Research

We are interested in developing greater understanding of the molecular regulation of adult stem cell function. In our lab we mainly focus on the processes involved in hematopoiesis with recent interest in neurogenesis.

Several billion blood cells get replaced every day in a human body by a fresh supply. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) execute this function in a highly regulated manner. The HSC pool for the bone marrow (BM) is generated during development where they emerge through the process of endothelial to hematopoietic transition (EHT) in aorta. Later, they migrate to the fetal liver (FL) where they further mature and expand the pool. Ongoing projects in the lab focus on the following aspects of hematopoietic processes using mouse model.

Energy producing metabolic pathways in hematopoietic emergence in aorta.
Mapping HSC niche in the fetal liver and understanding the architectural links with function.
Outside-in integrin signaling in hematopoietic stem cell maintenance in bone marrow
Cell-extrinsic regulation of spleen resident hematopoietic stem cell function.
Molecular basis of heightened hematopoietic activity during pregnancy.

Recent work in the lab has escalated our interest in the molecular regulation of neurogenesis. We focus on oxygen sensing pathway and related metabolic processes in the regulation of cell fate choices in adult neural stem cells (NSCs). Our work is leading us to hypothesize the relevance of metabolic pathways with the functional state of NSCs in hippocampal and sub-ventricular neurogenic niches.