HTML |
Human iPSC-Derived Immature Astroglia Promote Oligodendrogenesis by Increasing TIMP-1 Secretion. Cell Rep. 2016 May 10;15(6):1303-15. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2016.04.011. Epub 2016 Apr 28. | Jiang P, Chen C, Liu XB, Pleasure DE, Liu Y, Deng W. | 2016 | HTML |
Therapeutic depletion of monocyte-derived cells protects from long-term axonal loss in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. J Neuroimmunol. 2016 Jan 15;290:36-46. doi: 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2015.11.004. Epub 2015 Nov 10. PMID: 26711567 | Moreno MA, Burns T, Yao P, Miers L, Pleasure D, Soulika AM. | 2016 | HTML |
The Wnt effector transcription factor 7-like 2 positively regulates oligodendrocyte differentiation in a manner independent of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. J Neurosci. 2015 Mar 25;35(12):5007-22. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4787-14.2015. PMID: 25810530 | Hammond E, Lang J, Maeda Y, Pleasure D, Angus-Hill M, Xu J, Horiuchi M, Deng W, Guo F. | 2015 | HTML |
The Wnt effector transcription factor 7-like 2 positively regulates oligodendrocyte differentiation in a manner independent of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. J Neurosci. 2015 Mar 25;35(12):5007-22. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4787-14.2015. | Hammond E, Lang J, Maeda Y, Pleasure D, Angus-Hill M, Xu J, Horiuchi M, Deng W, Guo F. | 2015 | HTML |
Canonical Wnt signaling in the oligodendroglial lineage–puzzles remain. Glia. 2015 Oct;63(10):1671-93. doi: 10.1002/glia.22813. Epub 2015 Mar 18. Review. | Guo F, Lang J, Sohn J, Hammond E, Chang M, Pleasure D. | 2015 | HTML |
The subventricular zone continues to generate corpus callosum and rostral migratory stream astroglia in normal adult mice. J Neurosci. 2015 Mar 4;35(9):3756-63. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3454-14.2015. | Sohn J, Orosco L, Guo F, Chung SH, Bannerman P, Mills Ko E, Zarbalis K, Deng W, Pleasure D. | 2015 | HTML |
Ablating N-acetylaspartate prevents leukodystrophy in a Canavan disease model. Ann Neurol. 2015 May;77(5):884-8. doi: 10.1002/ana.24392. Epub 2015 Mar 27. | Guo F, Bannerman P, Mills Ko E, Miers L, Xu J, Burns T, Li S, Freeman E, McDonough JA, Pleasure D. | 2015 | HTML |
A Smoothened receptor agonist is neuroprotective and promotes regeneration after ischemic brain injury. Cell Death Dis. 2014 Oct 23;5:e1481. doi: 10.1038/cddis.2014.446. | Chechneva OV, Mayrhofer F, Daugherty DJ, Krishnamurty RG, Bannerman P, Pleasure DE, Deng W. | 2014 | HTML |
Loss of Wdfy3 in mice alters cerebral cortical neurogenesis reflecting aspects of the autism pathology. Nat Commun. 2014 Sep 8;5:4692. doi: 10.1038/ncomms5692 | Orosco LA, Ross AP, Cates SL, Scott SE, Wu D, Sohn J, Pleasure D, Pleasure SJ, Adamopoulos IE, Zarbalis KS. | 2014 | HTML |
ZPK/DLK and MKK4 form the critical gateway to axotomy-induced motoneuron death in neonates. J Neurosci. 2014 Aug 6;34(32):10729-42. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0539-14.2014. | Itoh T, Horiuchi M, Ikeda RH Jr, Xu J, Bannerman P, Pleasure D, Penninger JM, Tournier C, Itoh A. | 2014 | HTML |
Deletion of astroglial CXCL10 delays clinical onset but does not affect progressive axon loss in a murine autoimmune multiple sclerosis model. | Mills Ko E, Ma JH, Guo F, Miers L, Lee E, Bannerman P, Burns T, Ko D, Sohn J, Soulika AM, Pleasure D. J Neuroinflammation. 2014 Jun 12;11(1):105. doi: 10.1186/1742-2094-11-105. | 2014 | HTML |
Conditional Ablation of Astroglial CCL2 Suppresses CNS Accumulation of M1 Macrophages and Preserves Axons in Mice with MOG Peptide EAE. | Moreno M, Bannerman P, Ma J, Guo F, Miers L, Soulika AM, Pleasure D. J Neurosci. 2014 Jun 11;34(24):8175-85. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1137-14.2014. | 2014 | HTML |
Neuronopathy in the motor neocortex in a chronic model of multiple sclerosis. | Burns T, Miers L, Xu J, Man A, Moreno M, Pleasure D, Bannerman P. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2014 Apr;73(4):335-44. doi: 10.1097/NEN.0000000000000058. | 2014 | HTML |
Stress and glucocorticoids promote oligodendrogenesis in the adult hippocampus. | Chetty S, Friedman AR, Taravosh-Lahn K, Kirby ED, Mirescu C, Guo F, Krupik D, Nicholas A, Geraghty AC, Krishnamurthy A, Tsai MK, Covarrubias D, Wong AT, Francis DD, Sapolsky RM, Palmer TD, Pleasure D, Kaufer D. Mol Psychiatry. 2014 Feb 11. doi: 10.1038/mp.2013.190. [Epub ahead of print] | 2014 | HTML |
β-catenin regulates Pax3 and Cdx2 for caudal neural tube closure and elongation. | Zhao T, Gan Q, Stokes A, Lassiter RN, Wang Y, Chan J, Han JX, Pleasure DE, Epstein JA, Zhou CJ. Development. 2014 Jan;141(1):148-57. doi: 10.1242/dev.101550. Epub 2013 Nov 27. | 2014 | HTML |
Pax6 mediates ß-catenin signaling for self-renewal and neurogenesis by neocortical radial glial stem cells. | Gan Q, Lee A, Suzuki R, Yamagami T, Stokes A, Nguyen BC, Pleasure D, Wang J, Chen HW, Zhou CJ. Stem Cells. 2014 Jan;32(1):45-58. doi: 10.1002/stem.1561. | 2014 | HTML |
Generation and characterization of spiking and nonspiking oligodendroglial progenitor cells from embryonic stem cells. | Jiang P, Chen C, Liu XB, Selvaraj V, Liu W, Feldman DH, Liu Y, Pleasure DE, Li RA, Deng W. Stem Cells. 2013 Dec;31(12):2620-31. doi: 10.1002/stem.1515. | 2013 | HTML |
hESC-derived Olig2+ progenitors generate a subtype of astroglia with protective effects against ischaemic brain injury. | Jiang P, Chen C, Wang R, Chechneva OV, Chung SH, Rao MS, Pleasure DE, Liu Y, Zhang Q, Deng W. Nat Commun. 2013;4:2196. doi: 10.1038/ncomms3196. | 2013 | HTML |
Whither hope for pharmacological treatment of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A? | Patel PI, Pleasure D. JAMA Neurol. 2013 Aug;70(8):969-71. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2013.3285. | 2013 | HTML |
A TSPO ligand is protective in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis. | Daugherty DJ, Selvaraj V, Chechneva OV, Liu XB, Pleasure DE, Deng W. EMBO Mol Med. 2013 Jun;5(6):891-903. doi: 10.1002/emmm.201202124. Epub 2013 May 17. | 2013 | HTML |
Olig2/Plp-positive progenitor cells give rise to Bergmann glia in the cerebellum. | Chung SH, Guo F, Jiang P, Pleasure DE, Deng W. Cell Death Dis. 2013 Mar 14;4:e546. doi: 10.1038/cddis.2013.74. | 2013 | HTML |
PEDF is a novel oligodendrogenic morphogen acting on the adult SVZ and corpus callosum. J Neurosci 32:12152-12164, 2012 (PMID: 22933798). | Sohn, Selvaraj, Wakayama, Orosco, Lee, Crawford, Guo, Lang, Horiuchi, Zarbalis, Itoh, Deng, Pleasure. | 2012 | HTML |
Adenomatous polyposis coli regulates oligodendroglial development. J Neurosci 33:3113-3130, 2012 (PMID: 23407966). | Lang, Maeda, Bannerman, Xu, Horiuchi, Pleasure, Guo. | 2012 | HTML |
Disruption of NMDA receptors in oligodendroglial lineage cells does not alter their susceptibility to EAE or their normal development. J Neurosci 32:639-645, 2012 (PMID: 22238099). | Guo, Maeda, Mills Ko, Delgado, Horiuchi, Soulika, Miers, Burns, Itoh, Shen, Lee, Sohn, and Pleasure | 2012 | HTML |
IFN-gamma signaling in the central nervous system controls the course of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis independently of the localization and composition of inflammatory foci. J Neuroinflam 9:7, 2012 (PMID: 22248039). | Lee, Chanamara, Pleasure, and Soulika, | 2012 | HTML |
Macroglial Plasticity and the Origins of Reactive Astroglia in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis | Fuzheng Guo, Yoshiko Maeda, Joyce Ma, Monica Delgado, Jiho Sohn, Laird Miers, Emily Mills Ko, Peter Bannerman, Jie Xu, Yazhou Wang, Chengji Zhou, Hirohide Takebayashi, and David Pleasure | 2011 | HTML |
Zfp488 promotes oligodendrocyte differentiation of neural progenitor cells in adult mice after demyelination | Mangala M. Soundarapandian, Vimal Selvaraj, U-Ging Lo, Mari S. Golub, Daniel H. Feldman, David E. Pleasure & Wenbin Deng | 2011 | HTML |
Pyramidal neurons are generated from oligodendroglial progenitor cells in adult piriform cortex. | Guo F, Maeda Y, Ma J, Xu J, Horiuchi M, Miers L, Vaccarino F, Pleasure D. J Neurosci. 2010 Sep 8;30(36):12036-49.PMID: 20826667 | 2010 | HTML |
Differing in vitro survival dependency of mouse and rat NG2+ oligodendroglial progenitor cells. | Horiuchi M, Lindsten T, Pleasure D, Itoh T. J Neurosci Res. 2010 Apr;88(5):957-70.PMID: 19908280 | 2010 | HTML |
Maintenance of the relative proportion of oligodendrocytes to axons even in the absence of BAX and BAK. | Kawai K, Itoh T, Itoh A, Horiuchi M, Wakayama K, Bannerman P, Garbern JY, Pleasure D, Lindsten T. Eur J Neurosci. 2009 Dec 3;30(11):2030-41. Epub 2009 Nov 25.PMID: 20128842 | 2009 | HTML |
Initiation and progression of axonopathy in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. | Soulika AM, Lee E, McCauley E, Miers L, Bannerman P, Pleasure D. J Neurosci. 2009 Nov 25;29(47):14965-79.PMID: 19940192 | 2009 | HTML |
Lrp6-mediated canonical Wnt signaling is required for lip formation and fusion. | Song L, Li Y, Wang K, Wang YZ, Molotkov A, Gao L, Zhao T, Yamagami T, Wang Y, Gan Q, Pleasure DE, Zhou CJ. Development. 2009 Sep;136(18):3161-71. | 2009 | HTML |
PARP-1 deficiency increases the severity of disease in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis. | Selvaraj V, Soundarapandian MM, Chechneva O, Williams AJ, Sidorov MK, Soulika AM, Pleasure DE, Deng W. J Biol Chem. 2009 Jul 23. [Epub ahead of print] | 2009 | HTML |
Early postnatal proteolipid promoter-expressing progenitors produce multilineage cells in vivo. | Guo F, Ma J, McCauley E, Bannerman P, Pleasure D. J Neurosci. 2009 Jun 3;29(22):7256-70 | 2009 | HTML |
Impaired regenerative response of primary sensory neurons in ZPK/DLK gene-trap mice. | Itoh A, Horiuchi M, Bannerman P, Pleasure D, Itoh T. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2009 May 29;383(2):258-62. Epub 2009 Apr 7. | 2009 | HTML |