Anusha Mishra, Ph.D.

  • Associate Professor of Neurology, School of Medicine
  • Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, School of Medicine
  • Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, School of Medicine
  • Neuroscience Graduate Program, School of Medicine
  • Program in Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, School of Medicine

Biography

Glial cells called astrocytes are abundant in the central nervous system. They play an important role in healthy brain function, including mediation of neurovascular coupling–the process by which active neurons signal to blood vessels to increase local blood flow and hence the supply of energy substrates. This process underlies several non-invasive neuroimaging techniques applied to human cognitive research and clinical diagnosis, with one prominent example being functional magnetic resonance imaging. Dr. Mishra has studied mechanisms of neurovascular coupling for over 15 years. She performed her doctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Eric Newman at the University of Minnesota, where she studied the role of astrocytes in retinal neurovascular coupling impairments in diabetes and hyperoxic conditions. She then moved to University College London to do her postdoctoral work with Dr. David Attwell, where she demonstrated that astrocyte-mediated signaling is essential in regulating capillary blood flow in the cortex. She also found that pericytes often constrict capillaries and then die following ischemia, severely reducing blood supply to the afflicted region.

Neurovascular coupling is very robust under healthy mature conditions. However, in pathological/disease contexts, neurovascular coupling is often altered. This not only results in a mismatch of energy supply and demand in the brain but also complicates the interpretation of neuroimaging data from patients. Current research in the Mishra lab is aimed at understanding the mechanisms of neurovascular coupling in health and disease, with a focus on the role that astrocytes play in these processes.

Education and training

  • Degrees

    • B.A., 2004, Minnesota State University, Moorhead
    • Ph.D., 2011, University of MInnesota

Memberships and associations:

  • Society for Neuroscience
  • International Society of Cerebral Blood flow and Metabolism
  • American Heart Association

Areas of interest

  • Neuron-glial and glial-glial interactions
  • Reactive astrogliosis
  • Neurovascular coupling
  • Ischemic injury
  • Neurodegenerative disorders

Additional information

Honors and awards

  • 3M Science and Technology Graduate Fellowship - 2005-2009
  • Stark Award for Advanced Scholarship - 2008
  • Visual Neuroscience Training Program T32 fellowship - 2010-11
  • Young Investigator Travel Fellowship, International Society for Eye Research - 2012
  • Distinguished Alumni Lecture, Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota - 2018

Publications

Publications

  • Astrocyte Regulation of Cerebral Blood Flow in Health and Disease

    Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology
    1. Anusha Mishra
    2. Grant R. Gordon
    3. Brian A. Macvicar
    4. Eric A. Newman

  • Remyelination protects neurons from DLK-mediated neurodegeneration

    Nature communications
    1. Greg J. Duncan
    2. Sam D. Ingram
    3. Katie Emberley
    4. Jo Hill
    5. Christian Cordano
    6. Ahmed Abdelhak
    7. Michael McCane
    8. Jennifer E. Jenks
    9. Nora Jabassini
    10. Kirtana Ananth
    11. Skylar J. Ferrara
    12. Brittany Stedelin
    13. Benjamin Sivyer
    14. Sue A. Aicher
    15. Thomas S. Scanlan
    16. Trent A. Watkins
    17. Anusha Mishra
    18. Jonathan W. Nelson
    19. Ari J. Green
    20. Ben Emery

  • Assaying activity-dependent arteriole and capillary responses in brain slices

    Neurophotonics
    1. Danica Bojovic
    2. Teresa L. Stackhouse
    3. Anusha Mishra

  • Increased 20-HETE Signaling Suppresses Capillary Neurovascular Coupling After Ischemic Stroke in Regions Beyond the Infarct

    Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience
    1. Zhenzhou Li
    2. Heather L. McConnell
    3. Teresa L. Stackhouse
    4. Martin M. Pike
    5. Wenri Zhang
    6. Anusha Mishra

  • Mechanism and potential treatment of the "no reflow" phenomenon after acute myocardial infarction

    American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology
    1. Carmen Methner
    2. Zhiping Cao
    3. Anusha Mishra
    4. Sanjiv Kaul

  • Spatially mapped single-cell chromatin accessibility

    Nature communications
    1. Casey A. Thornton
    2. Ryan M. Mulqueen
    3. Kristof A. Torkenczy
    4. Andrew Nishida
    5. Eve G. Lowenstein
    6. Andrew J. Fields
    7. Frank J. Steemers
    8. Wenri Zhang
    9. Heather L. McConnell
    10. Randy L. Woltjer
    11. Anusha Mishra
    12. Kevin M. Wright
    13. Andrew C. Adey

  • Amyloid b oligomers constrict human capillaries in Alzheimer's disease via signaling to pericytes

    Science
    1. Ross Nortley
    2. Nils Korte
    3. Pablo Izquierdo
    4. Chanawee Hirunpattarasilp
    5. Anusha Mishra
    6. Zane Jaunmuktane
    7. Vasiliki Kyrargyri
    8. Thomas Pfeiffer
    9. Lila Khennouf
    10. Christian Madry
    11. Hui Gong
    12. Angela Richard-Loendt
    13. Wenhui Huang
    14. Takashi Saito
    15. Takaomi C. Saido
    16. Sebastian Brandner
    17. Huma Sethi
    18. David Attwell

  • Pericyte constriction underlies capillary derecruitment during hyperemia in the setting of arterial stenosis

    American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology
    1. Carmen Methner
    2. Anusha Mishra
    3. Kirsti Golgotiu
    4. Yuandong Li
    5. Wei Wei
    6. N. David Yanez
    7. Berislav Zlokovic
    8. Ruikang K. Wang
    9. Nabil J. Alkayed
    10. Sanjiv Kaul
    11. Jeffrey J. Iliff

  • Binaural blood flow control by astrocytes

    Journal of Physiology
    1. Anusha Mishra

  • Astrocytes mediate neurovascular signaling to capillary pericytes but not to arterioles

    Nature Neuroscience
    1. Anusha Mishra
    2. James P. Reynolds
    3. Yang Chen
    4. Alexander V. Gourine
    5. Dmitri A. Rusakov
    6. David Attwell

  • What is a pericyte?

    Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism
    1. David Attwell
    2. Anusha Mishra
    3. Catherine N. Hall
    4. Fergus M. O'Farrell
    5. Turgay Dalkara

  • Capillary pericytes regulate cerebral blood flow in health and disease

    Nature
    1. Catherine N. Hall
    2. Clare Reynell
    3. Bodil Gesslein
    4. Nicola B. Hamilton
    5. Anusha Mishra
    6. Brad A. Sutherland
    7. Fergus M. Oâ Farrell
    8. Alastair M. Buchan
    9. Martin Lauritzen
    10. David Attwell