Email

ashish.rao@bcm.edu

Positions

Predoctoral Fellow

Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Program
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States

Education

MS from University of Michigan

07/2014 - Ann Arbor, MI

Biological Chemistry

BE from Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering

07/2013 - Mysore, India

Biotechnology

Professional Statement

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is the most common form of adult onset muscular dystrophy with multisystemic manifestations particularly in skeletal muscle, heart, and brain. DM1 is caused by a CTG trinucleotide repeat expansion in the 3’ untranslated region of the DMPK gene. The pathogenic RNA molecules transcribed from the expanded DMPK allele contain long tracts of CUG repeats that have multiple effects on post-transcriptional gene regulation. The most widely studied effect is disruption of developmentally regulated alternative splicing programs. Cardiac involvement is a prominent feature of DM1 and is the second leading cause of mortality in patients. DM1 cardiac disease is associated with a complex variety of manifestations consisting of conduction defects, arrhythmias, compromised contractile function, histological and structural abnormalities. There is a lack of animal models that reproduce the cardiac features of the disease in response to expanded CUG repeat (CUGexp) RNA expression. My project focusses on the development and characterization of a novel DM1 mouse model based on the expression of CUGexp RNA in the heart. A well-characterized DM1 heart model will provide an experimental system to determine the mechanisms that contribute to the cardiac phenotypes in DM1, and for testing potential therapeutic avenues for reversal of disease features.

Websites

Selected Publications

• Rao AN, Kazzaz NM, Knight JS "Do neutrophil extracellular traps contribute to the heightened risk of thrombosis in inflammatory diseases?." World J Cardiol. 2015; Pubmed PMID: 26730289
• Yalavarthi S, Gould TJ, Rao AN, Mazza LF, Morris AE, Núñez-Álvarez C, Hernández-Ramírez D, Bockenstedt PL, Liaw PC, Cabral AR, Knight JS "Release of neutrophil extracellular traps by neutrophils stimulated with antiphospholipid antibodies: a newly identified mechanism of thrombosis in the antiphospholipid syndrome.." Arthritis Rheumatol. 2015; Pubmed PMID: 26097119
• Manning KS, Rao AN, Castro M, Cooper TA. "BNANC Gapmers Revert Splicing and Reduce RNA Foci with Low Toxicity in Myotonic Dystrophy Cells.." ACS Chem Biol. 2017; Pubmed PMID: 28853853
• Rao AN, Cooper TA "A Therapeutic Double Whammy: Transcriptional or Post-transcriptional Suppression of Microsatellite Repeat Toxicity by Cas9." Mol Cell. 2017; Pubmed PMID: 29100050

Funding

Wyck/MDF Predoctoral Fellowship

Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation

Tissue specific expression of expanded CUG repeat RNA to investigate the cardiac pathogenesis of myotonic dystrophy type 1