Sarat Vatsavayai, PhD

Specialist
Fields of Interest: 

Sarat Vatsavayai received a master of science degree in Human Genetics from Andhra University, India. He then did his doctoral work in the field of Huntington’s disease at the Open University, UK, where he was characterizing a novel mouse model and was trying to find out if DNA repeat instability could modify disease progression. In July 2013, he joined Dr. Seeley’s lab and is studying the molecular basis of C9orf72 mutation in frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Publications: 

Frontotemporal lobar degeneration targets brain regions linked to expression of recently evolved genes.

Brain : a journal of neurology

Pasquini L, Pereira FL, Seddighi S, Zeng Y, Wei Y, Illán-Gala I, Vatsavayai SC, Friedberg A, Lee AJ, Brown JA, Spina S, Grinberg LT, Sirkis DW, Bonham LW, Yokoyama JS, Boxer AL, Kramer JH, Rosen HJ, Humphrey J, Gitler AD, Miller BL, Pollard KS, Ward ME, Seeley WW

FTLD targets brain regions expressing recently evolved genes.

medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences

Pasquini L, Pereira FL, Seddighi S, Zeng Y, Wei Y, Illán-Gala I, Vatsavayai SC, Friedberg A, Lee AJ, Brown JA, Spina S, Grinberg LT, Sirkis DW, Bonham LW, Yokoyama JS, Boxer AL, Kramer JH, Rosen HJ, Humphrey J, Gitler AD, Miller BL, Pollard KS, Ward ME, Seeley WW

Loss of TDP-43 function contributes to genomic instability in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Frontiers in neuroscience

Fang M, Deibler SK, Nana AL, Vatsavayai SC, Banday S, Zhou Y, Almeida S, Weiss A, Brown RH, Seeley WW, Gao FB, Green MR

Tuberous sclerosis complex is associated with a novel human tauopathy.

Acta neuropathologica

Hwang JL, Perloff OS, Gaus SE, Benitez C, Alquezar C, Cosme CQ, Nana AL, Vatsavayai SC, Ramos EM, Geschwind DH, Miller BL, Kao AW, Seeley WW

TDP-43 represses cryptic exon inclusion in the FTD-ALS gene UNC13A.

Nature

Ma XR, Prudencio M, Koike Y, Vatsavayai SC, Kim G, Harbinski F, Briner A, Rodriguez CM, Guo C, Akiyama T, Schmidt HB, Cummings BB, Wyatt DW, Kurylo K, Miller G, Mekhoubad S, Sallee N, Mekonnen G, Ganser L, Rubien JD, Jansen-West K, Cook CN, Pickles S, Oskarsson B, Graff-Radford NR, Boeve BF, Knopman DS, Petersen RC, Dickson DW, Shorter J, Myong S, Green EM, Seeley WW, Petrucelli L, Gitler AD

C9orf72-specific phenomena associated with frontotemporal dementia and gastrointestinal symptoms in the absence of TDP-43 aggregation.

Acta neuropathologica

Sampognaro PJ, Vatsavayai SC, Cosme CG, Hwang JL, Nolan A, Huang EJ, Seeley WW, De May MG

C9orf72-FTD/ALS pathogenesis: evidence from human neuropathological studies.

Acta neuropathologica

Vatsavayai SC, Nana AL, Yokoyama JS, Seeley WW

Suppression of C9orf72 RNA repeat-induced neurotoxicity by the ALS-associated RNA-binding protein Zfp106.

eLife

Celona B, Dollen JV, Vatsavayai SC, Kashima R, Johnson JR, Tang AA, Hata A, Miller BL, Huang EJ, Krogan NJ, Seeley WW, Black BL

Neuropathology of dementia.

Eun-Joo Kim, Sarat Vatsavayai, William W. Seeley

Timing and significance of pathological features in C9orf72 expansion-associated frontotemporal dementia.

Brain : a journal of neurology

Vatsavayai SC, Yoon SJ, Gardner RC, Gendron TF, Vargas JN, Trujillo A, Pribadi M, Phillips JJ, Gaus SE, Hixson JD, Garcia PA, Rabinovici GD, Coppola G, Geschwind DH, Petrucelli L, Miller BL, Seeley WW

Dysfunctional Dopaminergic Neurones in Mouse Models of Huntington's Disease: A Role for SK3 Channels.

Neuro-degenerative diseases

Dallérac GM, Levasseur G, Vatsavayai SC, Milnerwood AJ, Cummings DM, Kraev I, Huetz C, Evans KA, Walters SW, Rezaie P, Cho Y, Hirst MC, Murphy KP

B05 CAG profiling in R6/1 89Q indicates early and progressive expansion in critical neuronal populations and expansion and changes in surrounding glial cell populations.

Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry

M Hirst, S Vatsavayai, G Dallerac, A Milnerwood, D Cummings, P Rezaie, K Evans, A Stramek, S Walters, K Murphy

B24 Dysfunctional dopaminergic neurones and biphasic activity-dependent dopamine release in mouse models of Huntington's disease.

Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry

KPSJ Murphy, GM Dallerac, AJ Milnerwood, DM Cummings, SC Vatsavayai, A Stramek, KA Evans, SW Walters, MC Hirst

Impaired long-term potentiation in the prefrontal cortex of Huntington's disease mouse models: rescue by D1 dopamine receptor activation.

Neuro-degenerative diseases

Dallérac GM, Vatsavayai SC, Cummings DM, Milnerwood AJ, Peddie CJ, Evans KA, Walters SW, Rezaie P, Hirst MC, Murphy KP

Abnormal cortical synaptic plasticity in a mouse model of Huntington's disease.

Brain research bulletin

Cummings DM, Milnerwood AJ, Dallérac GM, Vatsavayai SC, Hirst MC, Murphy KP

Progressive CAG expansion in the brain of a novel R6/1-89Q mouse model of Huntington's disease with delayed phenotypic onset.

Brain research bulletin

Vatsavayai SC, Dallérac GM, Milnerwood AJ, Cummings DM, Rezaie P, Murphy KP, Hirst MC

Aberrant cortical synaptic plasticity and dopaminergic dysfunction in a mouse model of Huntington's disease.

Human molecular genetics

Cummings DM, Milnerwood AJ, Dallérac GM, Waights V, Brown JY, Vatsavayai SC, Hirst MC, Murphy KP

Early development of aberrant synaptic plasticity in a mouse model of Huntington's disease.

Human molecular genetics

Milnerwood AJ, Cummings DM, Dallérac GM, Brown JY, Vatsavayai SC, Hirst MC, Rezaie P, Murphy KP