Umashankar Singh
Umashankar Singh received the Ph.D. degree from Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden, 2006 (continued from Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin, Germany), preceeded by M.S degree from Hamdard University, New Delhi, 1999. Currrently, he is as Assistant Professor in Biological Engineering.
Email: usingh@iitgn.ac.in
Research Interest
My group is invested in identifying the functions of the human gene CGGBP1. The distinct evolutionary conservation of this gene in warm-blooded animals coupled with its indispensability in human cells indicates its role in aminotes and homeotherms. Building upon some initial works by Walter Doerfler’s group, we have now established CGGBP1 as a regulator of endogenous DNA damage, chromatin structure and function, stress response, cytokinesis, ploidy and cell cycle progression. Depletion of CGGBP1 from human cancer cells confers a growth arrest and proliferation disadvantage in the presence of high endogenous stress. In our research supported by GSBTM and Biomedical Engineering Centre, we have developed a high throughput methodology to screen chemical inhibitors of transcription factors and DNA-binding proteins like CGGBP1. Recently we have concluded a screen of 1685 FDA-approved chemical inhibitors and bioactive compounds to identify a CGGBP1-inhibitor. Ongoing work aims to develop knowledge towards new adjunct cancer therapeutic modalities.
Work Experience
- Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar (May 2015 to present)
- Researcher IGP, Uppsala University (Oct 2011 – May 2015)
- Postdoctoral Fellow IGP, Uppsala University (Nov 2006 – Oct 2011)
- Short Term Postdoctoral Work, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (Jun 2006 – Nov 2006)
- Ph.D. Studentship ZUB, Uppsala University, Uppsala (Jan 2003 – May 2006)
- Ph.D. Studentship, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin (Sep 2002 – Dep 2002)
- JRF, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR), New Delhi (Sep 2000 – Sep 2002)
- JRF, CFTRI (CSIR), Mysore (Jan 2000 – May 2000)
Selected Recent Publications
- *=Corresponding author
- Agarwal P, Collier P, Fritz H-YM, Benes V, Wiklund HJ, Westermark B, Singh U*: CGGBP1 mitigates cytosine methylation at repetitive DNA srquences. BMC Genomics In press.
- Agarwal P, Enroth S, Teichmann M, Wiklund HJ, Smit A, Westermark B, Singh U*: Growth signals employ CGGBP1 to suppress transcription of Alu-SINEs. Cell Cycle 2014:0.
- Singh U*, Maturi V, Jones RE, Paulsson Y, Baird DM, Westermark B: CGGBP1 phosphorylation constitutes a telomere-protection signal. Cell Cycle 2014, 13:96–105.
- Singh U*, Roswall P, Uhrbom L, Westermark B: CGGBP1 regulates cell cycle in cancer cells. BMC Mol Biol 2011, 12:28.
- Singh U*, Bongcam-Rudloff E, Westermark B: A DNA sequence directed mutual transcription regulation of HSF1 and NFIX involves novel heat sensitive protein interactions. PloS One 2009, 4:e5050.