Academic Qualification

1. Ph.D. (2005-10): Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, USA
2. B.V.Sc. & A.H. (1996-2002): College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, OUAT, Odisha, India

Academic and other Positions

1. Scientist-D,  Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, India since September, 2015.
2. Ramalingaswami Fellow Scientist, Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, India April 2012 to September, 2015.
3. Pelotonia Postdoctoral Fellow, Ohio State University, Comprehensive cancer center, Columbus, Ohio, USA, 2011-2012
4. Postdoctoral Researcher, Ohio State University, Comprehensive cancer center, Columbus, Ohio, USA, 2010-2011
5. Research Assistant, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA, 2005-2010
6. Junior Veterinary Officer, Government Hospital, Kandhamala, Orissa, India 2003- 2005
7. Veterinary Extension Officer, Heifer Project International, Bhubaneswar, India 2002-2003

Academic Awards and Achievements

1. Harris award in cancer research, UNMC, NE, USA 2010
2. Predoctoral students travel award to attain the AACR meeting 2009 (Denver, USA)
3. Harris award in cancer research, UNMC, NE, USA 2009
4. Abstract selected for the oral presentation at the 2008 International Student Forum
5. Student merit scholarship, B.V.Sc, O.U.A.T, India 1997

Fellowships

1. Ramalingaswami Fellowship, Department of Biotechnology, India 2012-till date
2. Pelotonia Postdoctoral Fellowship Ohio State University, Comprehensive cancer center Columbus, Ohio, USA 2011- 2012
3. Predoctoral Prostate Cancer Research Training Award Department of Defense, USA 2009- 2010
4. University student fellowship UNMC, NE, USA 2008-2010
5. Research assistantship UNMC, NE, USA 2005-2008

Professional Activities

1. Served as reviewer in Molecular cancer, Oncotarget, BMC Clinical Pathology, PLOS ONE, Liver International, World Journal of Gastroenterology, Veterinary World, and Veterinary Record Case Reports
2. Member of Oncology Gastroenterology and Hepatology journal’s editorial board
3. Member of Indian association of Cancer research
4. Member of American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), USA
5. Member of Odisha Veterinary Council, India

Tumor Microenvironment and Animal Models

Broad research activities

Cancer pathogenesis
Inflammation and cancer
Cancer Metastasis

Inflammation plays a major role in cancer pathogenesis, and it could be induced by both infectious and non-infectious agents. Inflammation in tumor microenvironment could have effect on both cancer cells and stromal cells. Currently we are involved in understanding and targeting inflammation and/or infection mediated events in prostate and pancreatic cancer.

Role of bacterial infection in prostate cancer:

Like many other cancers, prostate cancer patients are susceptible to various infections. Numerous in vitro studies have suggested that in addition to stimulating immune cells, bacterial components like LPS/endotoxin could also affect many type of cancer cells through TLR4 signaling. Prostate cancer cells are known to express TLR4 and respond to LPS stimulation in vitro. Activation of TLR4 in cancer cells might have tumor promoting effect by multiple mechanisms. Our preliminary data (unpublished) is suggesting a protumorigenic effect of bacterial components on prostate cancer cells in vitro. We are in the process of validating this observation through a syngeneic orthtotopic rat prostate cancer model. This model has also created an opportunity to examine the efficacy of potential drugs against prostate cancer in vivo. We believe that the ongoing study will elucidate the mechanism behind the effect of bacterial infection on cancer cells. Combined, these studies will provide important insight about the role of infection in cancer promotion, which is an important concern for both the patient and the clinician. Furthermore, knowledge about the mechanistic aspect of endotoxin-induced effect on cancer cells might help in the effective control of cancer progression and treatment.

Understating and targeting pancreatic cancer fibrosis:

Various epidemiological studies have revealed the association of pancreatic cancer with several risk factors including smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, diabetes, age and family history. All these factors create chronic pancreatitis (inflammation of pancreas). Pancreatic cancer is characterized by a prominent desmoplastic/fibrotic reaction. It is well established that pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) are the principal source of desmoplasia and interact closely with cancer cells to create a tumor facilitatory micro-environment that stimulates local tumor growth and distant metastasis. Excessive ECM deposition around the tumor cells inhibits the distribution and penetration of anti-cancer drugs by decreasing the tumor vascularity and by constructing physical barriers. Therefore, any drug that could either reduce proliferation of activated PSCs and/or suppress extracellular matrix protein production by them could have potential use in pancreatic cancer associated fibrosis therapy. Our current focus is to establish reliable in vitro and in vivo models that could be exploited to screen and validate potential anti-fibrotic drugs. Our long-term goal is to identify novel anti-fibrotic dugs by drug-repositioning approach, and identify new molecular targets that play major roles in PSCs activation.

Publications from ILS, Bhubaneswar

Original research articles

1. Suklabaidya S, Das B, Ali SA, Jain S, Swaminathan S, Mohanty AK, Panda SK, Dash P, Chakraborty S, Batra SK, Senapati S. Characterization and use of HapT1-derived homologous tumors as a preclinical model to evaluate therapeutic efficacy of drugs against pancreatic tumor desmoplasia. (2016) Oncotarget. 2016 Jul 5;7(27):41825-41842
2. Barman PK, Mukherjee R, Prusty BK, Suklabaidya S, Senapati S, Ravindran B.Chitohexaose protects against acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity in mice. (2016) Cell Death & Disease. May 12;7
3. Jain S, Suklabaidya S, Das B, Raghav SK, Batra SK, Senapati S. TLR4 activation by lipopolysaccharide confers survival advantage to growth factor deprived prostate cancer cells. (2015) Prostate. Jul 1;75(10):1020-33.
4. Sarkar S, Jain S, Rai V, Sahoo DK, Raha S, Suklabaidya S, Senapati S, Rangnekar VM, Maiti IB, Dey N. Plant-derived SAC domain of PAR-4 (Prostate Apoptosis Response 4) exhibits growth inhibitory effects in prostate cancer cells. (2015) Front Plant Sci. 2015 Oct 7;6:822.
5. Maiti S, Patro S, Purohit S, Jain S, Senapati S, Dey N. Effective control of Salmonella infections by employing combinations of recombinant antimicrobial human β-defensins hBD-1 and hBD-2. (2014) Antimicrob Agents Chemother. Nov;58(11):6896-903.
6. Sahu PK*, Das B*, Sahoo L, Senapati S, Nayak GD. Genetic relationship and population structure of three Indian local chicken populations as revealed by mtDNA D-loop. (2015) Mitochondrial DNA. Jul 10:1-3.
7. Singh A, Jain S, Senapati S, Verma RS and Sahoo SK. Magnetic nanoparticles labeled mesenchymal stem cells: A pragmatic solution towards targeted cancer theranostics. (2015) Advanced Healthcare Materials. Sep 1
8. Pati, S. Jain, M. Behera, A.P. Acharya, S.K. Panda, S. Senapati. X-Gal staining of canine skin tissues: a technique with multiple possible applications. (2014) Journal of Natural Science, Biology and Medicine. July;5:245-249

Reviews and letter to editor

1. Suklabaidya S*, Dash P*, Senapati S. Pancreatic fibroblast exosomes regulate survival of cancer cells. Oncogene; Feb 6. 2017
2. Das B, Suklabaidya S, Jain S, Baisakh MR, Senapati S. MAGEA3 (melanoma antigen family A,3); Atlas Genet Cytogenet Oncol Haematol. April 2014.
3. Senapati S, Chakraborty S, Nath I, Panda SK, Patra RC and Batra SK. Non- Human Prostate Cancer Cell Lines. Oncology, Gastroenterology and Hepatology reports. 2012; 1(1):15-24

Book Chapter

1. Senapati S, Singh RK and Batra SK. Tumor microenvironment: Blood vascular system in cancer metastasis. In: Systems Biology of Cancer, Editor: Sam Thiagalingam, Cambridge University Press London

Submission of sequence data to GenBank

1. Senapati S, Jain S, Das B and Suklabaidyas. (2015) Mesocricetus auratus sonic hedgehog (Shh) mRNA, partial cds; gene bank accession no. KT602897
2. Senapati S, Dash P., Suklabaidya S., Das B. and Jain S. (2016) Mesocricetus auratus macrophage migration inhibitory factor (mif) mRNA, complete cds; gene bank accession no. KU721937

  *Both the authors have equal contributions; Underlined= corresponding author

Publications from other institutes

1. Kent L, Rakijas JB, Pandit S, Westendorp B, Chen HZ, Huntington J, Tang X, Bae S, Srivastava A, Senapati S, Koivisto C, Martin C, Cuitino M, Perez M, Clouse J, Chokshi V, Shinde N, Kladney R, Sun D, Perez-Castro A, Matondo R, Nantasanti S, Mokry M, Huang K, Machiraju R, Fernandez S, Rosol T, Coppola V, Pohar K, Pipas J, Schmidt C, De Bruin A, Leone G. E2f8 mediates tumor suppression in postnatal liver development. (2016) Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2016 Aug 1;126(8):2955-69
2. Chen HZ, Ouseph MM, Li J, Pecot T, Chokshi V, Kent L, Bae S, Byrne M, Duran C, Comstock G, Trikha P, Mair M, Senapati S, Martin CK, Gandhi S, Wilson N, Liu B, Huang YW, Thompson JC, Raman S, Singh S, Leone M, Machiraju R, Huang K, Mo X, Fernandez S, Kalaszczynska I, Wolgemuth DJ, Sicinski P, Huang T, Jin V, Leone G. Canonical and atypical E2Fs regulate the mammalian endocycle. (2012) Nature Cell B Nov;14(11):1192-202.
3. Senapati S., Srinivasan S, Moniaux N., Momi N and Batra S.K. MUC4-NIDO domain plays a significant role in MUC4-mediated metastasis of pancreatic cancer cells. (2012) Oncogene. Jul 12;31(28):3346-56.
4. Rachagani S., Senapati S., Chakraborty S., Ponnusamy MP., Kumar S., Smith LM, Jain M and Batra S. K. Activated KrasG12D is associated with invasion and metastasis of pancreatic cancer cells through inhibition of E-cadher (2011) Br J Cancer. Mar 15;104(6):1038-48.
5. Senapati S*., Chaturvedi P*., Chaney W., Chakraborty S., Gnanapragassam S. V., Sasson R. A. and Batra S. K. Novel interaction of MUC4 and galectin: potential pathobiological implications for metastasis in lethal pancreatic cancer. (2011) Clinical cancer research. Jan 15; 17(2): 267-74.
6. Senapati S., Ho B., Samue, Sharma P., Das S., Chakraborty S., Kaur S., Niehans G. and Batra S.K. Expression of intestinal MUC17 membrane-bound mucin in inflammatory and neoplastic diseases of the colon. (2010) Journal of Clinical Pathology. Aug;63(8):702-7.
7. Senapati S., Rachagni S., Chaudhary , Johansson S.L., Singh R.K. and Batra S.K. Overexpression of macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1 (MIC-1) induces metastasis of human prostate cancer cells via FAK-RhoA signaling pathway. (2010) Oncogene. Mar;29(9):1293-302.
8. Mimeault M., Johansson SL., Senapati S., Momi S., Chakraborty S. and Batra S MUC4 oncoprotein as a potential molecular target for reversing chemoresistance of pancreatic cancer stem/progenitor cells and their progenies. (2010) Cancer letter. Sep; 295(1):69-84.
9. Ponnusamy MP., Deb S., Dey P., Chakraborty S., Rachagani S., Senapati S. and Batra S.K. RNA Polymerase II-Association Factor 1 (Paf1/PD2) maintains self- renewal by its interaction with Oct3/4 in mouse embryonic stem ce (2009) Stem Cells. Dec; 27(12):3001-11.
10. Senapati S., Chaturvedi P., Sharma P., Venkatraman G., Meza J.L., El-Rifai W., Roy HK, and Batra S Deregulation of MUC4 in gastric adenocarcinoma: potential pathobiological implication in poorly differentiated non-signet ring cell type gastric cancer. (2008) Br J Cancer. Sep;99(6):949-56.
11. Chaturvedi P., Singh A.P., Moniaux N., Senapati S., Chakraborty S., Meza J.L, and Batra S.K. MUC4 mucin potentiates pancreatic tumor cell proliferation, survival, and invasive properties and interferes with its interaction to extracellular matrix prote (2007) Mol Cancer Res. Apr;5(4):309-20.
12. Kaur Sukhwinder., Venktaraman G., Jain M., Senapati S., Garg P.K., Batra S.K. Recent trends in antibody-based oncologic imagi (2012) Cancer Letters. Feb 28;315(2):97-111
13. Senapati S., Das S. and Batra S.K. Mucin-interacting proteins: from function to therapeutic (2010) Trends in Biochemical Science. Apr;35(4):236-45
14. Senapati S*., Singh A.P*., Jain M., Lele S., Davis S.J., Remmenga S. and Batra S.K. The clinical potential of mucins in diagnosis, progression and therapy of ovarian cancer. (2008) Lancet Onc Nov;9(11):1076-85.
15. Senapati S*., Sharma P*., Bafna S., Roy H., and Batra S.K. The MUC gene family: their role in the diagnosis and prognosis of gastric cancer. (2008) Histol Histopathol. Dec;23(12):1541-52.
16. Deb S., Ponnusamy P., Senapati S., Dey P, and Batra S.K. Human PAF complexes in endocrine tumors and pancreatic cancer. (2008) Expert Review of Endocrinology & Metabolism. Sep;3(5) 557-565.
17. Senapati S., Singh A.P. and Batra S.K. GDF15 (growth differentiation factor 15). Atlas Genet Cytogenet Oncol Haemat April 2008.
18. Senapati S., Ponnusamy MP., Singh AP., Jain M. and Batara S MUC16 (mucin 16, cell surface associated). Atlas Genet Cytogenet Oncol Haematol. October 2007.

From Left: Sumeet (SRF), Puja (PDF), Sujit (SRF), Sushant (lab tech), Shantibhusan (PI), Biswajit (SRF) and Madan (lab tech)
Graduate Students
Sumeet Jain UGC-SRF E-mail: sumeetjain53@gmail.com Research Area: Bacterial infection and prostate cancer pathogenesis
Sujit Suklabaidya DBT-SRF E-mail: suklabaidya23@gmail.com Research Area: Stromal biology and therapy in pancreatic cancer
Biswajit Das Institutional-SRF E-mail: bisuindia@yahoo.co.in Research Area: Molecular pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer

Post-Doctoral Fellow

Dr. Pujarini Dash

National Post-Doctoral Fellow (SERB)

E-mail: pujarinidash87@gmail.com

Research Area: Pathophysiological role of pancreatic stellate cells in pancreatic cancer

Tumor Microenvironment and Animal Models

Funding agency:

Department of Biotechnology, Government of India