Disease Biology & Biomarker Discovery (Mo.8378979665)

Key research interests:

• Identification of the role played by ncRNAs in Diabetes
• Metabolic signatures associated with stress
• Biomarker discovery

Research Group: (PhD Student, Project student, Research Associates)

Devika M Sardesai, Graduate student, since 2016

Pratiksha Roham, Graduate student, since 2018

Shreyda Save, Project assistant (Joint with IIT Bombay), Since 2018

Group Description: Diabetes is a serious chronic disease worldwide and is caused by defects in insulin production, insulin secretion, and insulin signalling. It has also been associated with misfolding and aggregation of human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP). The nationwide prevalence of diabetes in India now tops 9% and is >13% in the urban adults and has been linked to micronutrient deficiency. Being a complex disorder, there is an imperative need for a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying diabetes to develop more effective therapies. We are currently aiming at identifying miRNAs and metabolic signatures specific to the developed disease models, and Indian diabetic population in an attempt to find/develop novel therapeutic targets for effective Diabetes management.

Publications: (Last five years)

• Yousf S, Sardesai DM, Mathew AB, Khandelwal R, Acharya JD, Sharma S, Chugh J. Metabolic signatures suggest o-phosphocholine to UDP-N-acetylglucosamine ratio as a potential biomarker for high-glucose and/or palmitate exposure in pancreatic β-cells. Metabolomics. 2019 Mar 29;15(4):55.

• Dubey R, Patil K, Dantu SC, Sardesai DM, Bhatia P, Malik N, Acharya JD, Sarkar S, Ghosh S, Chakrabarti R, Sharma S, Kumar A. Azadirachtin inhibits amyloid formation, disaggregates pre-formed fibrils and protects pancreatic β-cells from human islet amyloid polypeptide/amylin induced cytotoxicity. Biochem J. 2019 Feb;476:889–907.

• Paithankar H, Jadhav PV, Naglekar AS, Sharma S, Chugh J. 1H, 13C and 15N resonance assignment of domain 1 of trans-activation response element (TAR) RNA binding protein isoform 1 (TRBP2) and its comparison with that of isoform 2 (TRBP1). Biomol NMR Assign. 2018 Apr;12(1):189-194.

• Dubey R, Minj P, Malik N, Sardesai DM, Kulkarni SH, Acharya JD, Bhavesh NS, Sharma S, Kumar A. Recombinant human islet amyloid polypeptide forms shorter fibrils and mediates β-cell apoptosis via generation of oxidative stress. Biochemical J. 2017; 74(23):3915-34.

• Bhatia P, Raina S, Chugh J and Sharma SS. miRNAs: Early prognostic biomarkers for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus? Biomarkers in Medicine. 2015; 9(10): 1025-40. • Watanabe S, Pinto JM, Bashir ME, De Tineo M, Suzaki H, Baroody FM, Naclerio RM, Sharma S. Effect of Prednisone on Nasal Symptoms and Peripheral Blood T-cell Function in Chronic Rhinosinusitis. Int Forum Allergy Rhinol. 2014; 4(8):609-16.