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Biography
Dr. Bishnupuri joined the laboratory of Dr. Brian K. Dieckgraefe in the Division of Gastroenterology in 2002 as a postdoctoral fellow. He received his Masters in Science (1992) and PhD (1999) degree from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. After completing his postdoctoral training, Dr. Bishnupuri served as Staff Scientist (2007-2010) and is currently working as a Research Instructor in Medicine. Dr. Bishnupuri is focusing his research towards establishing the role of Regenerating (Reg) gene 4 (Reg4) in colorectal cancer.
Regenerating gene family encodes small-secreted and structurally unique proteins that share strong structural similarities to the proteins of the calcium-dependent lectin (C-type lectin) super family. Reg4, a prominent member of ‘Reg’ multigene family is relevant in colorectal cancer as it is highly expressed in colonic mucosa and is further upregulated during colorectal carcinogenesis. Dr. Bishnupuri uses various in vitro and in vivo models of human colorectal cancer to establish the role of Reg4 in regulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis of colorectal cancer cells. Dr. Bishnupuri and his research group has shown that higher expression of Reg4 and its downstream target genes are associated with an increased resistance to apoptotic cell death of human colorectal cancer cells. They also reported Reg4-mediated EGFR-Akt-AP1 signaling to be involved in regulation of apoptosis of human colorectal cells. Their studies identify Reg4 as a key regulator of human colorectal cancer growth and suggest that therapeutic strategies blocking Reg4-signaling would be potentially useful in the treatment of human colorectal cancer and other gastrointestinal malignancies.
Dr. Bishnupuri collaborates with other researchers within and outside the Division of Gastroenterology to learn advanced molecular biology techniques and to establish Reg4 as a potential target of colorectal cancer treatment.