Dr Payam Rezaie
Reader in Neuropathology
Profile
I joined the Open University in 2003, coming from the Institute of Psychiatry in London, where I co-ordinated and led research into the pathogenesis of prion diseases. I am a neuroscientist with expertise and research interests in Neuropathology, Neuroimmunology, and Developmental Neurobiology. I lead the Neuropathology Research Laboratory (Histology Unit) within the Department. Since 2001, I have held an honorary academic appointment at the Institute of Psychiatry, where I continue to teach on the MSc. Neuroscience programme. I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, and a member of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, the British Neuropathological Society (BNS), International Society of Neuropathology (ISN), the British Neuroscience Association (BNA), Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS), the International Brain Research Organisation (IBRO) and the Biosciences Federation (BSF). I have served on the General and Academic Committees of the BNS (2006-2010), and have been a member of the Advisory Group of the UK Brain Bank for Autism and Related Developmental Research since 2009. I am presently directing a programme of research into the Neuropathology of Autism, and lead the Brain & Behavioural Sciences Discipline within the Department of Life, Health & Chemical Sciences.
Qualifications
BSc (Hons) in Physiology, King’s College London, University of London
MSc in Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, University of London
PhD in Neuropathology and Neuroimmunology, Institute of Psychiatry, University of London
Teaching Interests
Undergraduate Courses:
SK277 Human Biology, Open University
S320 Infectious Diseases, Open University
Postgraduate Courses:
STM895 Postgraduate Research Skills, Open University
S810 MSc in Science Project Module, Open University
S825 Developing Research Skills in Science, Open University
S829 Further Material in Medical Physics, Open University
SD805 Issues in Brain & Behaviour (Addiction and Neural Ageing), Open University
SD815 Issues in Brain & Behaviour (Psychosis and Dementia), Open University
MSc in Neuroscience Programme, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London
Research Interests
Neuropathology of Autism
Neuropathology and pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases
(Alzheimer’s disease, diffuse Lewy body disease, Huntington’s disease, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease)
Normal and abnormal development of the human brain
Developmental neuropathology (lissencephaly, hydrocephalus)
Microglial cell biology
Current Research
Research in my laboratory focuses on the following key areas:
Unravelling the neurobiology of autism
Determining the origin and cell lineage of microglia
Characterising neurogenic stem cells in normal human brain development and in neurodegenerative disorders
Examining the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's and Huntington's disease using experimental models
Research funding
My research is supported by Autism Speaks (USA) (http://www.autismspeaks.org/) and the Open University
Grants as Principal Investigator
Autism Speaks (USA) (2008-2011) “Dendritic organization within the cerebral cortex in autism" (Joint PI with Dr. Paul Gabbott, Open University, Co-I: Dr. Christoph Schmitz, University of Maastricht, the Netherlands, ethical approval reference HPMEC/07/#350/1)
Autism Speaks/NAAR (2006-2009) “Examining alterations in cortical neuronal subpopulations and synaptic proteins in autism”
(Co-I: Dr. Christoph Schmitz, University of Maastricht, the Netherlands, ethical approval reference HPMEC/05/#135/1)
Autism Speaks/NAAR (2004-2006) "Assessment of the glial response within the cerebral cortex in autism"
(Co-I: Dr. Christoph Schmitz, University of Maastricht, the Netherlands, ethical approval reference HPMEC/03/#41/1)
Grants as Co-Investigator
Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, China (2010-2012) “Establishing the embryonic source(s) of microglial progenitors and their routes of entry into the developing central nervous system in live mouse embryos” (PI: Prof. Wood Yee Chan, Chinese University of Hong Kong; Co-I: Prof. Shinichi Kohsaka, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Neuroscience, Japan). Project No. 461909
Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, China (2007-2009) “Identifying the tissue of origin and lineage of microglial progenitors in situ” (PI: Prof. Wood Yee Chan, Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Autism Speaks (2006-2008) “Cytoarchitectural alterations in the cerebral cortex in autism” (PI: Dr. Christoph Schmitz, University of Maastricht, the Netherlands)
Collaborators: Dr. Christoph Schmitz (Maastricht University, Netherlands), Prof. Dr. Norbert Ulfig (University of Rostock, Germany), Prof. Wood Yee Chan (Chinese University of Hong Kong, China), Prof. Shinichi Kohsaka (National Insttiute of Neuroscience, Tokyo, Japan), Dr. Safa Al-Sarraj (Institute of Psychiatry/King’s College Hospital, London), Dr. Jonathan Cooper (Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London), Dr. Mike Modo (Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London), Dr. Andrew Dean (Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge), Dr. Kerry Murphy (Open University), Dr. Mark Hirst (Open University), Dr. Paul Gabbott (Open University)
Recent Publications (since 2003)
1. Ojo B, Rezaie P, Gabbott PL, Davies H, Colyer F, Cowley TR, Lynch M, Stewart MG (2011) Age-related changes in the hippocampus (loss of synaptophysin and glial-synaptic interaction) are modified by systemic treatment with an NCAM-derived peptide, FGL. Brain, Behavior & Immunity [Epub ahead of print].
2. Ojo B, Rezaie P, Gabbott PL, Cowley TR, Medvedev NI, Lynch MA, Stewart MG (2011) A neural cell adhesion molecule derived peptide, FGL, attenuates glial cell activation in the aged hippocampus. Experimental Neurology 232: 318-328.
3. Dallerac GM, Vatsavayai SC, Cummings DM, Milnerwood AJ, Peddie CJ, Evans KA, Walters SW, Rezaie P, Hirst MC, Murphy KP (2011) Impaired long-term potentiation in the prefrontal cortex of Huntington's disease mouse models: rescue by D1 dopamine receptor activation. Neurodegenerative Diseases 8: 230-239.
4. Subileau EA, Rezaie P, Davies HA, Colyer FM, Greenwood J, Male DK, Romero IA (2009) Expression of chemokines and their receptors by human brain endorthelium: implications for multiple sclerosis. Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology 68: 227-240
5. Afonso PV, Ozden S, Cumont MC, Seilhean D, Cartier L, Rezaie P, Mason S, Lambert S, Huerre M, Gessain A, Couraud PO, Pique C, Ceccaldi PE, Romero IA (2008) Alteration of blood-brain barrier integrity by retroviral infection. PLOS Pathogens 4: e10000205 (11 pages)
6. Schmitz C, Rezaie P (2008) The neuropathology of autism - where do we stand? Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology 34: 4-11
7. Cheung KK, Mok SC, Zhao H, Rezaie P, Chan WY (2008) Inhibition of Dab2 expression with antisense oligodeoxynucleotides in mouse embryos. Neuroembryology and Aging 5: 89-99
8. Cheung K-K, Mok S, Rezaie P, Chan W-Y (2008) Dynamic expression of Dab2 in the mouse embryonic central nervous system. BMC Developmental Biology 8: 76 (11 pages)
9. Ulfig N, Steinbrecher A, Stoltenburg-Didinger G, Rezaie P (2008) Differential activation of mononuclear phagocytes in cerebellar malformation associated with Walker-Warburg syndrome. Neuropathology 28: 333-340
10. Rezaie P (2007) Microglia: from origins to differentiation, distribution and dynamics within the mammalian central nervous system. Chapter 1 In: Ling EA, Dheen T (eds), Trends in Glial Research: Basic and Applied, Published by Research Signpost, India, pp1-41
11. Rezaie P, Al-Sarraj S (2007) Vacuolar degeneration affecting brain macrophages/microglia in variant CJD - a report on two cases. Acta Neuropathologica, 114: 651-658
12. Chan WY, Koksaka S, Rezaie P (2007) The origin and cell lineage of microglia – new concepts. Brain Research Reviews 53: 344-354
13. Vatsavayai SC, Dallerac GM, Milnerwood AJ, Cummings DM, Rezaie P, Murphy KPSJ, Hirst MC (2007) Progressive CAG expansion in the brain of a novel R6/1-89Q mouse with delayed phenotypic onset. Brain Research Bulletin 72: 98-102
14. Milnerwood AJ, Cummings DM, Dallerac GM, Brown JY, Waights V, VatsavayaiSC, Hirst MC, Rezaie P, Murphy KPSJ (2006) Early development of aberrant synaptic plasticity in a mouse model of Huntington’s disease. Human Molecular Genetics 15: 1690-1703
15. Kay GW, Palmer DN, Rezaie P, Cooper JD (2006) Prenatal activation of non-neuronal cells within the developing CNS of sheep with neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (CLN6). Brain Pathology 16: 110-116
16. Oswald MJ, Palmer DN, Kay GW, Shemilt SJA, Rezaie P, Cooper JD (2005) Glial activation spreads from specific cerebral foci and precedes neurodegeneration in presymptomatic ovine neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (CLN6) Neurobiology of Disease 20: 49-63
17. Rezaie P, Pontikis C, Hudson L, CairnsNJ, Lantos PL (2005) Expression of cellular prion protein in Alzheimer’s disease, diffuse Lewy body disease and in normal brain: an immunohistochemical study. Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry 53: 929-940
18. Rezaie P, Corbisiero V, Male D (2005) Transient expression of MIDC-8 in the normal mouse brain. Neuroscience Letters 377: 189-194
19. Rezaie P, Dean A, Male D, Ulfig N (2005) Microglia in the cerebral wall of the human telencephalon at second trimester. Cerebral Cortex 15: 938-949
20. Pontikis CC, Cella CV, Parihar N, Lim MJ, Chakrabarti S, Mitchison HM, Mobley WC, Rezaie P, Pearce DA, Cooper JD (2004) Late onset neurodegeneration in the Cln3-/- mouse model of juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis is preceded by low level glial activation. Brain Research 1023: 231-242
21. Schmitz C, Rutten BPF, Pielen A, Schäfer S, Wirths O, Tremp G, Czech C, Blanchard V, Multhaup G, Rezaie P, Korr H, Steinbusch HWM, Pradier L, Bayer TA (2004) Hippocampal neuron loss is greater than amyloid plaque load in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. American Journal of Pathology 164: 1495-1502
22. Ulfig N, Bohl J, Neudörfer F, Rezaie P (2004) Brain macrophages and microglia in human fetal hydrocephalus. Brain and Development 26: 307-315
23. Al-Sarraj S, Mohamed S, Kibble M, Rezaie P. Subdural hematoma (SDH): assessment of macrophage reactivity within the dura mater and underlying hematoma (2004). Clinical Neuropathology 23: 62-75
24. Rezaie P, Bohl J, Ulfig N (2004) Anomalous alterations affecting microglia in the central nervous system of a fetus at twelve weeks of gestation - case report. Acta Neuropathologica 107: 176-180
25. Rezaie P, Male D (2003) Microglia in fetal and adult human brain can be distinguished from other mononuclear phagocytes through their lack of CD163 expression. Neuroembryology 3: 130-133
26. Rezaie P, Ulfig N, Male D (2003) Distribution and morphology of GFAP-positive astrocytes in the human fetal brain at second trimester. Neuroembryology 2: 50-63
27. Rezaie P (2003) Microglia in the human nervous system during development. Neuroembryology 2: 18-31
28. Oliveira A, Hodges H, Rezaie P (2003) Excitotoxic lesioning of the rat basal forebrain with S-AMPA: consequent mineralisation and associated glial response. Experimental Neurology 179:127-138
29. Modo M, Mellodew K, Rezaie P (2003) In vitro expression of major histocompatibility (MHC) class I and class II antigens by conditionally immortalised murine neural stem cells. Neuroscience Letters 337: 85-88
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