Email

Rama.Kommagani@bcm.edu

Positions

Associate Professor

Pathology
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, US

Addresses

T228A, One Baylor Plaza (Office)

Houston, TX 77030
United States
Phone: (713) 798-5085
Rama.Kommagani@bcm.edu

Education

PhD from Wright State University

Dayton

Biomedical Sciences

Selected Publications

• Chadchan SB, Popli P, Maurya VK, Kommagani R. "The SARS-CoV-2 receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, is required for human endometrial stromal cell decidualization." 2021 Feb; Pubmed PMID: 33205194
• Popli P, Richters MM, Chadchan SB, Kim TH, Tycksen E, Griffith O, Thaker PH, Griffith M, Kommagani R. "Splicing factor SF3B1 promotes endometrial cancer progression via regulating KSR2 RNA maturation." Cell Death Dis. 2020 Oct; Pubmed PMID: 33040078
• Chadchan SB, Popli P, Ambati CR, Tycksen E, Han SJ, Bulun SE, Putluri N, Biest SW, Kommagani R. "Gut microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids protect against the progression of endometriosis.." Life Sci Alliance. 2021 Sep; Pubmed PMID: 34593556
• Chadchan SB, Naik SK, Popli P, Talwar C, Putluri S, Ambati CR, Lint MA, Kau AL, Stallings CL, Kommagani R. "Gut microbiota and microbiota-derived metabolites promotes endometriosis.." Cell Death Discov.. 2023 Jan; Pubmed PMID: 36693853

Projects

The role of gut microbiome and inflammation in endometriosis.

Endometriosis, which causes pain in the pelvis and lower abdomen and can lead to infertility, afflicts 1 in 10 women in reproductive age. Considered a central player of hormone regulation and inflammation, we are interested in investigating the role of gut microbiota and its derived metabolites in this debilitating condition. We focus on understanding the molecular factors that are involved in endometriosis and are regulated by the gut microbes to address our questions on their bidirectional relationship.

Role of RNA Splicing in Gynecological Pathologies

We recently reported an increase in the splicing factors during endometrial tumorigenesis that is regulated by steroid hormones. We are interested in dissecting these mRNA splicing events to understand the pathobiology of endometrial cancer beyond the transcriptional effects of steroid hormones. We also are testing our hypothesis that the splicing factors and their mediated events are essential for endometrial function pivotal to successful implantation.

Autophagy in Uterine Development and Function

Endometrial changes are often correlated with autophagy that are required for endometrial homeostasis. We have observed implantation defects and thus, reduced fecundity in conditional knockout mice models of the autophagy-related proteins in the reproductive tract. In the absence of these proteins, we observed aberrations in progesterone signaling and stroma formation and an intact epithelium in the postnatal uteri. We hypothesize that some of these autophagy related proteins are crucial for the maintenance of progenitor stem cells in endometrium and thus, we are interested in evaluating the underlying molecular mechanism of the functions of autophagy related proteins in endometrial tissue development and in delineating their autophagy and non-autophagy driven functions during endometrium generation.