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| Dr. Peter Natesan Pushparaj |
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Assistant of Flowcytometry Service Unit
Pharmacogenomics and Tissue Culture & Regenerative Medicine Research Groups
Dr. Peter Natesan Pushparaj completed his PhD in Biomedical Sciences at the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2005 (NUS is currently ranked 24th in QS World University Rankings and 29th in Times Higher Education Overall Rankings, 2013). During his Post-Doctoral Studies (2005 to 2011), he had extensively studied signal transduction pathways using Functional Genomics, Immunopharmacology and Systems Immunological Approaches to identify various druggable molecular targets for Rheumatoid Arthritis, Anaphylaxis, Allergy and Asthma that resulted in high impact publications in Tier 1 journals such as Journal of Immunology, Immunology, Journal of Dental Research (Top Journal in Oral Biology and Medicine in the World), Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences (CMLS), FASEB J, Neuroscience etc., He has used RNA interference (RNAi) as a tool to identify and validate “druggable” molecular targets in infection and inflammation. He is currently studying novel cytokines, interleukin-33 (IL-33) and Sphingosine 1 Phosphate (S1P) as well as Nitric Oxide (NO) in infection, immunity and inflammation. More importantly, he has edited a book in the area of “Nobel Prize Winning RNAi Technology” and has several book chapters in various books edited by eminent Professors in Biomedical Sciences.
In addition, he is having about 10 years of high quality teaching and research experience at the international level in the area of Molecular & Cellular Biology and Immunology. So far, he has supervised more than 10 postgraduate students when he was holding lectureship in India and the National University of Singapore as a Research Fellow (A) and Research Scientist in the Division of Immunology, Infection and Inflammation at the Glasgow Biomedical Research Centre, the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom.
My collaboration with the University Glasgow researchers successfully lead to the identification of potent anti-inflammatory mechanism in mast cells exerted by ES62 a compound produced by parasitic nematodes. This work has been published in the top medical journal Nature Medicine in the year 2007.
Our findings on the anti-inflammatory potential and mechanism of Resveratrol (RSV), a polyphenol present in grape skin, using in vitro and in vivo models of acute inflammation has been published in the FASEB Journal. In the first week of August 2009, the US and UK media published the importance of this research findings. For the above discoveries, he has got the Reward and Recognition Award for outstanding Research Performance at the Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Glasgow for the Year 2008-2009.
Furthermore, he is serving on the Review Board of various eminent journals in the field of Immunology, Molecular Biology and Experimental Medicine such as Mediators of Inflammation, FEBS Journal, Current Drug Targets, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, Journal of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Molecular Biology Reports, Cell and Molecular Biology Letters, Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, Journal of Diabetes and its Complications, Journal of Food Biochemistry, Bioinformation, The open Bioactive compounds, Planta Medica Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology and Genome Integrity.
Selected Publications:
1. Interleukin-33 exacerbates acute colitis via Interleukin- 4 in mice
Pushparaj PN, Li D, Komai-Koma M, Alexander J, McSharry C , Xu D(2013)
Immunology. 140: 70-77.
2. Deciphering the structure and function of FcεRI/mast cell axis in the regulation of allergy and anaphylaxis: a functional genomics paradigm
Jayapal M, Kothandaraman N, Hande MP, Pushparaj PN*(2012).
Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences. 69 (12): 1917-29.
3. Dissecting the Role of S1P/S1PR axis in Health and Disease
Aarthi JJ, Darendeliler MA, Pushparaj PN*(2011)
Journal of Dental Research. 90(7): 841-54.
4. Nitric Oxide-induced regulatory T cells inhibit Th17 but not Th1 cell differentiation and function
Neidbala W, Fukada S, Filho JC, Akio M, Pushparaj PN et al (2013).
Journal of Immunology. 191:164-70.
5. Interleukin-33 amplifies IgE synthesis and triggers mast cell degranulation via interleukin-4 in naïve mice.
Komai-Koma M, Brombacher F, Pushparaj PN, Arendse B, McSharry C, Alexander J, Chaudhuri R, Thomson NC, McKenzie AN, McInnes I, Liew FY, Xu D (2012)
Allergy. 67(9):1118-26.
6. Individualized medicine enabled by genomics in Saudi Arabia
Abu-Elmagd M, Assidi M, Schulten H, Dallol A, Pushparaj PN, Ahmed F, Scherer S and Al-Qahtani M (2015).
BMC Medical Genomics. 8 (Suppl 1): S3. doi:10.1186/1755-8794-8-S1-S3.
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