People
Principal Investigator
Partha Dutta, DVM, PhD
Partha Dutta, DVM, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology
Phone: 412-383-7787
Email: duttapa@pitt.edu
Education
DVM, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, India, 2003
MS, Wichita State University, KS, 2006
PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, 2010
Training
Postdoctoral Training, Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 2013
Instructor, Harvard Medical School, 2015
Faculty
Jonathan Florentin, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
1720 BST
200 Lothrop Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Lab Phone: 412- 648-8469
Email: jflor@pitt.edu
Dr. Florentin received his master’s degree in Human Pathology and Infectious Diseases in 2009 from the Faculty of Medicine Aix-Marseille University, France. He was awarded with the French Ministry of Research and Technology fellowship in 2009 to study the impact of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) on a subset of cells of the innate immunity, the plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) in Dr. Ivan HIrsch lab at CRCM-INSERM (France). In 2013, he obtained his PhD in Human Pathology and Immunology from Aix-Marseille University, France. In 2013, he joined Michael Gale Jr. lab in Seattle, WA, USA, to study the relevance of dendritic cells in the context of West Nile Virus (WNV) and Dengue Virus infections (DenV). In 2015, he joined Dr. William Burlingham’s lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, USA to investigate the role of maternal microchimerism derived exosomes in antigen acquisition in the context of transplantation. He then joined Dr. Partha Dutta’s lab in the Vascular Medicine Institute at the University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA, to work on change in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells and function of inflammatory cells in pulmonary hypertension.
Publications
Zona L, Lupberger J, Sidahmed-Adrar N, Thumann C, Harris HJ, Barnes A, Florentin J, Tawar RG, Xiao F, Turek M, Durand SC, Duong FH, Heim MH, Cosset FL, Hirsch I, Samuel D, Brino L, Zeisel MB, Le Naour F, McKeating JA, Baumert TF. HRas signal transduction promotes hepatitis C virus cell entry by triggering assembly of the host tetraspanin receptor complex. Cell Host Microbe. 2013 Mar 13;13(3):302-13.
Florentin, J., Aouar, B., Dental, C., Thumann, C., Firaguay, G., Gondois-Rey, F., Soumelis,V., F. Baumert, T., A. Nunès, J., Olive, D., Hirsch, I., Stranska, R.* HCV glycoprotein E2 is a novel BDCA-2 ligand and acts as an inhibitor of IFN production by plasmacytoid dendritic cells. Blood 2012 Nov 29;120(23):4544-51.
Dental,C., Florentin, J., Aouar, B., Gondois-Rey, F., Durantel, D., Baumert, T. F., Nunes, J. A., Olive, D., Hirsch, I., and Stranska, R. Hepatitis C virus fails to activate NF-kappaB signaling in plasmacytoid dendritic cells. J Virol. 2012;86:1090-1096.
Postdocs and Fellows
Adipong Brickshawana, MD, PhD
Fellow, Cardiovascular Fellowship Program
1720 BST
200 Lothrop Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Lab Phone: 412- 648-8469
Email: brickshawanaa@upmc.edu
Adipong is a UPMC Cardiology fellow who is doing his Cardiovascular research training in the Dutta Lab. He received his B.A. from Carleton College, MN, with a major in Biology and minors in Biochemistry and Cross-Cultural Studies. He subsequently received his Ph.D. in Immunology at the Mayo Clinic, MN, where he studied type II innate lymphoid cells in the mouse bone marrow. Pursuing his interest in translational research, he joined the Lab of Dr. Vanda Lenon as a postdoctoral fellow to study Neuroimmunology. He subsequently studied medicine at Vanderbilt University where he received his M.D. in 2017. He completed his Internal Medicine training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, prior to joining the UPMC Cardiology fellowship program. In the Dutta Lab, he is pursuing research projects that bridge his two interests, basic Immunology and Cardiovascular diseases.
Ebin Johny, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate
1720 BST
200 Lothrop Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Email: JOHNYE@pitt.edu
Ebin Johny received Ph.D in Pharmacy Practice from National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) -Guwahati, India in 2022. During his PhD, he worked in Dr.Ramu Adela laboratory at NIPER, India where he investigated platelet mediated inflammation in type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease and further explored the effect of vitamin D supplementation on glycemic control and immunomodulation in type 2 diabetes patients. During his Ph.D he received several awards including Prof. Balram Bhargava Award and award from, ICMR Centre for Advanced Research and Excellence in Heart Failure. In 2022 he joined Dr.Dutta’s lab in the Vascular Medicine Institute at University of Pittsburgh to work on inflammation in cardiovascular disease.
Publications
Johny E, Bhaskar P, Alam MJ, Kuladhipati I, Das R, Adela R. Platelet Mediated Inflammation in Coronary Artery Disease with Type 2 Diabetes Patients. Journal of Inflammation Research.2021 Oct:2021 5131-5147
Malladi N, Johny E, Uppulapu SK, Tiwari V, Alam MJ, Adela R, Banerjee SK. Understanding the Activation of Platelets in Diabetes and Its Modulation by Allyl Methyl Sulfide, an Active Metabolite of Garlic. Journal of Diabetes Research. 2021 Oct 2021.
Devangan S, Varghese B, Johny E, Gurram S, Adela R. The effect of Gymnema sylvestre supplementation on glycemic control in type 2 diabetes patients: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Phytotherapy Research. Sep 2021.
Saha P, Johny E, Dangi A, Shinde S, Brake S, Eapen MS, Sohal SS, Naidu VG, Sharma P. Impact of maternal air pollution exposure on children’s lung health: an indian perspective. Toxics. 2018 Dec;6(4):68.
Niranjana Natarajan, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate
1720 BST
200 Lothrop Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Phone: 412-624-4059
Email: nataraj1@pitt.edu
Niranjana received her Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 2016. She worked in Dr. Jennifer Pluznick’s laboratory during her Ph.D., where she investigated the interplay of GPCRs and microbial metabolites in blood pressure regulation. She was awarded a predoctoral fellowship by the American Heart Association to pursue her graduate research. In 2016, she joined Dr. Richard Lee’s laboratory at Harvard University as a postdoctoral fellow to study the role of the complement system and inflammation in early cardiac regeneration. In 2019, Niranjana received a NIH F32 to support her postdoctoral research. In 2020, she joined Dr. Dutta’s lab in the Vascular Medicine Institute at the University of Pittsburgh to work on inflammation in cardiovascular disease.
Publications
Vujic A, Natarajan N and Lee RT. Molecular mechanisms of heart regeneration. Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology, 2019
Natarajan N et al., Impact of dietary fat and sucrose consumption on cardiac fibrosis in mice and rhesus monkeys. JCI Insight 2019
Shubitowski TB, Poll BG, Natarajan N, et al. Short Chain Fatty Acid Delivery: Assessing Exogenous Administration of the Microbiome Metabolite Acetate in Mice, Physiological Reports 7 (4) e 14005.
Prasad H, Dang DK, Kondapalli KC, Natarajan N, et al. NHA2 promotes cyst development in an in vitro model of polycystic kidney disease. Journal of Physiology. 2019;597(2):499-519.
Natarajan N, et al. Complement Receptor C5aR1 Plays an Evolutionarily Conserved Role in Successful Cardiac Regeneration. Circulation. 2018;137(20):2152-65
Natarajan N, et al., Microbial short chain fatty acid metabolites lower blood pressure via endothelial G-protein coupled receptor 41. Physiological Genomics, 2016; 48 (11) 826-834.
Aisenberg WH, Huang J, Zhu W, Rajkumar P, Cruz R, Santhanam L, Natarajan N, et al. Defining an olfactory receptor function in airway smooth muscle cells. Scientific Reports 2016; 6:38231.
Natarajan N, and Lee RT, Basic research: Suffocating the heart to stimulate regeneration. Nature Reviews Cardiology, 2016. 14(1): p. 7-8.
Natarajan N, and Pluznick JL, Olfaction in the kidney: ‘smelling’ gut microbial metabolites. Experimental Physiology, 2016. 101(4): p. 478-81.
Natarajan N, and Pluznick JL. From microbe to man: the role of microbial short chain fatty acid metabolites in host cell biology. American Journal of Physiol., Cell Physiol. 307, C979–85 (2014).
Wei Z, Seldin MM, Natarajan N, et al. C1q/tumor necrosis factor-related protein 11 (CTRP11), a novel adipose stroma-derived regulator of adipogenesis. Journal of Biological Chemistry 288, 10214–29 (2013).
Shepard BD, Natarajan N et al., A cleavable N-terminal signal peptide promotes widespread olfactory receptor surface expression in HEK293T cells. PLoS ONE 8, e68758 (2013).
Samreen Sadaf, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate
1720 BST
200 Lopthrop Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Email: sadafs@pitt.edu
Samreen received her Ph.D. in life Sciences from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), India, in 2020. During her Ph.D, she worked in Dr. Madhu Dikshit’s laboratory at CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, India, where she investigated the role of Nitric Oxide/Nitric Oxide Synthase in neutrophil differentiation. She was also awarded with travel grant by Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt of India, to present her work at GRC meetings, held at Vermont, USA. After her successful completion of Ph.D., she has worked as Senior Project Associate at Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, India and have explored the effect of herbal extracts provided by ministry of AYUSH, India, against lungs associated pathologies prevalent in COVID-19. In 2020 she joined Dr. Dutta’s lab in the Vascular Medicine Institute at the University of Pittsburgh to work on inflammation in cardiovascular disease.
Publications
- Sadaf S, Singh AK, Awasthi D, Nagarkoti S, Agrahari AK, Srivastava RN, Jagavelu K, Kumar S, Barthwal MK, Dikshit M. Augmentation of iNOS expression in myeloid progenitor cells expedites neutrophil differentiation. J Leukoc Biol. 2019 Aug; 106(2):397-412.
- Sadaf S, Awasthi D, Singh AK, Nagarkoti S, Kumar S, Barthwal MK, Dikshit M. Pyroptotic and apoptotic cell death in iNOS and nNOS over-expressing K562 cells: a mechanistic insight. Biochem Pharmacol. 2019 Dec 24:113779.
- Nagarkoti S, Sadaf S, Awasthi D, Chandra T, Jagavelu K, Kumar S, Dikshit M. L-Arginine and tetrahydrobiopterin supported nitric oxide production is crucial for the microbicidal activity of neutrophils. Free Radic Res. 2019 Mar; 53(3):281-292.
- Awasthi D, Nagarkoti S, Sadaf S, Chandra T, Kumar S, Dikshit M. Glycolysis dependent lactate formation in neutrophils: A metabolic link between NOX-dependent and independent NETosis. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis. 2019 Dec 1; 1865(12):165542.
- Nagarkoti S, Dubey M, Sadaf S, Awasthi D, Chandra T, Jagavelu K, Kumar S, Dikshit M. Catalase S-Glutathionylation by NOX2 and Mitochondrial-Derived ROS Adversely Affects Mice and Human Neutrophil Survival. Inflammation. 2019 Dec; 42(6):2286-2296.
Mohammad Afaz Uddin, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate
1720 BST
200 Lopthrop Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Phone: 318-789-9422
Email: uddin@pitt.edu
Publications
Uddin MA, Akhter MS, Kubra KT, Barabutis N. (2022). Hsp90 inhibition protects brain endothelial cells against LPS-induced injury. BioFactors (Oxford, England), 10.1002/biof.1833. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/biof.1833.
Uddin MA, Akhter MS, Kubra KT, Barabutis N. Induction of the NEK family of kinases in the lungs of mice subjected to cecal ligation and puncture model of sepsis. Tissue Barriers. 2021 June 20; doi: 10.1080/21688370.2021.1929787.
Uddin MA, Akhter MS, Kubra KT, Siejka A, Barabutis N. Metformin in acute respiratory distress syndrome: An opinion. Exp Gerontol. 2021 Mar;145:111197. doi: 10.1016/j.exger.2020.111197.
Uddin MA, Akhter MS, Kubra KT, Whitaker KE, Shipley SL, Smith LM, Barabutis N. Hsp90 inhibition protects the brain microvascular endothelium against oxidative stress. Brain Disord. 2021 Mar;1. doi: 10.1016/j.dscb.2020.100001.
Uddin MA, Akhter MS, Kubra KT, Barabutis N. P53 deficiency potentiates LPS-Induced acute lung injury in vivo. Curr Res Physiol. 2020 Dec;3:30-33. doi: 10.1016/j.crphys.2020.07.001.
Uddin MA, Barabutis N. P53 in the impaired lungs. DNA Repair (Amst). 2020 Aug 19;95:102952. doi: 10.1016/j.dnarep.2020.102952.
Uddin MA, Kubra KT, Sonju JJ, Akhter MS, Jois S, Barabutis N. Effects of Heat Shock Protein 90 Inhibition In the Lungs. Medicine in Drug Discovery. Volume 6, June 2020, 100046. doi:10.1016/j.medidd.2020.100046
Uddin MA, Akhter MS, Singh SS, et al. GHRH antagonists support lung endothelial barrier function. Tissue Barriers. 2019;7(4):1669989. doi:10.1080/21688370.2019.1669989.
Uddin MA, Akhter MS, Siejka A, Catravas JD, Barabutis N. P53 supports endothelial barrier function via APE1/Ref1 suppression. Immunobiology. 2019;224(4):532-538. doi:10.1016/j.imbio.2019.04.008
Uddin MA, Barabutis N. P53: The endothelium defender [published online ahead of print, 2019 Feb 28]. J Cell Biochem. 2019;10.1002/jcb.28511. doi:10.1002/jcb.28511.
Kubra, KT, Uddin MA, & Barabutis, N. (2022). Tunicamycin Protects against LPS-Induced Lung Injury. Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland), 15(2), 134. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph15020134.
Akhter MS, Uddin MA, Schally AV, Kubra KT, Barabutis N. Involvement of the unfolded protein response in the protective effects of growth hormone releasing hormone antagonists in the lungs. J Cell Commun Signal. 2021 Mar;15(1):125-129. doi: 10.1007/s12079-020-00593-0.
Kubra KT, Uddin MA, Akhter MS, Barabutis N. Luminespib counteracts the Kifunensine-induced lung endothelial barrier dysfunction. Current Research in Toxicology, 2020;. Doi: 10.1016/j.crtox.2020.09.003.
Kubra KT, Uddin MA, Akhter MS, Barabutis N. P53 is Subjected to Lipoteichoic Acid-Induced Phosphorylation in the Lungs. TH Open. 2020 Jul;4(3):e173-e174. doi: 10.1055/s-0040-1714695.
Akhter MS, Uddin MA, Barabutis N. P53 Regulates the Redox Status of Lung Endothelial Cells. Inflammation. 2020;43(2):686-691. doi:10.1007/s10753-019-01150-7
Kubra KT, Uddin MA, Akhter MS, Barabutis N. Hsp90 inhibitors induce the unfolded protein response in bovine and mice lung cells. Cell Signal. 2020;67:109500. doi:10.1016/j.cellsig.2019.109500
Akhter MS, Uddin MA, Kubra KT, Barabutis N. P53-induced reduction of lipid peroxidation supports brain microvascular endothelium integrity. J Pharmacol Sci. 2019;141(1):83-85. doi:10.1016/j.jphs.2019.09.008
Akhter MS, Uddin MA, Barabutis N. Unfolded protein response regulates P53 expression in the pulmonary endothelium. J Biochem Mol Toxicol. 2019;33(10):e22380. doi:10.1002/jbt.22380
Barabutis N, Uddin MA, Catravas JD. Hsp90 inhibitors suppress P53 phosphorylation in LPS – induced endothelial inflammation. Cytokine. 2019;113:427-432. doi:10.1016/j.cyto.2018.10.020.
Akhter MS, Uddin MA, Kubra KT, Barabutis N. Elucidation of the Molecular Pathways Involved in the Protective Effects of AUY-922 in LPS-Induced Inflammation in Mouse Lungs. Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2021 May 29;14(6). doi: 10.3390/ph14060522.
Barabutis N, Akhter MS, Kubra KT, Uddin MA. Restoring the endothelial barrier function in the elderly. Mech Ageing Dev. 2021 Jun;196:111479. doi: 10.1016/j.mad.2021.111479.
Barabutis N, Marinova M, Solopov P, Uddin MA, Croston GE, Reinheimer TM, Catravas JD. Protective mechanism of the selective vasopressin V1A receptor agonist selepressin against endothelial barrier dysfunction. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2020 Sep 17;. doi: 10.1124/jpet.120.000146.
Akhter MS, Uddin MA, Kubra KT, Barabutis N. Autophagy, Unfolded Protein Response and Lung Disease. Curr Res Cell Biol. 2020;1:100003. doi:10.1016/j.crcbio.2020.100003
Akhter MS, Kubra KT, Uddin MA, Barabutis N. Kifunensine compromises lung endothelial barrier function. Microvasc Res. 2020 Jul 28;132:104051. doi: 10.1016/j.mvr.2020.104051.
Kubra KT, Akhter MS, Uddin MA, Barabutis N. Unfolded protein response in cardiovascular disease. Cell Signal. 2020 Sep;73:109699. doi: 10.1016/j.cellsig.2020.109699.
Barabutis N, Akhter MS, Uddin MA, Kubra KT, Schally AV. GHRH Antagonists Protect Against Hydrogen Peroxide-Induced Breakdown of Brain Microvascular Endothelium Integrity. Horm Metab Res. 2020;52(5):336-339. doi:10.1055/a-1149-9347.
Kubra KT, Akhter MS, Uddin MA, Barabutis N. P53 versus inflammation: an update. Cell Cycle. 2020;19(2):160-162. doi:10.1080/15384101.2019.1708575
Sathish Vasamsetti, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate
1720 BST
200 Lothrop Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Phone: 412-624-4059
Email: sathishv@pitt.edu
Sathish Babu Vasamsetti is a research scientist in the fields of macrophage and vascular biology. He was awarded with the prestigious “Council of Scientific and Industrial Research” fellowship in 2009 and joined Dr. Srigiridhar Kotamraju Lab at Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad (India) to study the mechanisms that are involved during monocyte to macrophage differentiation in the context of vascular complications like atherosclerosis and aneurysms. In 2015, he was awarded with PhD in Biochemistry from Academic Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (AcSIR), India. In 2016, he joined Dr. Partha Dutta’s lab to investigate the role of immune cells particularly macrophages in disease pathogenesis such as heart failure, atherosclerosis, diabetes and insulin resistance in the Vascular Medicine Institute at the University of Pittsburgh. His doctoral and post-doctoral research work had resulted in peer-reviewed publications like Diabetes, Free Radical Biology and Medicine, Immunity and Science Translational Medicine as a lead author. He is a member of professional organizations like American Heart Association (AHA) and American Diabetes Association (ADA). He received the prestigious AHA’s Post-Doctoral Fellowship in 2019 and was awarded Pittsburgh Heart, Lung and Blood, Vascular Medicine Institute Post-Doctoral Scholar Award in 2020. He has been selected as a finalist for the Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (ATVB) Elaine Raines Early Career Investigator Award Competition which is going to be held at the AHA’s Scientific Sessions Annual Conference November 13-17, 2020.
Publications
Vasamsetti SB, Coppin E, Zhang X, Florentin J, Koul S, Goutberg M, Clugston AS, Thoma F, Sembrat J, Bullock GC, Kostka D, Croix CM, Chatopadhyay A, Rojas M, Mullakutla S, Dutta P. Apoptosis of hematopoietic progenitor-derived adipose tissue resident macrophages causes insulin resistance after a remote organ injury. Sci Transl Med. 2020;12(553): eaaw0638.
Hoyer FF, Zhang X, Coppin E, Vasamsetti SB, Schloss MJ, Rohde D, McAlpine CS, Iwamoto Y, Libby P, Naxerova K, Swirski FK, Dutta P, Nahrendorf M. Bone marrow endothelial cells regulate myelopoiesis in diabetes. Circulation. 2020;142:244-258. PMID: 32316750.
Vasamsetti SB, Florentin J, Coppin E, Stiekema LCA, Zheng KH, Nisar MU, Sembrat J, Levinthal DJ, Rojas M, Stroes ESG, Kim K, Dutta P. Sympathetic activation triggers myelopoiesis. Immunity. 2018; 49:93-106 PMID: 29958804.
Vasamsetti SB, Karnewar S, Gopoju R, Narra SR, Kumar JM, Kotamraju S. Resveratrol attenuates monocyte-to-macrophage differentiation and associated inflammation via modulation of intracellular GSH homeostasis. Relevance in the context of atherosclerosis. Free Radic Biol Med. 2016;96:392-405. PMID 27156686.
Vasamsetti SB, Karnewar S, Kanugula AK, Kotamraju S. Metformin inhibits monocyte-to-macrophage differentiation via AMPK mediated inhibition of STAT3 activation: Potential role in atherosclerosis. Diabetes 2015; 64:2042-2055. PMID 25552600.
Graduate Students
Joseph Donohue received his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology at Connecticut College where he completed an honors thesis researching cell cycle regulation and its role in cancer. He is a Pittsburgh native who returned home for medical school at Pitt. After medical school, he hopes to pursue a career in cardiology and is excited to be working in the Dutta lab investigating the role of inflammation in cardiovascular diseases.
Lee Ohayon received her bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology Engineering in 2019 from Ort Braude academic college, Israel. During her undergraduate studies she was worked at Enzymotech delivering lipids at QC. She also did a research project in Characterization of mutations of PP13 protein in Dr. Sammar Marei’s lab at Ort Braude academic college, Israel. During her undergraduate studies she was awarded in research internship in Dr. Partha Roy’s lab at University of Pittsburgh to study the effect of Pfn1 on phosphoinositide and migration in cancer cells. She continued to conduct research in tissue engineering research in Prof. Sarit Sivan and Dr. Michal amit’s lab at Ort Braude academic college, Israel. In 2019 she matriculated into the Ph.D. program in Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh and she joined Dr. Partha Dutta’s lab in the Vascular Medicine Institute.
Undergraduate Students
Ankush Dasari graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in 2019 and is currently a freshman attending the University of Pittsburgh in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. Ankush is a pre-medical student double majoring in Biological Sciences and Computer Science. Having joined Dr. Dutta’s lab in the spring of 2020, Ankush is currently working on analyzing the propagation of myocardial infraction, and its associated effects on platelets.
