Dr Irundika Dias

Lecturer, Aston Medical School

Aston Medical School
Aston University
Aston Triangle
Birmingham
B4 7ET

Tel: 0121 204 5111
Email: h.k.i.dias1@aston.ac.uk
Room number: MB649
Office hours: 8.30am - 4.30pm

Research Group

Cell & Tissue Biomedical Research

2017-todate Post graduate Diploma in Learning and Teaching in HE
2016 Post graduate certificate of Learning and Teaching in HE
2009 PhD in Biomedical Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham
2004 MSc in Medical Genetics with Immunology, Brunel University, London
2003 BSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka

2014-to date Research Fellow, Aston University
2009-2014 Post-doctoral Researcher, Aston University
2005 Honorary Research Student, National Blood Services, London
2004 Research Assistant, Industrial Technology Institute, Sri Lanka
2003-2004 Teaching Assistant, Department of Chemistry, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka

Fellow of Higher Education Academy
Biology key skills module (BY1KS1) tutor
Research project supervisor for undergraduate final year and masters of Biology research projects.

The primary focus of my current research is investigating the role of oxidative stress and lipid oxidation in chronic diseases. In particular, I am investigating lipid oxidation products in chronic kidney disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Oxidative stress, an imbalance of oxidants and antioxidants in the favour of oxidants, has been thought to play a central part in the complications of many diseases. Lipid oxidation products are formed as a result of increased oxidants or by enzymatic pathways. These products are virtually present in every cellular systems and in circulation and participate in orchestrating many cellular processes as bio active lipid mediators.

During the inflammation, bio active lipids play a pivotal role by recruiting phagocytes first in to the site of infection/injury. Late inflammatory process is actively limited by activation of a resolution phase, often via generation of structurally specific oxidised lipids whose function is to orchestrate resolution of inflammation. Imbalance of these processes result chronic inflammation and disease progression.

We use cell culture model systems and primary blood cell isolations and take various approaches; molecular biology, immunoassay, proteomic and lipidomic tools, to study protein and lipid oxidation in cells and tissue. My previous work heavily involved studying hyperactive behaviour of human neutrophils towards chronic periodontitis. Recent work in the lab on monocyte shows promising approach to study inflammatory cascades and how lipids involve in this process.

We have recently developed new mass spectrometry-based approach (LC-MS/MS) to analyse cholesterol oxidation and phospholipid oxidation products in biological fluids, cell and tissue.

Mr. Ali Remtulla

Title: The effect of oxidative stress on thioredoxin-1 in T cells and associated binding partners

January 2017 ARUK network grant: Do oxysterols induce mitochondrial impairment and neuronal toxicity in Alzheimer’s disease? £4700
February 2016 ARUK network grant: Oxysterol homeostasis in AD £3950
2014-2017 Kidney Research UK fellowship award:Periodontitis as a co-morbidity for adverse cardiovascular outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease; do plasma lipids provide a critical link? £185,619

September 2016 Poster prize: ARUK midlands network
January 2013 Poster Prize for the best poster at Biochemical Society hot topic meeting titled "Nutrient mechanisms in inflammation, infection and immunity"
July 2010 President’s prize for the best periodontology research
June 2006 Best poster at Aston University to go towards Regional competition

Society for Free Radical Research- Europe (SFRR-E)
Higher Education Academy (HEA)
Biochemical Society
International Association for Dental Research (IADR)

Recent Publications

Dias, HK, Griffiths, HR, Shabir, K, Brown, CLR & Polidori, MC 2018, 'miRNA 933 Expression by Endothelial Cells is Increased by 27-Hydroxycholesterol and is More Prevalent in Plasma from Dementia Patients' Journal of Alzheimer' s disease, pp. 1009-1017. DOI:10.3233/JAD-180201
Dias, I 2018, 'Analysis of oxidised lipids; validation and application' Free Radical Biology and Medicine, vol. 120, no. Suppl 1, pp. S2. DOI:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2018.04.015
Remtulla, AH , Dias, IH , Milic, I , Devitt, A & Griffiths, HR 2018, 'Protein sulphenic acid formation during CD4 + T cell activation' Free Radical Biology and Medicine, vol. 120, no. Suppl 1, pp. S120. DOI:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2018.04.396
Dias, IH, Wilson, SR & Roberg-larsen, H 2018, 'Chromatography of oxysterols' Biochimie. DOI:10.1016/j.biochi.2018.05.004
Dias, HK , Milic, I, Lip, GYH, Polidori, MC, Devitt, A & Griffiths, HR 2018, 'Simvastatin reduces circulating oxysterol levels in men with hypercholesterolemia' Redox biology. DOI:10.1016/j.redox.2018.02.014
Egea, J, Fabregat, I, Frapart, YM, Ghezzi, P, Görlach, A, Kietzmann, T, Kubaichuk, K, Knaus, UG, Lopez, MG, Olaso-Gonzalez, G, Petry, A, Schulz, R, Vina, J, Winyard, P, Abbas, K, Ademowo, OS , Afonso, CB, Andreadou, I, Antelmann, H, Antunes, F, Aslan, M, Bachschmid, MM, Barbosa, RM, Belousov, V, Berndt, C, Bernlohr, D, Bertrán, E, Bindoli, A, Bottari, SP, Brito, PM, Carrara, G, Casas, AI, Chatzi, A, Chondrogianni, N, Conrad, M, Cooke, MS, Costa, JG, Cuadrado, A, My-Chan Dang, P, De Smet, B, Debelec-Butuner, B, Dias, IHK, Dunn, JD, Edson, AJ, El Assar, M, El-Benna, J, Ferdinandy, P, Fernandes, AS, Fladmark, KE, Förstermann, U, Giniatullin, R, Giricz, Z, Görbe, A, Griffiths, H, Hampl, V, Hanf, A, Herget, J, Hernansanz-Agustín, P, Hillion, M, Huang, J, Ilikay, S, Jansen-Dürr, P, Jaquet, V, Joles, JA, Kalyanaraman, B, Kaminskyy, D, Karbaschi, M, Kleanthous, M, Klotz, LO, Korac, B, Korkmaz, KS, Koziel, R, Kracun, D, Krause, KH, Kren, V, Krieg, T, Laranjinha, J, Lazou, A, Li, H, Martínez-Ruiz, A, Matsui, R, McBean, GJ, Meredith, SP, Messens, J, Miguel, V, Mikhed, Y, Milisav, I, Milkovic, L, Miranda-Vizuete, A, Mojovic, M, Monsalve, M, Mouthuy, PA, Mulvey, J, Münzel, T, Muzykantov, V, Nguyen, ITN, Oelze, M, Oliveira, NG, Palmeira, CM, Papaevgeniou, N, Pavicevic, A, Pedre, B, Peyrot, F, Phylactides, M, Pircalabioru, GG, Pitt, AR, Poulsen, HE, Prieto, I, Rigobello, MP, Robledinos-Antón, N, Rodríguez-Mañas, L, Rolo, AP, Rousset, F, Ruskovska, T, Saraiva, N, Sasson, S, Schröder, K, Semen, K, Seredenina, T, Shakirzyanova, A, Smith, GL, Soldati, T, Sousa, BC , Spickett, CM, Stancic, A, Stasia, MJ, Steinbrenner, H, Stepanic, V, Steven, S, Tokatlidis, K, Tuncay, E, Turan, B, Ursini, F, Vacek, J, Vajnerova, O, Valentová, K, Van Breusegem, F, Varisli, L, Veal, EA, Yalçin, AS, Yelisyeyeva, O, Žarkovic, N, Zatloukalová, M, Zielonka, J, Touyz, RM, Papapetropoulos, A, Grune, T, Lamas, S, Schmidt, HHHW, Di Lisa, F & Daiber, A 2017, 'Corrigendum to "European contribution to the study of ROS: A summary of the findings and prospects for the future from the COST action BM1203 (EU-ROS)" [Redox Biol. 13 (2017) 94-162]' Redox Biology, vol. In press. DOI:10.1016/j.redox.2017.10.001
Egea, J, Fabregat, I, Frapart, YM, Ghezzi, P, Görlach, A, Kietzmann, T, Kubaichuk, K, Knaus, UG, Lopez, MG, Olaso-Gonzalez, G, Petry, A, Schulz, R, Vina, J, Winyard, P, Abbas, K, Ademowo, S , Afonso, CB, Andreadou, I, Antelmann, H, Antunes, F, Aslan, M, Bachschmid, MM, Barbosa, RM, Belousov, V, Berndt, C, Bernlohr, D, Bertrán, E, Bindoli, A, Bottari, SP, Brito, PM, Carrara, G, Casas, AI, Chatzi, A, Chondrogianni, N, Conrad, M, Cooke, MS, Costa, JG, Cuadrado, A, My-Chan Dang, P, De Smet, B, Debelec–butuner, B, Dias, I, Dunn, JD, Edson, AJ, El Assar, M, El-Benna, J, Ferdinandy, P, Fernandes, AS, Fladmark, KE, Förstermann, U, Giniatullin, R, Giricz, Z, Görbe, A, Griffiths, H, Hampl, V, Hanf, A, Herget, J, Hernansanz-Agustín, P, Hillion, M, Huang, J, Ilikay, S, Jansen-Dürr, P, Jaquet, V, Joles, JA, Kalyanaraman, B, Kaminskyy, D, Karbaschi, M, Kleanthous, M, Klotz, L-O, Korac, B, Korkmaz, KS, Koziel, R, Kracun, D, Krause, K-H, Kren, V, Krieg, T, Laranjinha, J, Lazou, A, Li, H, Martínez-Ruiz, A, Matsui, R, Mcbean, GJ, Meredith, SP, Messens, J, Miguel, V, Mikhed, Y, Milisav, I, Milkovic, L, Miranda-Vizuete, A, Mojovic, M, Monsalve, M, Mouthuy, P-A, Mulvey, J, Münzel, T, Muzykantov, V, Nguyen, ITN, Oelze, M, Oliveira, NG, Palmeira, CM, Papaevgeniou, N, Pavicevic, A, Pedre, B, Peyrot, F, Phylactides, M, Pircalabioru, GG, Pitt, AR, Poulsen, HE, Prieto, I, Rigobello, MP, Robledinos-Antón, N, Rodríguez-mañas, L, Rolo, AP, Rousset, F, Ruskovska, T, Saraiva, N, Sasson, S, Schröder, K, Semen, K, Seredenina, T, Shakirzyanova, A, Smith, GL, Soldati, T, Sousa, BC , Spickett, CM, Stancic, A, Stasia, MJ, Steinbrenner, H, Stepanic, V, Steven, S, Tokatlidis, K, Tuncay, E, Turan, B, Ursini, F, Vacek, J, Vajnerova, O, Valentová, K, van Breusegem, F, Varisli, L, Veal, EA, Yalçin, AS, Yelisyeyeva, O, Žarkovic, N, Zatloukalová, M, Zielonka, J, Touyz, RM, Papapetropoulos, A, Grune, T, Lamas, S, Schmidt, HHHW, di Lisa, F & Daiber, A 2017, 'European contribution to the study of ROS: a summary of the findings and prospects for the future from the COST Action BM1203 (EU-ROS)' Redox biology, vol. 13, pp. 94-162. DOI:10.1016/j.redox.2017.05.007
Ademowo, OS , Dias, HKI , Milic, I , Devitt, A, Moran, R, Mulcahy, R, Howard, AN, Nolan, JM & Griffiths, HR 2017, 'Phospholipid oxidation and carotenoid supplementation in Alzheimer’s disease patients' Free Radical Biology and Medicine, vol. 108, pp. 77-85. DOI:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2017.03.008
Ademowo, OS , Dias, IKI , Burton, DGA & Griffiths, HR 2017, 'Lipid (per) oxidation in mitochondria: an emerging target in the ageing process?' Biogerontology, vol. in press. DOI:10.1007/s10522-017-9710-z
Reddy, P , Dias, I , Holland, C , Campbell, N, Nagar, I, Connolly, L, Krustrup, P & Hubball, H 2017, 'Walking football as sustainable exercise for older adults – A pilot investigation' European Journal of Sport Science, vol. In press. DOI:10.1080/17461391.2017.1298671
Roberts, H, White, P, Dias, I, McKaig, S, Veeramachaneni, R, Thakker, N, Grant, M & Chapple, I 2016, 'Characterization of neutrophil function in Papillon-Lefèvre syndrome' Journal of Leukocyte Biology, vol. 100, no. 2, pp. 433-444. DOI:10.1189/jlb.5A1015-489R
Dias, IH , Milic, I , Devitt, A , Spickett, CM , Pitt, AR & Griffiths, HR 2016, 'Mass spectrometry based method for measurement of oxysterols' pp. S27. DOI:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2016.04.183
Dias, IHK, Brown, CLR, Polidori-Nelles, MC, Lip, GYH & Griffiths, HR 2015, 'LDL-Lipids from patients with hypercholesterolaemia and Alzheimer' s disease are inflammatory to microvascular endothelial cells: mitigation by statin intervention' Clinical Science, vol. 129, no. 12, pp. 1195-1206. DOI:10.1042/CS20150351
Pajares, M, Jiménez-Moreno, N, Dias, IHK, Debelec, B, Vucetic, M, Fladmark, KE, Basaga, H, Ribaric, S, Milisav, I & Cuadrado, A 2015, 'Redox control of protein degradation' Redox biology, vol. 6, pp. 409-420. DOI:10.1016/j.redox.2015.07.003
Dias, IHK , Ademowo, OS, Newey, E & Griffiths, HR 2015, 'The Nrf2-ARE activation protect neurones against oxidative stress' Free Radical Biology and Medicine, vol. 86, no. Suppl.1, PP34, pp. S30-S31. DOI:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2015.07.109
Killick, JW, Bennett, SJ, Dias, IHK , Dunston, CR & Griffiths, HR 2014,A role for epigenetic modulation of the innate immune response during aging. in A Massoud & N Rezaei (eds),Immunology of aging.Springer, Berlin (DE), pp. 37-45. DOI:10.1007/978-3-642-39495-9_4
Griffiths, H , Dias, I, Lip, GYH, Spickett, C & Polidori, C 2014, 'Oxidised LDL lipids, statins and a blood-brain barrier' Free Radical Biology and Medicine, vol. 75, no. Suppl.1, OP2-3, pp. S15-S16. DOI:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2014.10.591
Dias, IHK, Mistry, J, Fell, S, Reis, A, Spickett, CM, Polidori, MC, Lip, GYH & Griffiths, HR 2014, 'Oxidised LDL-lipids increase beta amyloid production by SH-SY5Y cells through glutathione depletion and lipid raft formation' Free Radical Biology and Medicine, vol. 75, pp. 48–59. DOI:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2014.07.012
Dias, IHK, Polidori, MC & Griffiths, HR 2014, 'Hypercholesterolaemia-induced oxidative stress at the blood-brain barrier' Biochemical Society Transactions, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 1001-1005. DOI:10.1042/BST20140164
Dias, IHK & Griffiths, HR 2014, 'Oxidative stress in diabetes - circulating advanced glycation end products, lipid oxidation and vascular disease' Annals of Clinical Biochemistry, vol. 51, no. 2, pp. 125-127. DOI:10.1177/0004563213508747
Griffiths, HR , Dias, I , Willetts, RS & Devitt, A 2014, 'Redox regulation of protein damage in plasma' Redox biology, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 430-435. DOI:10.1016/j.redox.2014.01.010
Dias, IHK, Polidori, MC, Li, L, Weber, D, Stahl, W, Nelles, G, Grune, T & Griffiths, HR 2014, 'Plasma levels of HDL and carotenoids are lower in dementia patients with vascular comorbidities' Journal of Alzheimer' s disease, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 399-408. DOI:10.3233/JAD-131964
Ratnayake, S, Dias, IHK , Lattmann, E & Griffiths, HR 2013, 'Stabilising cysteinyl thiol oxidation and nitrosation for proteomic analysis' Journal of Proteomics, vol. 92, pp. 160-170. DOI:10.1016/j.jprot.2013.06.019
Bennett, SJ, Dunston, CR , Dias, IHK , Carilho, R, Augustyniak, E & Griffiths, HR 2013, 'Intracellular redox state modulates the T cell surface proteome – relevance to ageing' Free Radical Biology and Medicine, vol. 65, no. Suppl.1, pp. S11. DOI:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2013.08.129
Carilho Torrão, RBD , Dias, IHK, Bennett, SJ, Dunston, CR & Griffiths, HR 2013, 'Healthy ageing and depletion of intracellular glutathione influences T cell membrane thioredoxin-1 levels and cytokine secretion' Chemistry Central Journal, vol. 7, no. 1, 150. DOI:10.1186/1752-153X-7-150
Dias, IKI, Mistry, J, Tarzyluck, M, Hill, EJ, Bennett, SJ, Polidori, MC, Lip, GYH & Griffiths, HR 2013, 'Oxidised LDL-lipids alter redox ratio, lipid raft formation and increase amyloid beta production by SHSY-5Y cells' Experimental Gerontology, vol. 48, no. 7, pp. 688. DOI:10.1016/j.exger.2013.05.022
Dias, IHK, Chapple, ILC, Milward, M, Grant, MM, Hill, E , Brown, J & Griffiths, HR 2013, 'Sulforaphane restores cellular glutathione levels and reduces chronic periodontitis neutrophil hyperactivityin vitro' PLoS ONE, vol. 8, no. 6, e66407. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0066407
Kolamunne, RT, Dias, IHK , Vernallis, AB, Grant, MM & Griffiths, HR 2013, 'Nrf2 activation supports cell survival during hypoxia and hypoxia/reoxygenation in cardiomyoblasts; the roles of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species' Redox biology, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 418-426. DOI:10.1016/j.redox.2013.08.002
Dias, IHK, Matthews, JB, Chapple, ILC, Wright, HJ, Dunston, CR & Griffiths, HR 2011, 'Activation of the neutrophil respiratory burst by plasma from periodontitis patients is mediated by pro-inflammatory cytokines' Journal of Clinical Periodontology, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 1-7. DOI:10.1111/j.1600-051X.2010.01628.x
Phillips, DC, Dias, HKI, Kitas, GD & Griffiths, HR 2010, 'Aberrant reactive oxygen and nitrogen species generation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA): causes and consequences for immune function, cell survival, and therapeutic intervention' Antioxidants and Redox Signaling, vol. 12, no. 6, pp. 743-85. DOI:10.1089/ars.2009.2607
Dias, IHK , Marshall, L , Lambert, PA, Chapple, ILC, Matthews, JB & Griffiths, HR 2008, 'Gingipains from Porphyromonas gingivalis increase the chemotactic and respiratory burst-priming properties of the 77-amino-acid interleukin-8 variant' Infection and Immunity, vol. 76, no. 1, pp. 317-323. DOI:10.1128/IAI.00618-07

Dr Irundika Dias

Lecturer, Aston Medical School

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