Today is

Ankur Nagaraja, Ph.D.

Medical School

Undergraduate Institution: Stanford University

Year: Fourth-Year Medical Student

Graduate Program: Molecular and Human Genetics

Mentor: Martin M. Matzuk, M.D., Ph.D.

Thesis Title: Gonadotropin Hormones and MicroRNAs in Ovarian Cancer and Female Reproduction

Publications:

Creighton CJ*, Benham AL*, Zhu H*, Khan MF, Reid JG, Nagaraja AK, Fountain MD, Dziadek O, Han D, Ma L, Kim J, Hawkins SM*, Anderson ML*, Matzuk MM*, Gunaratne PH. Discovery of novel microRNAs in female reproductive tract using next generation sequencing. PLoS One. 2010. (In press). *Equal contribution.
Creighton CJ, Fountain MD, Yu Z, Nagaraja AK, Zhu H, Khan M, Olokpa E, Zariff A, Gunaratne PH, Matzuk MM, Anderson ML. Molecular profiling uncovers a p53-associated role for microRNA-31 in inhibiting the proliferation of serous ovarian carcinomas and other cancers. Cancer Res. 2010. 70(5):1906-15.
Nagaraja AK, Creighton CJ, Yu Z, Zhu H, Gunaratne PH, Reid JG, Olokpa E, Itamochi H, Ueno NT, Hawkins SM, Anderson ML*, Matzuk MM*. A link between mir-100 and FRAP1/mTOR in clear cell ovarian cancer. Mol Endocrinol. 2010. 24(2):447-63. *Equal contribution.
Edson MA*, Nagaraja AK*, Matzuk MM*. The mammalian ovary from genesis to revelation. Endocr Rev. 2009. 30(6):624-712. *Equal contribution.
Itman C, Small C, Griswold M, Nagaraja AK, Matzuk MM, Brown CW, Jans DA, Loveland KL. Developmentally regulated SMAD2 and SMAD3 utilization directs activin signaling outcomes. Dev Dyn. 2009. 238(7):1688-700.
Creighton CJ, Nagaraja AK, Hanash SM, Matzuk MM, Gunaratne PH. A bioinformatics tool for linking gene expression profiling results with public databases of microRNA target predictions. RNA. 2008. 14(11):2290-6.
Nagaraja AK, Agno JE, Kumar TR, Matzuk MM. Luteinizing hormone promotes gonadal tumorigenesis in inhibin-deficient mice. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2008. 294(1-2):19-28.
Nagaraja AK, Andreu-Vieyra C, Franco HL, Ma L, Chen R, Han DY, Zhu H, Agno JE, Gunaratne PH, DeMayo FJ, Matzuk MM. Deletion of Dicer in somatic cells of the female reproductive tract causes sterility. Mol Endocrinol. 2008. 22(10):2336-52.
Reid JG, Nagaraja AK, Lynn FC, Drabek RB, Muzny DM, Shaw CA, Weiss MK, Naghavi AO, Khan M, Zhu H, Tennakoon J, Gunaratne GH, Corry DB, Miller J, McManus MT, German MS, Gibbs RA, Matzuk MM, Gunaratne PH. Mouse let-7 miRNA populations exhibit RNA editing that is constrained in the 5'-seed/ cleavage/anchor regions and stabilize predicted mmu-let-7a:mRNA duplexes. Genome Res. 2008. 18(10):1571-81.