Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology Training Program
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

Prashant Rajbhandari, PhD

Position title: Assistant Professor, Principal Investigator Co-Director, Animal Metabolic Assessment Core Diabetes and Obesity Medical Institute (DOMI) Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology (IGMG) Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Hospital, Manhattan, NY

Phone: Advisor: Dr. Elaine Alarid

Address:
Graduation: 05/2013
Research Interest: Regulation of estrogen receptor-alpha by post-translational modifications in breast cancer cells

Lab Website
RAJBHANDARI LAB
Prashant

Alumni News

  • Assistant Professor, Principal Investigator
    Co-Director, Animal Metabolic Assessment Core
    Diabetes and Obesity Medical Institute (DOMI)
    Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology (IGMG)
    Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Hospital
    Manhattan, NY: October 2018 – Present
  • Postdoctoral Research Lab: October 2013-2018
    Peter Tontonoz, MD, PhD
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute
    UCLA
    Research focus: Investigating molecular mediators of adipose metabolic programs and their roles in diabetes and obesity

Publications

  1. Rajbhandari, P., Thomas, B, Feng, A., Hong, C, Vergnes, L., Wang, J., Sallam, T., Wang, B., Sandhu, J., Seldin, MM., Lusis, AJ., Fong. L., Young, SG., Reue, K., Smale, T., and Tontonoz, P. Interleukin-10 Signaling Alters Chromatin Architecture in Adipose to Limit Thermogenesis and Energy expenditure. Cell. 2018; 172, 1, 218-233.e1; e217doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2017.11.019
  2. Seldin, MM., Koplev,S., Rajbhandari, P.,Vergnes, L., Rosenberg, GM., Gharakhanian, R., Che, N., Pan,C., Mäkinen, S., Meng, Y., Shih, DM., Civelek, M., Parks. BW., Kim, ED., Norheim, F., Krishnan, KC., Hasin-Brumshtein,Y., Mehrabian, M., Laakso, M., Drevon, CA., Koistinen, HA., Tontonoz, P., Reue, K., Cantor, RM., Björkegren, JLM., and Lusis, AJ. A strategy for discovery of endocrine interactions with application to whole-body metabolism. Cell Metabolism. 2018  
  3. Sallam, T., Jones, M., Thomas, B., Wu, X., Gilliand,T., Qian, K., Eskin, A., Casero, D., Zhang, Z., Sandhu, J., Salisbury, A., Rajbhandari, P., Civelek, M., Hong, C., Ito, A., Liu, X., Daniel, B., Lusis, AJ., Whitelegge, J., Nagy, L., Castrillo, A., Smale, S., and Tontonoz, P. Epigenetic regulation of macrophage cholesterol efflux and atherogenesis by the noncoding RNA MeXis. Nature Medicine. 2018; doi:10.1038/nm.4479
  4. Wang, J, Rajbhandari, P, Damianov, A, Han, A, Waki, A, Villanueva, C, Nielsen, R, Mandrup, S., Reue, K, Young, SG, Whitelegge, J, Saez, E, Black, DL, Tontonoz, P. The paraspeckle protein Pspc1 promotes the differentiation-dependent nuclear export of adipogenic RNAs. Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2017 Mar; 127(3):987-1004.
  5. Zhang, Li, Rajbhandari, P., Priest, C., Wu, X., Vallim, TA., Sallam, T., Temel, R. Sallam, T., and Tontonoz, P. Inhibition of Cholesterol Biosynthesis Through RNF145-mediated Ubiquitination of SCAP. eLIFE. 2017; 6:e28766 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.28766
  6. Zhou, Z., Ribas, V., Rajbhandari, P., Drew, B.G., Moore, T.M., Fluitt, A.M., Reddish, B.R., Whitney, K., Georgia S., Vergnes, L., Reue, K., Liesa, M., Shirihai, O., Bliek, A.V., Mahata, S.K., Tiano,J.P. Hewitt S.C.,,Tontonoz, P., Korach, K.S., Mauvais-Jarvis, F., and Hevener, A.L. Estrogen Receptor α Protects Pancreatic β-cells from Apoptosis by Preserving Mitochondrial Function and Suppressing Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress. J. Biol. Chem. 2017; doi:10.1074/jbc.M117.805069
  7. Song NJ, Rajbhandari P*, Choi S*, Chang SH, Kim S, Vergnes, L, Kwon SM, Yoon JH, Lee S, Ku JM, Lee JS, Reue K, Koo SH, Tontonoz P, Park KW. Prdm4 induction by the small molecule butein promotes white adipose tissue browning.  Nat. Chem. Biol. 2016 Jul;12(7):479-81. *Co-authors.
  8. Rajbhandari, P., Ozers, M. S., Solodin, N. M., Warren, C. L., and Alarid, E. T. Peptidylprolyl Isomerase Pin1 Directly Enhances the DNA Binding Functions of Estrogen Receptor alpha. J. Biol. Chem. 2015; 290, 13749-13762
  9. Tian, D., Solodin, N. M., Rajbhandari, P., Bjorklund, K., Alarid, E. T., and Kreeger, P. K. A kinetic model identifies phosphorylated estrogen receptor-alpha (ERalpha) as a critical regulator of ERalpha dynamics in breast cancer. FASEB J. 2015; 29, 2022-2031
  10. Rajbhandari, P., Schalper, K. A., Solodin, N. M., Ellison-Zelski, S., Lu, K. P., Rimm, D. L., and Alarid, E. T. Pin1 Modulates ERα Levels in Breast Cancer through Inhibition of Phosphorylation-dependent Ubiquitination and Degradation. Oncogene. 2014; 33, 1438–1447 *Featured Article*
  11. Powers GL, Rajbhandari P, Solodin NM, Bickford B, Alarid ET. The Proteasome Inhibitor Bortezomib Induces an Inhibitory Chromatin Environment at a Distal Enhancer of the Estrogen Receptor-α Gene. PLoS ONE. 2013; 8(12): e81110. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0081110
  12. Rajbhandari, P., Finn, N. M. Solodin, K. K. Singarapu, S. C. Sahu, J. L. Markley, K. J. Kadunc, S. J. Ellison-Zelski, A. Kariagina, S. Z. Haslam, K. P. Lu, and E. T. Alarid. Regulation of Estrogen Receptor alpha N-Terminus Conformation and Function by Peptidyl Prolyl Isomerase Pin1. Mol Cell Biol. 2012; 32:445-57

Grants

2018-2023: NIH-NIDDK: Pathway to Independence K99, K99 DK114571-01A1

2014-2017: National Institute of Health: Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship (F32 DK104484), UCLA