Dr. Rachana Agarwal

Faculty Research Associate
Division of Gastroenterology
Department of Medicine
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

1503 E. Jefferson St, Rm 107
Tel :(410) 502-6057
Fax: (410) 502-1329
Email: ragarwa9@jhmi.edu

Ph. D, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Postdoctoral Fellowship: National Institute on Aging (NIA/NIH), Baltimore
 

Research Interest:

My broad research interests are to understand the molecular, cellular, and epigenetic features of esophageal and gastric adenocarcinomas. The projects I am currently focusing are:

1. Epitomics of Barrett's-Associated esophageal neoplastic progression

2. Epigenetics in the Pathogenesis of Gastric Cancer

Genetic and epigenetic factors are implicated in the initiation, development and progression of GC. Epigenetics is a term used to describe heritable alterations in gene expression that are not due to changes in DNA sequence, but due to abnormal DNA methylation patterns. Epigenetic has a key role in carcinogenesis and tumor progression. In particular, downregulation of tumor suppressor genes by promoter hypermethylation is an important epigenetic modification implicated in many cancers. Unlike genetic alterations, which are almost impossible to reverse, epigenetic aberrations are potentially reversible, allowing the malignant cell population to revert to a more normal state. The utilization of epigenetic targets is emerging as an effective and valuable approach to chemotherapy as well as chemoprevention of cancer. Identifying the key epigenetic changes associated with carcinogenesis will help identify targets of diagnostic and prognostic value.
 

Selected Publication:

1.    Rangel¹ LBA, Agarwal¹ R, D’Souza T, Pizer ES, Alò PL, Lancaster WD, Gregoire L, Schwartz DR, Cho KR, Morin PJ (¹these authors contributed equally to the work). Tight Junction Proteins Claudin-3 and Claudin-4 are Frequently Overexpressed in Ovarian Cancer but not in Ovarian Cystadenoma. Clinical Cancer Research; 2003; 9: 2567-2575.

2.    Rangel¹ LBA, Agarwal¹ R, Sherman-Baust CA, Mello-Coelho V, Pizer ES, Ji H, Taub DD, Morin PJ. (¹these authors contributed equally to the work). Anomalous expression of the HLA-DR alpha and beta chains in ovarian and other cancers. Cancer Biol Ther 2004;3:1021-1027.

3.    D'Souza T, Agarwal R, Morin PJ. Phosphorylation of claudin-3 at threonine 192 by cAMP-dependent protein kinase regulates tight junction barrier function in ovarian cancer cells. J Biol Chem. 2005 Jul; 280(28): 26233-40.

4.    Agarwal R, D'Souza T, Morin PJ. Claudin-3 and claudin-4 expression in ovarian epithelial cells enhances invasion and is associated with increased matrix metalloproteinase-2 activity. Cancer Research; 2005; 65:7378-7385.

5.    Hewitt KJ, Agarwal R, Morin PJ. The claudin gene family: expression in normal and neoplastic tissues. BMC Cancer. 2006; 12:186.

6.    Zhu TN, He HJ, Kole S, D'Souza T, Agarwal R, Morin PJ, Bernier M. Filamin A-mediated down-regulation of the exchange factor Ras-GRF1 correlates with decreased matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression in human melanoma cells. J Biol Chem. 2007; 282:14816-14826.

7.    Jin Z, Mori Y, Yang J, Sato F, Ito T, Cheng Y, Paun B, Hamilton JP, Kan T, Olaru A, David S, Agarwal R, Abraham JM, Beer D, Montgomery E, Meltzer SJ. Hypermethylation of the nel-like 1 gene is a common and early event and is associated with a poor prognosis in early-stage esophageal adenocarcinoma. Oncogene 2007 Sep 20;26(43):6332-40.
 

8.  Kan T, Paun B, Mori Y, Sato F, Jin Z, Hamilton JP, Ito T, Cheng Y, David S, Olaru A, Yang J, Agarwal R, Abraham JM, Meltzer SJ. Rarity of somatic mutation and frequency of normal sequence variation detected in sporadic colon adenocarcinoma using high-throughput cDNA sequencing. Bioinformatics & Biology Insights 2007; 1:1-16.

9.  Abraham JM, Sato F, Cheng Y, Paun B, Ito T, Kan T, Olaru A, Jin Z, Yang J, Agarwal R, David S, Hamilton JP, Mori Y, Meltzer SJ. A Novel Decapeptide that Binds Avidly and Delivers Radioisotope to Colon Cancer Cells. PLoS ONE 2007 Oct 3;2(10):e964.
 

10. Jin Z, Olaru A, Yang J, Sato F, Cheng Y, Mori Y, Mantzur C, Paun B, Hamilton JP, Ito T, Kan T, Wang S, David S, Agarwal R, Beer DG, Abraham JM, Meltzer SJ. Hypermethylation of Tachykinin-1 is Associated with a Poor Prognosis in Human Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Clin. Cancer Res. 2007 Nov 1;13(21):6293-6300.

11. Jin Z, Mori Y, Hamilton JP, Olaru A, Sato F, Yang J, Ito T, Paun B, Kan T, Agarwal R, Meltzer SJ. Hypermethylation of the somatostatin promoter is a common, early event in human esophageal carcinogenesis. Cancer 2008 Jan 1;112(1):43-49.
 

12. Jin Z, Hamilton JP, Yang J, Mori Y, Olaru A, Sato F, Ito T, Kan T, Cheng Y, Paun B, David S, Agarwal R, Abraham JM, Meltzer SJ. Hypermethylation of the AKAP12 Promoter is a Potential Biomarker of Barrett's-Associated Esophageal Neoplastic Progression. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention 2008 Jan; 17(1):1-16.
 

13. Ito T, Shimada Y, Kan T, David S, Abraham JM, Mori Y, Agarwal R, Cheng Y, Paun B, Jin Z, Olaru A, Hamilton JP, Yang J, Meltzer SJ, Sato F. PTTG1 promotes lymph node metastasis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by increasing cell motility. Cancer Research 2008 May 1;68(9):3214-3224.
 

14. Abraham JM, Cheng Y, Hamilton JP, Paun B, Jin Z, Agarwal R, Kan T, David S, Olaru A, Yang J, Ito T, Selaru FM, Mori Y, Meltzer SJ. Generation of small 32P-labeled peptides as a potential approach to colorectal cancer therapy. PLoS ONE 2008 Jun 25; 3(6):e2508.

15. Jin Z, Hamilton JP, Yang J, Mori Y, Olaru A, Sato F, Ito T, Kan T, Cheng Y, Paun B, David S, Agarwal R Abraham JM, Meltzer SJ. Promoter hypermethylation of CDH13 is a common, early event in human esophageal adenocarcinogenesis and correlates with clinical risk factors. Int. J. Cancer 2008 Nov 15;123(10):2331-2336.
 

16. Selaru FM, Olaru AV, Kan T, David S, Cheng Y, Mori Y, Yang J, Paun B, Jin Z, Agarwal R, Hamilton JP, Abraham JM, Georgiades C, Alvarez H, Vivekanandan P, Maitra A, Torbenson M, Thuluvath PJ, Gores GJ, LaRusso NF, Hruban R, Meltzer SJ. MicroRNA-21 is overexpressed in human cholangiocarcinoma and regulates programmed cell death 4 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 3. Hepatology 2009 Feb 4;49(5):1595-1601.

17. Kan T, Sato F, Ito T, Matsumura N, David S, Cheng Y, Agarwal R, Paun BC, Jin Z, Olaru AV, Selaru FM, Hamilton JP, Yang J, Abraham JM, Mori Y, Meltzer SJ. The miR-25-93-106b polycistron, activated by de novo genomic amplification, functions as an oncogene by suppressing p21 and Bim. Gastroenterol. 2009 May;136(5):1689-700.
 

18. Jin Z, Cheng Y, Zheng Y, Gu J, Sato F, Olaru AV, Paun B, Yang J, Kan T, Ito T, Hamilton JP, Selaru FM, Mori Y, Agarwal R, David S, Abraham JM, Wolfsen H, Shaheen NJ, Wang J, Canto M, Washington K, Romero Y, Wang KK, Feng Z, Sampliner RD, Meltzer SJ. A multi-center, double-blinded validation study of methylation biomarkers for progression prediction in Barrett’s esophagus. Cancer Res. 2009, in press.
 

                                                Last modified 05/12/2009