Chief, Functional Genomics Section, LCDB
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH/NIDCR
BUILDING 30, ROOM 130A
30 CONVENT DR MSC 4395
BETHESDA MD 20892-4395
Phone: (301) 435-2887
Fax: (301) 435-2888
E-mail: Dr. Ashok Kulkarni
Research Interests
My research interests focus on dissecting molecular pathways relevant to developmental disorders that affect craniofacial and dental systems as a result of genetic abnormalities or inflammation. Our primary research approach is centered on functional genomics. Our recent work highlights the unique role of amelogenin, dentin sialophosphoprotein, and TGF-beta1 in tooth development and disease, and the novel role of cyclin dependent kinase-5 (Cdk5) in neuronal functions such as nociception and pain.
Education
MS, M. S. University, Baroda, India 1972
PhD, Haffkine Institute, Mumbai, India 1980
Selected Publications
Ohshima, T., Murray, G.J., Swaim, W.D., Longenecker, G., Quirk, J.M., Cardarelli, C.O., Sugimoto, Y., Pastan, I., Gottesman, M.M., Brady, R.O., and Kulkarni, A.B. Alpha-Galactosidase A deficient mice: A model of Fabry disease. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94: 2540-2544, 1997.
Ohshima, T., Gilmore, E.C., Herrup, K., Jacobwitz, D.M., and Kulkarni, A.B. Neuronal migration of Cdk5(-/-) neurons in the developing cerebellum is cell autonomous. J. Neurosci. 19: 6017-6026, 1999.
Ashcroft, G.S., Lei, K., Jin, W., Longenecker, G., Kulkarni, A.B., Greenwell-Wald, McGrady, G., Song, X-Y., and Wahl, S.M. Secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI) mediates non-redundant functions necessary for normal wound healing. Nat. Med. 6: 1147-1153, 2000.
Gibson, C.W., Yuan, Z.A., Hall, B., Longenecker, G., Chen, E.H., Thyagarajan, T., Sreenath, T., Wright, J.T., Decker, S., Piddington, R., Harrison, G., and Kulkarni, A.B. Amelogenin-deficient mice display an amelogenesis imperfecta phenotype. J. Biol. Chem. 276: 1871-75, 2001.
Kulkarni, A.B., Thyagarajan, T., and Letterio, J.J. Function of cytokines within the TGF-ß superfamily as determined from transgenic and gene knockout studies in mice. Current Molecular Medicine 2: 303-327, 2002.
Thyagarajan, T. and Kulkarni, A.B. Transforming growth factor-ß1 negatively regulates crystallin expression in teeth. J. Bone Miner. Res. 17: 1710-1717, 2002.
Sreenath, T., Thyagarajan, T., Hall, B., Longenecker, G., D'Souza, R., Hong, S., Wright, J.T., MacDougall, M., Sauk, J., and Kulkarni, A.B. Dentin sialophosphoprotein knockout mouse teeth display widened predentin zone and develop defective dentin mineralization similar to human dentinogenesis imperfecta-III . J. Biol. Chem. 278: 24874-24880, 2003.
Hatakeyama, J., Sreenath, T., Hatakeyama, Y., Thyagarajan, T., Shum, L, Gibson, C.W., Wright, J.T., and Kulkarni, A.B. RANKL-mediated osteoclastogenic pathway is elevated in amelogenin-null mice. J. Biol. Chem. 278: 95743-95748, 2003.
Thyagarajan, T., Totey, S., Danton, M.J., and Kulkarni, A.B. Genetically altered mice: The good, the bad, and the ugly. Critical Reviews in Oral Biology and Medicine 14: 154-174, 2003.
Hirasawa, M., Oshima, T., Takahashi, S., Longenecker, G., Honjo, Y., Veeranna, Pant, H.C., Mikoshiba, K., Brady, R.O., and Kulkarni, A.B. Perinatal abrogation of Cdk5 expression in brain results in neuronal migration defects. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101: 6249-6254, 2004.
Takahashi, S., Oshima, T., Cho, A., Sreenath, T., Iadarola, M.J., Pant, H.C., Kim, Y., Nairn, A.C., Brady, R.O., Greengard, P., and Kulkarni, A.B. Increased activity of cyclin-dependent kinase-5 leads to attenuation of cocaine-mediated dopamine signaling. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 102: 1737-1742, 2005.
Pareek, T.K., Keller, J., Kesavapany, S., Pant, H.C., Iadarola, M.J., Brady, R.O., and Kulkarni, A.B. Cdk5 activity is required to regulate pain signaling. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 103: 791-796, 2006.
Nandula, S.R., Amarnath, S., Molinolo, A., Bandyopadhyay, B.C., Hall, B., Goldsmith, C.M., Zheng, C., Larsson, J., Sreenath, T., Chen, W., Ambudkar, I.S., Karlsson, S., Baum, B.J., Kulkarni, A.B. Female mice are more susceptible to developing inflammatory disorders due to impaired transforming growth factor beta signaling in salivary glands. Arthritis Rheum. 56(6): 1798-1805, 2007.
Pareek, T.K., Keller, J., Kesavapany, S., Agarwal, N., Kuner, R., Pant, H.C., Iadarola, M.J., Brady, R.O., Kulkarni, A.B. Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 modulates nociceptive signaling through direct phosphorylation of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 104(2): 660-665, 2007.
Complete CV and Publications