Elise Malavasi

The rapid propagation of action potentials along myelinated axons depends on the high-density clustering of voltage-gated Sodium channels at nodes of Ranvier.

Contact type
Person
First name
Elise
Surname
Malavasi
Title
Dr
Role
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Organisation 1
The Chancellor's Building
Organisation 2
49 Little France Crescent
Organisation 3
EH16 4SB
Work phone
+44 (0) 131 242 9497
Email
Elise.Malavasi@ed.ac.uk

Personal profile

  • 2015 - present: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Peter Brophy  lab, The University of Edinburgh.
  • 2013 - 2015: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Kirsty Millar lab, the University of Edinburgh. 
  • 2021 - 2013: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, David Porteous lab. 
  • 2008 - 2011: Wellcome Trust PhD programme “The Cellular and Molecular Basis of Disease”, Kirsty Millar’s lab, The University of Edinburgh. 
  • 2007 - 2008: MSc in Life Sciences, The University of Edinburgh. 
  • 2005 - 2007: MSc in Medical Biotechnology, The University of Bologna.
  • 2000 - 2005: BSc in Medical Biotechnology, The university of Bologna. 

Research

The rapid propagation of action potentials along myelinated axons depends on the high-density clustering of voltage-gated Sodium channels at nodes of Ranvier.

By applying a combination of conventional, super-resolution and electron microscopy techniques to live and fixed tissue, I am investigating the mechanisms that drive the earliest steps in the recruitment of Sodium channels and other key molecular components to nascent nodes of Ranvier in the peripheral nervous system.

Recent publications

Malavasi ELV, Economides KD, Grünewald E, Makedonopoulou P, Gautier P, Mackie S, Murphy LC, Murdoch H, Crummie D, Ogawa F, McCartney DL, O'Sullivan ST, Burr K, Torrance HS, Phillips J, Bonneau M, Anderson SM, Perry P, Pearson M, Constantinides C, Davidson-Smith H, Kabiri M, Duff B, Johnstone M, Polites HG, Lawrie SM, Blackwood DH, Semple CA, Evans KL, Didier M, Chandran S, McIntosh AM, Price DJ, Houslay MD, Porteous DJ, Millar JK. DISC1 regulates N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor dynamics: abnormalities induced by a Disc1 mutation modelling a translocation linked to major mental illness. ransl Psychiatry. 2018 Sep 6;8(1):184. doi: 10.1038/s41398-018-0228-1. PubMed PMID: 30190480; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6127284.

Ogawa F, Murphy LC, Malavasi EL, O'Sullivan ST, Torrance HS, Porteous DJ, Millar JK. NDE1 and GSK3β Associate with TRAK1 and Regulate Axonal Mitochondrial Motility: Identification of Cyclic AMP as a ovel Modulator of Axonal Mitochondrial Trafficking. ACS Chem Neurosci. 2016 May 18;7(5):553-64. doi: 10.1021/acschemneuro.5b00255. Epub 2016 Feb 16. PubMed PMID: 26815013.

Ogawa F, Malavasi EL, Crummie DK, Eykelenboom JE, Soares DC, Mackie S, Porteous DJ, Millar JK. DISC1 complexes with TRAK1 and Miro1 to modulate anterograde axonal mitochondrial trafficking. Hum Mol Genet. 2014 Feb 15;23(4):906-19. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddt485. Epub 2013 Oct 2. PubMed PMID: 24092329; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3900104. 

Thomson PA, Malavasi EL, Grünewald E, Soares DC, Borkowska M, Millar JK. DISC1 genetics, biology and psychiatric illness. Front Biol (Beijing). 2013 Feb 1;8(1):1-31. PubMed PMID: 23550053; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3580875.

Eykelenboom JE, Briggs GJ, Bradshaw NJ, Soares DC, Ogawa F, Christie S, Malavasi EL, Makedonopoulou P, Mackie S, Malloy MP, Wear MA, Blackburn EA, Bramham J, McIntosh AM, Blackwood DH, Muir WJ, Porteous DJ, Millar JK. A t(1;11) translocation linked to schizophrenia and affective disorders gives rise to aberrant chimeric DISC1 transcripts that encode structurally altered, deleterious mitochondrial proteins. Hum Mol Genet. 2012 Aug 1;21(15):3374-86. doi: 10.1093/hmg/dds169. Epub 2012 Apr 30. PubMed PMID: 22547224; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3392113. 

Malavasi EL, Ogawa F, Porteous DJ, Millar JK. DISC1 variants 37W and 607F disrupt its nuclear targeting and regulatory role in ATF4-mediated transcription. Hum Mol Genet. 2012 Jun 15;21(12):2779-92. doi: 10.1093/hmg/dds106. Epub 2012 Mar 15. PubMed PMID: 22422769; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3363331.

Malavasi EL, Kelly V, Nath N, Gambineri A, Dakin RS, Pagotto U, Pasquali R, Walker BR, Chapman KE. Functional effects of polymorphisms in the human gene encoding 11 beta-hydroxysteroid ehydrogenase type 1 (11 beta-HSD1): a sequence variant at the translation start of 11 beta-HSD1 alters enzyme levels. Endocrinology. 2010 Jan;151(1):195-202. doi: 10.1210/en.2009-0663. Epub 2009 Nov 24. PubMed PMID: 19934376; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3971150.