I am working to understand the role of Rbfox1 in regulating calcium homoeostasis to maintain normal cardiac function. Rbfox1 is an RNA-binding protein that regulates alternative splicing and RNA processing in neurones, skeletal muscle, and heart. we understood from our results that Rbfox1 plays a crucial role in regulating expression of Ca2+ handling genes to maintain normal cardiac function. We are further looking into post-translational role for Rbfox1 in regulating SERCA2a expression.

Project 1: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that leads to inflammation and destruction of synovial joints with a prevalence of about 1% globally. Curing RA is still out of our reach, despite the broad spectrum of anti-rheumatic drugs. p38-MAPK has attracted considerable attention as potential therapeutic targets. However, its preclinical success was significantly hampered by adverse events in preclinical safety studies. Apoptosis signal regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) is a member of MAP3K family that activates both the JNK and p38-MAPK pathways through a variety of mechanisms. Our recent finding suggests that ASK1 may serve as a promising therapeutic target in the regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines release in autoimmune disorders especially in RA (Umar S, Hedaya O, Singh AK, Ahmed S, Thymoquinone inhibits TNF-α-induced inflammation and cell adhesion in rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts by ASK1 regulation. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2015, (3):299-305). Project 2: Transforming growth factor β activated kinase 1 (TAK1) is a key MAPKKK family protein in interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), or toll like receptor signaling. We examined the posttranslational modification of TAK1 and its therapeutic regulation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study provides rationale for targeting TAK1 for RA treatment by EGCG. (Anil K. Singh, Sadiq Umar, Sharayah Riegsecker, Mukesh Chourasia and Salahuddin Ahmed, Regulation of TAK1 activation by epigallocatechin - 3 -gallate in RA synovial fibroblasts: suppression of K63-linked autoubiquitination of TRAF6. Arthritis & Rheumatology, 2015 Oct 16).

Synovial fibroblast culture, western blot, ELISA, Animal handling, PCR, qPCR, Data Analysis

Worked on start up grant "Druggability of colchicum luteum baker for rheumatoid arthritis: an in vitro and in vivo approach', Writing Grant,manuscript, abstract, Designing and executing experiments

Research Associate for the project"Prophylactic role of natural compounds (Piperine and Thymoquinone) in Rheumatoid arthritis".

Senior Research fellow for the project"Prophylactic role of natural compounds (Piperine and Thymoquinone) in Rheumatoid arthritis".