Ghazaleh Sadri-Vakili

Ghazaleh Sadri-Vakili, MS, PhD

Instructor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Sadri-Vakili's research focuses on delineating the molecular mechanisms that underlie transcriptional dysregulation in Huntington's disease.

She is interested in determining the epigenetic (histone modifications and transcription factor activity) changes that lead to alterations in gene expression in Huntington’s disease. The study of histone modifications is an exciting and unexplored area in neuroscience. Targeting histone modifying enzymes such as histone deacetylases is a novel approach for the treatment of several neurodegenerative disorders including Huntington’s disease. Dr. Sadri-Vakili applies the most current techniques and uses both cell as well as animal models of Huntington’s disease to address these issues.

Dr. Sadri-Vakili is also examining the molecular mechanisms underlying cocaine addiction. Repeated intake of drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, promotes neuroadaptations in brain reward systems that characterizes addiction. It is now clear that changes in gene expression in limbic nuclei underlie some forms of cocaine-induced neuronal and behavioral plasticity. Dr. Sadri-Vakili, in collaboration with Dr. Chris Pierce at Boston University School of Medicine, is conducting research aimed at understanding the epigenetic regulation of cocaine-induced alterations in gene expression.

Selected publications

Sadri-Vakili G., Menon, A.S., Farrell, L.A., Keller-McGandy, C.E., Cantuti-Castelvetri, I., Standaert, D.G., Augood, S.J., Yohrling, G.J., Cha, J.-H.J. (2006) Huntingtin inclusions do not down-regulate specific genes in the R6/2 Huntington’s disease mouse. European Journal of Neuroscience 23:3171-3175.
Sadri-Vakili, G. & Cha, J.-H.J. (2006) Mechanisms of disease: histone modifications in Huntington’s disease. Nature Clinical Practice Neurology 2(6):330-338.
Chen-Plotkin, A., Sadri-Vakili, G., Yohrling, G.J., Bravemen, M.W., Benn, C.L., Glajch, K.E., DiRocco, D.P., Farrell, L.A., Krainc, D., Gines, S., MacDonald, M., Cha, J.-H.J. (2006) Decreased association of the transcription factor Sp1 with genes downregulated in Huntington’s disease. Neurobiology of Disease 22:233-241.
Sadri-Vakili, G., Bouzou, B., Benn, C.L., Kim, M., Chawla, P., Overland, R.P., Glajch, K.E., Xia, E., Qui, Z., Hersch, S.M., Clark, T.W., Yohrling, G.J., Cha, J.-H.J. (2007) Histones Associated with Downregulated Genes are Hypo-acetylated in Huntington’s Disease Models. Human Molecular Genetics 16(11):1293-306.
Anderson, S.M.*, Famous, K.R.*, Sadri-Vakili, G.*, Kumaresan, V.*,
Schmidt, H.D., Bass, C., Terwilliger, Cha, J.-H.J. and Pierce, R.C. (2008)
CaMKII: the biochemical bridge linking nucleus accumbens dopamine and glutamate systems in cocaine seeking. Nature Neuroscience 11(3):344-353.

NCBI PubMed link

Ghazaleh Sadri-Vakili, MS, PhD

Research interests

Neurodegeneration and addiction
Research techniques
Molecular biology, biochemistry and cell biology techniques
Diseases studied
Huntington's disease and cocaine addiction

Contact Information

Ghazaleh Sadri-Vakili, MS, PhD
MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease
Bldg 114 16th Street, R2200
Charlestown, MA 02129
Phone: 617-724-1487
E-mail:gsadrivakili@partners.org