ZFIN ID: ZDB-LAB-131121-3
Pillai Lab
PI/Director: Pillai, Beena
Contact Person: Sarangdhar, Mayuresh A.
Email: mayuresh.a@igib.in
URL: https://sites.google.com/a/rnabiology.org/beena-pillai/
Address: Room No. 303 CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology Sukhdev Vihar Mathura Road New Delhi - 110 020
Country: India
Phone: 91-11-29879303
Fax:
Line Designation: gib


GENOMIC FEATURES ORIGINATING FROM THIS LAB
Show all 1 genomic features


STATEMENT OF RESEARCH INTERESTS
My lab is interested in fundamental aspects of eukaryotic gene regulation by non coding RNAs and histone variants, specifically in neural systems. Neurons and glia are the major cell types present in the brain. Although they arise from the same neural stem cells, they have distinctly different properties that they acquire during development. We are interested in identifying non-coding RNAs and histone variants that participate in this differentiation program. My lab has shown that pathogenic polyglutamine expansion leads to specific defects in the expression of microRNAs and targets involved in neuronal survival. We knocked down a critical microRNA in the mouse brain using anti-sense agents leading to ataxia.



An interesting finding from our lab is that a microRNA involved in neurogenesis is maternally inherited. Knockdown of this microRNA leads to developmental defects in the zebrafish brain.



The ability of neurons to regenerate under the influence of extrinsic factors offers a less-explored avenue for therapeutic development. We are also trying to isolate and characterize potential neurogenesis inducing factors from natural sources.


LAB MEMBERS
Choudhary, Ashwani Graduate Student Sarangdhar, Mayuresh A. Graduate Student


ZEBRAFISH PUBLICATIONS OF LAB MEMBERS
Pal, M., Chaubey, D., Tanwar, M., Pillai, B. (2023) A Novel Cis-Regulatory lncRNA, Kalnc2, Downregulates Kalrn Protein-Coding Transcripts in Mouse Neuronal Cells. Non-coding RNA. 9(1):
Ramasamy, S., Sharma, S., Iyengar, B.R., Vellarikkal, S.K., Sivasubbu, S., Maiti, S., Pillai, B. (2018) Identification of novel circadian transcripts in the zebrafish retina. The Journal of experimental biology. 222(Pt 1):
Sarangdhar, M.A., Chaubey, D., Srikakulam, N., Pillai, B. (2018) Parentally inherited long non-coding RNA Cyrano is involved in zebrafish neurodevelopment. Nucleic acids research. 46(18):9726-9735
Sarangdhar, M.A., Chaubey, D., Bhatt, A., Km, M., Kumar, M., Ranjan, S., Pillai, B. (2017) A Novel Long Non-coding RNA, durga Modulates Dendrite Density and Expression of kalirin in Zebrafish.. Frontiers in molecular neuroscience. 10:95