Dennis R. Grayson is an internationally recognized expert in molecular neurobiology, and has more than 100 publications. He is leading new studies on the role of methylation in the regulation of selected genes and its impact on the neuropsychological phenotype.

Dr. Grayson received his Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry in 1984 from Wayne State University School of Medicine. He performed postdoctoral studies in the laboratory of Dr. James E. Darnell, Jr. at the Rockefeller University from 1984 through 1988. In 1988, Dr. Grayson was appointed as the Director of the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory of the Fidia-Georgetown Institute for the Neurosciences directed by Dr. Erminio Costa. Dr. Grayson was also a member of the faculty of Georgetown University as an Assistant Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy. He moved to Allegheny Singer Research Institute as part of the Neurosciences Research Center in 1994, and was appointed Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobiology and Anatomy at the Allegheny University of the Health Sciences. He joined the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois, Chicago in July of 1998 and maintains his research laboratory at the Psychiatric Institute. Dr. Grayson received a national Research Service Award to support his Post-doctoral training and a Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Division of the national Institutes of Health. In addition to his research responsibilities, Dr. Grayson is a regular member of the MCDN-6 NIH Neurosciences Study Section.

Representative Publications

Tremolizzo L, Carboni G, Ruzika B, Mitchell C, Sugaya I, Tueting P, Sharma R, Grayson DR, Costa E, and Guidotti A (2002) An epigenetic mouse model for molecular and behavioral neuropathologies related to schizophrenia vulnerability. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99: 17095-17100.

Sanna A, Congeddu E, Porcella A, Saba L, Pistis M, Peis M, Marchese G, Ruiu S, Lobina C, Grayson DR, Gessa GL, and Pani L. (2003) Characterization of wild-type (R100R) and mutated (Q100Q) GABAA a6 subunit in Sardinian alcohol non-preferring rats (sNP). Brain Res 967, 98-105.

Dong E, Caruncho H, Liu WS, Smalheiser N, Grayson DR, Costa E, Guidotti A (2003) A reelin-integrin interaction regulates Arc mRNA translation in synaptoneurosomes. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100, 5479-5484.

Veldic M, Caruncho HM, Liu WS, Davis J, Satta R, Grayson DR, Guidotti A, and Costa E (2004) DNA-Methyltransferase-1 mRNA is selectively overexpressed in telencephalic GABAergic interneurons of schizophrenia brains. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101: 348-353.

Saba L, Porcella A, Congeddu E, Sanna A, Lobina C, Grayson DR, Gessa GL, and Pani L. (2005) Five mutations in the GABAA a6 gene 5’ flanking region are associated with a reduced basal and ethanol-induced a6 upregulation in mutated Sardinian alcohol non-preferring rats. Mol. Brain Res 137: 252-257.

Gibbons RD, Bhaumik DK, Cox DR, Grayson DR, Davis JM, and Sharma RP (2005) Sequential prediction bounds for identifying differentially expressed genes in replicated microarray experiments. Journal of Statistical Planning and Inference 129: 19-37.

Noh JS, Sharma RP, Veldic M, Salvacion AA, Jia X, Chen Y, Costa E, Guidotti A, and Grayson, DR (2005) DNA methyltransferase 1 regulates reelin mRNA expression in primary mouse cortical cultures, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 102: 1749-1754.

Tremolizzo L, Doueiri MS, Dong E, Grayson DR, Pinna G, Tueting P, Rodriguez-Menendez V, Costa E, Guidotti A (2005) Valproate corrects the schizophrenia-like epigenetic behavioral modifications induced by methionine in mice. Biol Psychiatry 57:500-509.

Mitchell CP, Grayson DR, Goldman MB (2005) Neonatal lesions of the ventral hippocampal formation alter GABA-A receptor subunit mRNA expression in adult rat frontal pole. Biological Psychiatry 57: 49-55.

Mitchell CP, Chen Y, Kundakovic M, Costa E, and Grayson DR (2005) Histone deacetylase inhibitors decrease reelin promoter methylation in vitro. J Neurochemistry 93: 483-492.

Grayson DR, Jia X, Chen Y, Sharma RP, Mitchell CP, Guidotti A, and Costa E. (2005) Reelin Promoter Hypermethylation in Schizophrenia. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102: 9341-9346.

Dong E, Agis-Balboa RC, Simonini MV, Grayson DR, Costa E, Guidotti A (2005) Reelin and glutamic acid decarboxylase67 promoter remodeling in an epigenetic methionine-induced mouse model of schizophrenia. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102: 12578-12583.

Sharma RP, Grayson DR, Guidotti A, Costa E (2005) Chromatin, DNA methylation and neuron gene regulation- the purpose of the package. J Psychiatry Neurosci 30: 257-263.

Pinna G, Algis-Balboa RC, Zhubi A, Matsumoto K, Grayson DR, Costa E, Guidotti A (2006) Imidazenil and diazepam increase locomotor activity in mice exposed to protracted social isolation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103: 4275-4280.

The Brain Scan

Pictures from my Research