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. From 1999 to 2003, Dr. Grayson was a regular member of the MCDN-6 NIH Neurosciences Study Section. He is currently a member of the F03A Study Section which reviews pre- and pos-doctoral award applications.

Representative Publications since 2006

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.

Sharma RP, Rosen C, Kartan S, Guidotti A, Costa E, Grayson DR, Chase K (2006) Valproic acid and chromatin remodeling in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: Preliminary results from a clinical population. Schizophr Res 88: 227-231.

Guidotti A, Ruzicka W, Grayson DR, Veldic M, Pinna M, Davis JM, Costa E (2006) S-adenosyl methionine and DNA methyltransferase-I mRNA overexpression in psychosis. Neuroreport 18:57-60.

Kundakovic M, Chen Y, Costa E, Grayson DR (2006) DNA methyltransferase inhibitors coordinately induce expression of the human reelin and GAD67 genes. Mol Pharmacol 71: 644-653.

Costa E, Dong E, Grayson DR, Ruzicka W, Simonini MV, Veldic M, Guidotti A. Epigenetic targets in GABAergic neurons to treat schizophrenia. Adv Pharmacol 54: 95-117.

Ruzika W, Zhubi A, Veldic M, Grayson DR, Costa E, Guidotti A (2006) Selective epigenetic alteration of layer I GABAergic neurons isolated from prefrontal cortex of schizophrenia patients using laser-assisted microdissection. Mol Psychiatry 12:385-397. (PMID: 17264840)

Dong E, Guidotti A, Grayson Dr, Costa E. Demethylation of reelin and glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 brain promoters is induced by hyperacetylation of histones. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:4676-4681 (PMID: 17360583).

Chen Y, Kundakovic M, Agis-Balboa RC, Pinna G, Grayson DR (2007) Induction of the reelin promoter by retinoic acid is mediated by Sp1. J Neurochem 103:650-665 (PMID: 17666047)

Sharma RP, Grayson DR, Gavin DP (2008) Histone deacetylase I expression is increased in the prefrontal cortex of schizophrenia subjects; analysis of the National Brain Databank microarray collection. Schiophrenia Res 98:111-117 (PMID: 17961987).

Costa E, Dong E, Grayson DR, Guidotti A, Ruzicka W, Veldic M (2007) Reviewing the role of DNA (cytosine-5) methyltransferase overexpression in the cortical GABAergic dysfunction associated with psychosis vulnerability. Epigenetics 2: 29-36 (PMID: 17965595).

Kharlamov EA, Downey KL, Jukkola PI, Grayson DR, Kelly KM (2008) Expression of GABA(A) receptor alpha(1) subunit mRNA and protein in rat neocortex following photothrombic infarction. Brain Res 19:29-36 (PMID: 18407248).

Dong E, Nelson M, Grayson DR, Costa E, Guidotti A (2008) Clozapine and sulpiride but not haloperidol or lanzapine activate brain DNA-demethylase. Proc Natl Acad Sci 105: 13614-13619 (PMID: 18757738).

Gavin DP. Kartan S, Chase K, Grayson DR, Sharma RP (2008) Reduced baseline acetylated histone 3 levels, and a blunted response to HDAC inhibition in lymphocyte cultures from schizophrenia subjects. Schizophr Res 103: 330-332 (PMID 18539439).

Sharma RP, Tun N, Grayson DR (2008) Depolarization induces downregulation of DNMT1 and DNMT3a in primary cortical cultures. Epigenetics 3: 74-80 (PMID 18536530).

Kundakovic M, Chen Y, Guidotti A, Grayson DR (2008) The reelin and GAD67 promoters are activated by epigenetic drugs that facilitate the disruption of local repressor complexes. Mol Pharm, epub ahead of print (PMID: 19029285).

Costa E, Chen Y, Dong E, Grayson DR, Kundakovic M, Maloku E, Ruzicka WB, Satta R, Veldic M, Zhubi A, Guidotti A (2009) GABAergic promoter hypermethylation as a model to study the neurochemistry of schizophrenia vulernability. Expert Rev Neurother 9: 87-98 (PMID: 19102671).

Guidotti A, Dong E, Kundakovic M, Satta R, Grayson DR, Costa E (2008) Characterization of the action of antipsychotic subtypes on valproate-induced chromatin remodeling. Trends Pharmacol Sci, epub ahead of print (PMID: 19110320).

The Brain Scan

Pictures from my Research