Pendurthi, Usha, Ph.D.

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Contact: usha.pendurthi@uthct.edu

Education:
Ph.D, Biology, 1983, Osmania University , India

Research Interest:

• Blood Coagulation and Fibrinolysis
• Regulation of Gene Expression

Current Projects:

1. Identify the mechanisms by which TF/fVIIa alters cellular processes and influences pathophysiology. Towards this goal, we have identified several potential candidate genes that are upregulated in fibroblasts and cancer cells exposed to fVIIa.
2. To identify the mechanisms for cell surface tissue factor activation with special emphasis on role of phospholipids in conversion of “cryptic tissue factor” to the active tissue factor.

Research Overview:
Blood clotting is a complex biochemical process that impedes blood loss from the traumatized blood vessels and may play a role in healing of the damaged tissues. Circulating blood contains all the soluble clotting precursor factors necessary for blood clotting except ’tissue factor’ (TF). Tissue factor is an integral membrane receptor for soluble factor VII, constitutively expressed in the surrounding tissues of blood vessels. During trauma, circulating factor VII comes in contact with the tissue factor, binds to TF, and subsequently gets activated to enzyme factor VIIa. Tissue factor bound VIIa triggers activation of the coagulation cascade leading to clot formation. Aberrant intravascular expression of tissue factor by a variety of environmental and pathophysiological stimuli could trigger intravascular thrombosis that may result in a heart attack or stroke. Interestingly, several of the enzymes generated during the clotting were also shown to activate cellular signal pathways and to alter their biological function. Thus, clotting enzymes could potentially participate in the physiological process of wound healing and also in pathological processes such as cancer, fibrosis and restenosis. Research in my laboratory focuses on the above area and organized into two projects.

Selected Papers and Abstracts:

• Mandal SK, Rao LVM, Tran TT, Pendurthi UR. A novel mechanism of plasmin-induced mitogenesis in fibroblasts. J Thromb Haemost. 2005 Jan;3(1):163-9.
• Mandal SK, Iakhiaev A, Pendurthi UR, Rao LV. Acute cholesterol depletion impairs functional expression of tissue factor in fibroblasts. Blood. 2005 Jan 1;105(1):153-60. Epub 2004 Aug 24.
• Pendurthi UR, Tran TT, Post M, Rao LV. Proteolysis of CCN1 by plasmin: functional implication. Cancer Res. 2005 Nov 1;65(21):9705-1.
• Mandal SK, Pendurthi UR, Rao LV. Cellular localization and trafficking of tissue factor. Blood. 2006 Jun 15; 107(12);4746-53.
• Kaur G, Roberta M, Raul F, Pendurthi UR. Suppression of tissue factor induction by red wine phenolics and synthetic derivatives of resveratrol. Thromb Res 2007, 119, 247-256.
• Awasthi V, Mandal SK, Papanna V, Rao LVM, Pendurthi UR. Modulation of tissue factor-factor VIIa signaling by lipid rafts. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2007, 21, 1447-1455.
• Del Conde I, Bharwani LD, Dietzen DJ, Pendurthi UR, Thiagarajan P, López JA. Microvesicle-associated tissue Factor and Trousseau’s syndrome. J Thromb Haemostas , 2007, 5, 70-74.
• Ghosh S, Ezban M, Persson E, Hedner U, Pendurthi UR, Rao LVM. Activity and regulation of factor VIIa analogs with increased potency at the endothelial cell surface. J Thromb Haemostas, 2007, 5, 336-346.
• Ghosh S, Pendurthi UR, Steino A, Esmon CT, Rao LVM. Endothelial cell protein C receptor acts as a cellular receptor for factor VIIa on endothelium. J Biol Chem , 2007, 282, 11849-11857.
• Kaur G, Rao LVM, Agrawal A, Pendurthi UR. Effect of wine phenolics on cytokine-induced C-reactive protein expression. J Thromb Haemost,2007, 5, 1309-1317.
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