Madhulika Dixit, Ph.D.

Department of Biotechnology
Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras)
Tamilnadu, India

From left to right back row: Abhriam, Sumedha, Uma Rani, Avaneesh, Rushendhiran, Shivam, Maneka, Abel, Rathnakumar, Hemant.  From left to right front row: Madhulika Dixit, Anuradha, Swapna, Monalisa, Soumi

Primary Research:

The primary objective of the lab is to understand how clinical risk factors such as insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia trigger endothelial dysfunction and associated vasculopathies. Our focus for the last seven years has been to understand the involvement of protein tyrosine phosphatases in endothelial inflammation and dysfunction. Additionally we are involved in elucidating functional aberrations in circulating vascular progenitors obtained from pre-diabetic and diabetic Asian Indian subjects. We employ primary cell culture, molecular biology, biochemical, clinical and rat and mouse model systems to explore intracellular signaling intermediates of inflammation, atherosclerosis and neo-vascularization.

Find more information on the web:
http://www.biotech.iitm.ac.in/faculty/mdixit/

Lab Members:

Dr. Swapna Upadhayay (Scientific Officer supported by CSIR, Government of India)
Dr. Monalisa Dhar (Post-doctoral Research Associate)
Dr. Hemant Giri (PhD student, Joining University of Helsinki as Post-doctoral Fellow in April 2014)
Soumi Bairagi (PhD Student)
K. Rathna Kumar (PhD Student)
Uma Rani P (PhD Student)
Abhiram Charan Tej (PhD Student)
Shivan Chandel (PhD Student)
Sumedha Pareek (Undergraduate Student)
Rohan Bendre (Undergraduate Student)
Tolkappiyan (Undergraduate Student)
Dhruv Katrekar (Undergraduate Student)
Srinivas Alankiri (Undergraduate Student)

Recent Alumni:

Nathan AA (PhD Student at Madurai Kamaraj University, India)
Rushendhiran Kesavan (PhD Student at Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
Avaneesh T
Maneka C (PhD Student at University of Ottawa, Cananda)
Sreyas Rangan (PhD Student at University of British Columbia, Canada)
Akshari Gupta (PhD Student at NIG, Japan)
M Illayaraja (PhD Student, University of Leuvern, Belgium)
Suyog U Pol (PhD Student, University of Buffalo, NY, USA)

Recent Publications:

1. Increased Endothelial Inflammation, sTie-2 and Arginase Activity in Umbilical Cords Obtained from Gestational Diabetic Mothers. Giri H, Chandel S, Dwarakanath LS, Sreekumar S, Dixit M. PLoS One. 2013 Dec 20; 8(12): e84546.
2. Rani P U, Kesavan R, Ganugula R, T A, Kumar P U, Reddy GB, Dixit M. Ellagic acid inhibits PDGF-BB-induced vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and prevents atheroma formation in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 2013 Nov; 2 4(11):1830-9.
3. Kesavan R, Potunuru U R, Nastasijević B, T A, Joksić G, Dixit M. Inhibition of vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation by Gentiana lutea root extracts. PLoS One. 2013 Apr 18; 8(4): e61393.
4. Hyperinsulinemia-induced vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) migration and proliferation is mediated by converging mechanisms of mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress. Abhijit S, Bhaskaran R, Narayanasamy A, Chakroborty A, Manickam N, Dixit M, Mohan V, Balasubramanyam M. Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry. 2013 Jan; 373(1-2): 95-105.
5. Protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP2 mediates chronic insulin-induced endothelial inflammation. Giri H, Muthuramu I, Dhar M, Rathnakumar K, Ram U, Dixit M. Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. 2012 Aug; 32(8): 1943-50.
6. Glucose-induced increase in circulating progenitor cells is blunted in polycystic amenorrhoeic subjects.Bairagi S, Gopal J, Nathan AA, Babu SS, Kumar PN, Dixit M. Human Reproduction. 2012; 27 (3): 844-853.
7. Glucose challenge increases circulating progenitor cells in Asian Indian male subjects with normal glucose tolerance which is compromised in subjects with pre-diabetes: A pilot study. Nathan AA, Mohan V, Babu SS, Bairagi S, Dixit M. BMC Endocrine Disorders. 2011; 11:2
8. Angiopoietin-2 levels in glucose intolerance, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome in Asian Indians (Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study-74). Anuradha S, Mohan V, Gokulakrishnan K, Dixit M. Metabolism. 2010 Jun; 59(6): 774-9.