Staff Profile

Qualifications

PhD, MRes, BSc (Hons)

Roles within the University

Module lead for MMB8020 "Scientific basis of neurological disorders"

Member of the Transformative Neuroscience NUCoRE Steering Group

Memberships

British Neuropathological Society

Recent esteem indicators (last 3 years)

• Appointed as a trustee of the MLD Support Association UK, January 2024.
• "Lewy body diseases", Invited Plenary Speaker, Grand Challenges in Climate and Health, November 2023, Italy.
• "Shared mechanisms between sphingolipidoses and common neurodegenerative diseases", Invited Plenary Speaker, 12th Interactive Workshop on Niemann-Pick Diseases", November 2023, UK
• "Molecular pathology of metachromatic leukodystrophy", Invited Speaker, MLD Scientific and Family Conference, March 2023, UK.
• Appointed to the Scientific Advisory Board of the Lewy Bodies Society UK, January 2023
• "Neuronal vulnerability in Lewy body dementia", Invited Keynote Presentation, British Neuropathological Society Next Generation Socialising Event, November 2022, UK.
• "Rising Star in Lewy Body Dementia Research - Gold Award", International Lewy Body Dementia Consortium, June 2022, UK.
• "Neuronal vulnerability in Lewy body disease", Invited Speaker, Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience Seminar, VU University Medical Centre, May 2022, Netherlands.
• "The role of mitochondria in cellular vulnerability in Lewy body dementia", Invited Plenary Speaker, Mito2i, September 2021, virtual. 
• "The Lewy body-centric paradigm of LBD: insights from neurometabolic diseases", Invited Speaker, Metabolic Medicine Meeting, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, September 2021, UK.
• Editorial board member, Acta Neuropathologica, from March 2021 - present.

Lewy body diseases

My research is focused on Lewy body diseases, collectively the second most common form of neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease. Lewy body diseases are characterised by accumulations of the protein alpha-synuclein termed Lewy bodies in particular populations of neurons. Although Lewy bodies are thought to have a central role in Lewy body diseases, they do not form in all cell types and the relationship between Lewy bodies and cell death is imperfect. Much of my current work is attempting to understand why Lewy bodies form and if they are harmful to neurons. As preventing the accumulation of alpha-synuclein is a major goal of candidate therapies in development, it is critical to determine whether alpha-synuclein accumulation is driving the disease process of Lewy body disease.

Neurometabolic diseases

I have a major interest in rare neurometabolic diseases, particularly those with mechanistic overlaps with Lewy body diseases such as sphingolipid storage disorders and mitochondrial diseases. Many rare neurometabolic diseases are caused by risk genes for Lewy body disease and, therefore, these monogenic conditions with more clear aetiology can provide unique insights into mechanisms that could be relevant to Lewy body diseases. I am currently leading neuropathological studies into the sphingolipid storage disorders metachromatic leukodystrophy, Krabbe disease and Tay-Sachs disease, and mitochondrial disease cases resulting from nuclear DNA variants, including a significant cohort with Lewy body pathology. I am also involved in further studies investigating the neuropathology of Alpers' syndrome, mitochondrial encephalopathy lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) and myoclonic epilepsy with ragged red fibres (MERRF).

Current team members:

Dr Jade Hawksworth (Research Associate) studying sphingolipid metabolism in Lewy body dementia

Anna Lawson (PhD student funded by the Barbour Foundation) studying clinico-pathological correlations in the UK Brains for Dementia cohort.

Searlait Thom (PhD student funded by the Jacobson Memorial Fund for Neurological Research) studying mitophagy in Lewy body dementia.

Paige Sellers (MSci student) studying the neuropathology of metachromatic leukodystrophy.

Module lead and lecturer for MMB8020 "Scientific basis of neurological disorders".

Lecture on MPharm Pharmacy Level 3 on Therapeutics for Dementia.

Laboratory training of undergraduate, MSci and MRes students during their laboratory placements.

• Articles

  • Hamilton CA, Matthews FE, Attems J, Donaghy PC, Erskine D, Taylor JP, Thomas AJ. Associations between multimorbidity and neuropathology in dementia: a case for considering functional cognitive disorders, psychiatric illness, and dementia mimics. British Journal of Psychiatry 2024. In Press.
  • Chen C, McDonald D, Blain A, Mossman E, Atkin K, Marusich MF, Capaldi R, Bone L, Smith A, Filby A, Erskine D, Russell O, Hudson G, Vincent AE, Reeve AK. Parkinson’s disease neurons exhibit alterations in mitochondrial quality control proteins. npj Parkinson's Disease 2023, 9, 120.
  • Smith LA, Chen C, Lax NZ, Taylor RW, Erskine D, McFarland R. Astrocytic pathology in Alpers’ syndrome. Acta Neuropathologica Communications 2023, (11), 86.
  • Ghanem SS, Majbour NK, Vaikath NN, Ardah MT, Erskine D, Jensen NM, Fayyad M, Sudhakaran IP, Vasili E, Melachroinou K, Abdi IY, Poggiolini I, Santos P, Dorn A, Carloni P, Vekrellis K, Attems J, McKeith I, Outeiro TF, JEnsen PH, El-Agnaf OMA. α-Synuclein phosphorylation at serine 129 occurs after initial protein deposition and inhibits seeded fibril formation and toxicity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2022, 119(15), e2109617119.
  • Hatton C, Ghanem SS, Koss DJ, Abdi IY, Gibbons E, Guerreiro R, Bras J, International DLB Genetics Consortium, Walker L, Gelpi E, Heywood W, Outeiro TF, Attems J, McFarland R, Forsyth R, El-Agnaf OM, Erskine D. Prion-like α-synuclein pathology in the brain of infants with Krabbe disease. Brain 2022, 145(4), 1257-1263.
  • Koss DJ, Erskine D, Porter A, Palmoski P, Menon H, Todd OGJ, Leite M, Attems J, Outeiro TF. Nuclear alpha-synuclein is present in the human brain and is modified in dementia with Lewy bodies. Acta Neuropathologica Communications 2022, 10, 98.
  • Hmila I, Vaikath NN, Majbour NK, Erskine D, Sudhakaran IP, Gupta V, Ghanem SS, Islam Z, Emara MM, Abdesselem HB, Kolatkar PR, Achappa DK, Vinardell T, El-Agnaf OMA. Novel engineered nanobodies specific for N-terminal region of alpha-synuclein recognize Lewy-body pathology and inhibit in-vitro seeded aggregation and toxicity. FEBS Journal 2022, 289(15), 4657-4673.
  • Ng YS, Lax NZ, Blain AP, Erskine D, Baker MR, Polvikoski T, Thomas RH, Morris CM, Lai M, Whittaker RG, Gebbels A, Winder A, Hall J, Feeney C, Farrugia ME, Hirst C, Roberts M, Lawthom C, Chrysostomou A, Murphy K, Baird T, Maddison P, Duncan C, Poulton J, Nesbitt V, Hanna MG, Pitceathly RDS, Taylor RW, Blakely EL, Schaefer AM, Turnbull DM, McFarland R, Gorman GS. Forecasting stroke-like episodes and outcomes in mitochondrial disease. Brain 2022, 145(2), 542-554.
  • Majbour NK, Aasly J, Abdi I, Ghanem S, Erskine D, Van de Berg W, El-Agnaf O. Disease-associated a-synuclein aggregates as biomarkers of Parkinson disease clinical stage. Neurology 2022, Epub ahead of print.
  • Smith LA, Erskine D, Blain A, Taylor RW, McFarland R, Lax NZ. Delineating selective vulnerability of inhibitory interneurons Alpers' syndrome. Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology 2022, 48(6), e12833.
  • Donaghy PC, Cockell SJ, Martin-Ruiz C, Coxhead J, Kane J, Erskine D, Koss D, Taylor JP, Morris CM, O'Brien JT, Thomas AJ. Blood mRNA expression in Alzheimer’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 2022, 30(9), 964-975.
  • Chen C, Mossman E, Malko P, McDonald D, Blain AP, Bone L, Erskine D, Filby A, Vincent AE, Hudson G, Reeve AK. Astrocytic Changes in Mitochondrial Oxidative Phosphorylation Protein Levels in Parkinson's Disease. Movement Disorders 2022, 37(2), 302-314.
  • Poggiolini I, Erskine D, Vaikath NN, Ponraj J, Mansour S, Morris CM, El-Agnaf OMA. RT-QuIC using C-terminally truncated a-synuclein forms detects differences in seeding propensity of different brain regions from synucleinopathies. Biomolecules 2021, 11(6), 820.
  • Hamilton C, Matthews FE, Erskine D, Attems J, Thomas AJ. Neurodegenerative brain changes are associated with area deprivation in the United Kingdom: findings from the Brains for Dementia Research study. Acta Neuropathologica Communications 2021, 9, 198.
  • Tweedy C, Kindred N, Curry J, Williams C, Taylor J-P, Atkinson P, Randall F, Erskine D, Morris CM, Reeve AK, Clowry GJ, LeBeau FEN. Hippocampal network hyperexcitability in young transgenic mice expressing human mutant alpha-synuclein. Neurobiology of Disease 2021, 149, 105226.
  • Erskine D, Reeve AK, Polvikoski T, Schaefer AM, Taylor RW, Lax NZ, El-Agnaf O, Attems J, Gorman GS, Turnbull DM, Ng YS. Lewy body pathology is more prevalent in older individuals with mitochondrial disease than controls. Acta Neuropathologica 2020, 139, 219-221.
  • Fayyad M, Erskine D, Majbour NK, Vaikath NV, Ghanem SS, Sudhakaran IP, Abdesselem H, Lamprokostopoulou A, Vekrellis K, Morris CM, Attems J, El-Agnaf OMA. Investigating the Presence of Doubly‐phosphorylated α‐Synuclein at Tyrosine 125 and Serine 129 In Idiopathic Lewy Body Diseases. Brain Pathology 2020, 30(4), 831-843.
  • Fayyad M, Majbour NK, Vaikath NN, Erskine D, El-Tarawneh H, Sudhakaran IP, Abdesselem H, El-Agnaf OMA. Generation of monoclonal antibodies against phosphorylated α-Synuclein at serine 129: Research tools for synucleinopathies. Neuroscience Letters 2020, 725, 134899.
  • Gupta V, Salim S, Hmila I, Vaikath NN, Sudhakaran IP, Ghanem SS, Majbour NK, Abdulla SA, Emara MM, Abdesselem HB, Lukacsovich T, Erskine D, El-Agnaf OMA. Fibrillar form of α-synuclein-specific scFv antibody inhibits α-synuclein seeds induced aggregation and toxicity. Scientific Reports 2020, 10, 8137.
  • McAleese KE, Walker L, Erskine D, Johnson M, Koss D, Thomas AJ, Attems J. Concomitant LATE-NC in Alzheimer's disease is not associated with increased tau or amyloid-β pathological burden. Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology 2020, 46(7), 722-734.
  • Hatton C, Reeve A, Lax NZ, Blain A, Ng YS, El-Agnaf O, Attems J, Taylor JP, Turnbull D, Erskine D. Complex I reductions in the nucleus basalis of Meynert in Lewy body dementia: the role of Lewy bodies. Acta Neuropathologica Communications 2020, (8), 103.
  • Erskine D, Taylor JP, Thomas A, Collerton D, McKeith I, Khundakar A, Attems J, Morris C. Pathological Changes to the Subcortical Visual System and its Relationship to Visual Hallucinations in Dementia with Lewy Bodies. Neuroscience Bulletin 2019, 35, 295-300.
  • Fayyad M, Salim S, Majbour N, Erskine D, Stoops E, Mollenhauer B, El-Agnaf OMA. Parkinson's disease biomarkers based on alpha-synuclein. Journal of Neurochemistry 2019, 150(5), 626-636.
  • Vaikath NN, Erskine D, Morris CM, Majbour N, Vekrellis K, Li JY, El-Agnaf OMA. Heterogeneity in α-synuclein sub-types and their expression in cortical brain tissue lysates from Lewy body diseases and Alzheimer's disease. Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology 2019, 45(6), 597-608.
  • McAleese KE, Graham S, Dey M, Walker L, Erskine D, Johnson M, Johnston E, Thomas AJ, McKeith IG, DeCarli C, Attems J. Extravascular fibrinogen in the white matter of Alzheimer’s disease and normal aged brains: implications for fibrinogen as a biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease. Brain Pathology 2019, 29(3), 414-424.
  • Outeiro TF, Koss DJ, Erskine D, Walker L, Kurzawa-Akanbi M, Burn DJ, Donaghy P, Morris CM, Taylor JP, Thomas AJ, Attems J, McKeith IG. Dementia with Lewy bodies: an update and outlook. Molecular Neurodegeneration 2019, 14, 5.
  • Erskine D, Taylor JP, Bakker G, Brown AJH, Tasker T, Nathan PJ. Cholinergic muscarinic M₁ and M₄ receptors as therapeutic targets for cognitive, behavioural, and psychological symptoms in psychiatric and neurological disorders. Drug Discovery Today 2019, 24(12), 2307-2314.
  • Erskine D, Patterson L, Alexandris A, Hanson PS, McKeith IG, Attems J, Morris CM. Regional levels of physiological α-synuclein are directly associated with Lewy body pathology. Acta Neuropathologica 2018, 135(1), 153-154.
  • Erskine D, Ding J, Thomas AJ, Kaganovich A, Khundakar AA, Hanson PS, Taylor JP, McKeith IG, Attems J, Cookson MR, Morris CM. Molecular changes in the absence of severe pathology in the pulvinar in dementia with Lewy bodies. Movement Disorders 2018, 33(6), 982-991.
  • Mcaleese KE, Walker L, Erskine D, Thomas AJ, Mckeith IG, Attems J. TDP-43 pathology in Alzheimer's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies and ageing. Brain Pathology 2017, 27(4), 472-479.
  • Erskine D, Thomas AJ, Attems J, Taylor JP, McKeith IG, Morris CM, Khundakar AA. Specific patterns of neuronal loss in the pulvinar nucleus in dementia with Lewy bodies. Movement Disorders 2017, 32(3), 414-422.
  • Walker L, McAleese KE, Johnson M, Khundakar AA, Erskine D, Thomas AJ, McKeith IG, Attems J. Quantitative neuropathology: an update on automated methodologies and implicationsfor large scale cohorts. Journal of Neural Transmission 2017, 124(6), 671-683.
  • McAleese KE, Walker L, Graham S, Moya ELJ, Johnson M, Erskine D, Colloby SJ, Dey M, Martin-Ruiz C, Taylor J-P, Thomas AJ, McKeith IG, De Carli C, Attems J. Parietal white matter lesions in Alzheimer's disease are associated with cortical neurodegenerative pathology, but not with small vessel disease. Acta Neuropathologica 2017, 134(3), 459-473.
  • Erskine D, Thomas AJ, Taylor JP, Savage MA, Attems J, McKeith IG, Morris CM, Khundakar AA. Neuronal Loss and Α-Synuclein Pathology in the Superior Colliculus and Its Relationship to Visual Hallucinations in Dementia with Lewy Bodies. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 2017, 25(6), 595-604.
  • Khundakar AA, Hanson PS, Erskine D, Lax NZ, Roscamp J, Karyka E, Tsefou E, Singh P, Cockell SJ, Gribben A, Ramsay L, Blain PJ, Mosimann UP, Lett DJ, Elstner M, Turnbull DM, Xiang CC, Brownstein MJ, O'Brien JT, Taylor JP, Attems J, Thomas AJ, McKeith IG, Morris CM. Analysis of primary visual cortex in dementia with Lewy bodies indicates GABAergic involvement associated with recurrent complex visual hallucinations. Acta Neuropathologica Communications 2016, 4, 66.
  • Erskine D, Taylor JP, Firbank MJ, Patterson L, Onofrj M, O'Brien JT, McKeith IG, Attems J, Thomas AJ, Morris CM, Khundakar AA. Changes to the lateral geniculate nucleus in Alzheimer's disease but not dementia with Lewy bodies. Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology 2015, 42(4), 366–376.

• Book Chapter

  • Walker L, McAleese KE, Erskine D, Attems J. Neurodegenerative Diseases and Ageing. In: Subcellular Biochemistry. Singapore: Springer Nature, 2019, pp.75-106.

• Reviews

  • Olkhova EA, Smith LA, Bradshaw C, Gorman GS, Erskine D, Ng YS. Neurological Phenotypes in Mouse Models of Mitochondrial Disease and Relevance to Human Neuropathology. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 2023, 24(11), 9698.
  • Amin J, Erskine D, Donaghy PC, Surendranathan A, Swann P, Kunicki AP, Boche D, Holmes C, McKeith IG, O'Brien JT, Teeling JL, Thomas AJ. Inflammation in dementia with Lewy bodies. Neurobiology of Disease 2022, 168, 105698.
  • Erskine D, Koss D, Korolchuk VI, Outeiro TF, Attems J, McKeith I. Lipids, lysosomes and mitochondria: insights into Lewy body formation from rare monogenic disorders. Acta Neuropathologica 2021, 141, 511-526.
  • Erskine D, Attems J. Insights into Lewy body disease from rare neurometabolic disorders. Journal of Neural Transmission 2021, 128, 1567-1575.
  • Vaikath NN, Hmila I, Gupta V, Erskine D, Ingelsson M, El-Agnaf OMA. Antibodies against alpha‐synuclein: tools and therapies. Journal of Neurochemistry 2019, 150(5), 612-625.
  • Erskine D, Khundakar AA. Stereological approaches to dementia research using human brain tissue. Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy 2016, 76(Part B), 73–81.