Sandeep Saxena
Name: Sandeep Saxena
Position: Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Nationality: Indian
Mail id: [email protected]
Contact number: 6725154472
PhD: Regeneration biology
Master’s degree: Cancer biology
Bachelor’s degree: Biotechnology
Research summary:
A major reason for organ malfunction and ultimately death following injury or disease is chronic
fibrosis. Understanding how to suppress and even reverse fibrotic programs is thus a crucial problem
that, if solved, would have broad repercussions. However, we still do not understand what controls the
mesenchymal cell decision to regenerate/repair versus fibrosis, although immune cells and
inflammatory cytokines such as TGF-β have been implicated. Here, I will address this question by
studying two models of regeneration: Digit tip and Bone in mice. Importantly, mice digit tip
regeneration is level-dependent; amputations that spare the nail bed led to mesenchymal blastema
formation and regeneration while slightly more proximal amputations lead to formation of a fibrotic
tissue cap. Important steps in bone regeneration includes hematoma formation followed by formation
of fibrocartilaginous callus and bony callus, and finally bone will be remodeled. Of direct relevance,
recent work from the Rossi and Miller labs indicates that (i) differences in these level-dependent
responses are environmentally driven, (ii) a key difference between regenerative versus nonregenerative
environments is the presence of many inflammatory macrophages in the latter, and (iii)
TGFβ secreted by inflammatory macrophages likely promotes tissue fibrosis. Thus, for my postdoc, I
will study the digit tip and bone system to test the hypothesis that how the loss of macrophage-secreted
inflammatory cytokines, in particular TGFβ, will convert a fibrotic to a regeneration/repair response. I
hope to one day develop a TGF-β-based therapy to promote regeneration in humans.
Personal Summary:
In addition to research, I like to be involved in outreach activities within and outside of the University.
I love road trips and during my PhD in USA, I’ve visited a lot of places and will continue here in
Canada as well. I love to cook and explore new restaurants. During my free time, I watch movies/series
and go for hikes.
Publications:
Peer-reviewed Articles and Reviews (*Equal contribution)
Aloysius, A.*, Saxena S.*, and Seifert, A.W. (2020). Metabolic regulation of innate immune cell
phenotypes during wound repair and regeneration. Current Opinions in Immunology, 68, 72-82.
Saxena, S., Vekaria, H., Sullivan, P.G. and Seifert, A.W. (2019). Connective tissue fibroblasts from
highly regenerative mammals are refractory to ROS-induced cellular senescence. Nature
Communications 10, 4400. Featured in University of Kentucky press release
https://uknow.uky.edu/research/uk-regeneration-research-featured-nature-communications.
Meng, F., Saxena, S., Liu, Y., Joshi, B., Wong, T. H., Shankar, J., Foster, L. J., Bernatchez, P. and
Nabi, I. R. (2017). The phosphor-caveolin-1 scaffolding domain dampens force fluctuations in focal
adhesions and promotes cancer cell migration. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 28(16), 2190–2201.
Saxena, S., Purushothaman, S., Meghah, V., Bhatti, B., Poruri, A., Meena Lakshmi, M. G., Sarath
Babu, N., Narasimha Murthy, Ch. L., Mandal, K. K., Kumar, A. and Idris, M. M. (2016). Role of
annexin gene and its regulation during zebrafish caudal fin regeneration. Wound Repair and
Regeneration, 24: 551–559.
Purushothaman, S.*, Saxena, S.*, Meghah, V., Meena Lakshmi, M.G., Singh, S.K., Brahmendra
Swamy, C.V., and Idris, M.M. (2015). Proteomic and gene expression analysis of zebrafish brain
undergoing continuous light/dark stress. Journal of Sleep Research 24, 458-465.
Purushothaman, S.*, Saxena, S.*, Meghah, V., Swamy, C.V., Ortega-Martinez, O., Dupont, S., and
Idris, M. (2015). Transcriptomic and proteomic analyses of Amphiura filiformis arm tissue undergoing
regeneration. Journal of Proteomics 112, 113-124.
Saxena, S., Dupont, S., Meghah, V., Lakshmi, M.G., Singh, S.K., Swamy, C.V., and Idris, M.M.
(2013). Proteome map of the neural complex of the tunicate Ciona intestinalis, the closest living
relative to vertebrates. Proteomics 13, 860-865.
Chakravarty, S., Reddy, B.R., Sudhakar, S.R., Saxena, S., Das, T., Meghah, V., Brahmendra Swamy,
C.V., Kumar, A., and Idris, M.M. (2013). Chronic unpredictable stress (CUS)-induced anxiety and
related mood disorders in a zebrafish model: altered brain proteome profile implicates mitochondrial
dysfunction. Plos One 8, e63302.
Saxena, S.*, Singh, S.K.*, Lakshmi, M.G., Meghah, V., Bhatti, B., Swamy, C.V., Sundaram, C.S., and
Idris, M.M. (2012). Proteomic analysis of zebrafish caudal fin regeneration. Molecular and Cellular
Proteomics 11, M111-014118.
Saxena, S., Singh, S.K., Lakshmi, M.G., Meghah, V., Sundaram, C.S., Swamy, C.V., and Idris, M.M.
(2011). Proteome profile of zebrafish kidney. Journal of Proteomics 74, 2937-2947.
Singh, S.K., Saxena, S., Meena Lakshmi, M.G., Saxena, P., and Idris, M.M. (2011). Proteome profile
of zebrafish Danio rerio olfactory bulb based on two-dimensional gel electrophoresis matrix assisted
laser desorption/ionization MS/MS analysis. Zebrafish 8, 183-189.
Singh, S.K.*, Lakshmi, M.G.*, Saxena, S., Swamy, C.V., and Idris, M.M. (2010). Proteome profile of
zebrafish caudal fin based on one-dimensional gel electrophoresis LCMS/MS and two- dimensional
gel electrophoresis MALDI MS/MS analysis. Journal of Separation Science 34, 225- 232
Position: Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Nationality: Indian
Mail id: [email protected]
Contact number: 6725154472
PhD: Regeneration biology
Master’s degree: Cancer biology
Bachelor’s degree: Biotechnology
Research summary:
A major reason for organ malfunction and ultimately death following injury or disease is chronic
fibrosis. Understanding how to suppress and even reverse fibrotic programs is thus a crucial problem
that, if solved, would have broad repercussions. However, we still do not understand what controls the
mesenchymal cell decision to regenerate/repair versus fibrosis, although immune cells and
inflammatory cytokines such as TGF-β have been implicated. Here, I will address this question by
studying two models of regeneration: Digit tip and Bone in mice. Importantly, mice digit tip
regeneration is level-dependent; amputations that spare the nail bed led to mesenchymal blastema
formation and regeneration while slightly more proximal amputations lead to formation of a fibrotic
tissue cap. Important steps in bone regeneration includes hematoma formation followed by formation
of fibrocartilaginous callus and bony callus, and finally bone will be remodeled. Of direct relevance,
recent work from the Rossi and Miller labs indicates that (i) differences in these level-dependent
responses are environmentally driven, (ii) a key difference between regenerative versus nonregenerative
environments is the presence of many inflammatory macrophages in the latter, and (iii)
TGFβ secreted by inflammatory macrophages likely promotes tissue fibrosis. Thus, for my postdoc, I
will study the digit tip and bone system to test the hypothesis that how the loss of macrophage-secreted
inflammatory cytokines, in particular TGFβ, will convert a fibrotic to a regeneration/repair response. I
hope to one day develop a TGF-β-based therapy to promote regeneration in humans.
Personal Summary:
In addition to research, I like to be involved in outreach activities within and outside of the University.
I love road trips and during my PhD in USA, I’ve visited a lot of places and will continue here in
Canada as well. I love to cook and explore new restaurants. During my free time, I watch movies/series
and go for hikes.
Publications:
Peer-reviewed Articles and Reviews (*Equal contribution)
Aloysius, A.*, Saxena S.*, and Seifert, A.W. (2020). Metabolic regulation of innate immune cell
phenotypes during wound repair and regeneration. Current Opinions in Immunology, 68, 72-82.
Saxena, S., Vekaria, H., Sullivan, P.G. and Seifert, A.W. (2019). Connective tissue fibroblasts from
highly regenerative mammals are refractory to ROS-induced cellular senescence. Nature
Communications 10, 4400. Featured in University of Kentucky press release
https://uknow.uky.edu/research/uk-regeneration-research-featured-nature-communications.
Meng, F., Saxena, S., Liu, Y., Joshi, B., Wong, T. H., Shankar, J., Foster, L. J., Bernatchez, P. and
Nabi, I. R. (2017). The phosphor-caveolin-1 scaffolding domain dampens force fluctuations in focal
adhesions and promotes cancer cell migration. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 28(16), 2190–2201.
Saxena, S., Purushothaman, S., Meghah, V., Bhatti, B., Poruri, A., Meena Lakshmi, M. G., Sarath
Babu, N., Narasimha Murthy, Ch. L., Mandal, K. K., Kumar, A. and Idris, M. M. (2016). Role of
annexin gene and its regulation during zebrafish caudal fin regeneration. Wound Repair and
Regeneration, 24: 551–559.
Purushothaman, S.*, Saxena, S.*, Meghah, V., Meena Lakshmi, M.G., Singh, S.K., Brahmendra
Swamy, C.V., and Idris, M.M. (2015). Proteomic and gene expression analysis of zebrafish brain
undergoing continuous light/dark stress. Journal of Sleep Research 24, 458-465.
Purushothaman, S.*, Saxena, S.*, Meghah, V., Swamy, C.V., Ortega-Martinez, O., Dupont, S., and
Idris, M. (2015). Transcriptomic and proteomic analyses of Amphiura filiformis arm tissue undergoing
regeneration. Journal of Proteomics 112, 113-124.
Saxena, S., Dupont, S., Meghah, V., Lakshmi, M.G., Singh, S.K., Swamy, C.V., and Idris, M.M.
(2013). Proteome map of the neural complex of the tunicate Ciona intestinalis, the closest living
relative to vertebrates. Proteomics 13, 860-865.
Chakravarty, S., Reddy, B.R., Sudhakar, S.R., Saxena, S., Das, T., Meghah, V., Brahmendra Swamy,
C.V., Kumar, A., and Idris, M.M. (2013). Chronic unpredictable stress (CUS)-induced anxiety and
related mood disorders in a zebrafish model: altered brain proteome profile implicates mitochondrial
dysfunction. Plos One 8, e63302.
Saxena, S.*, Singh, S.K.*, Lakshmi, M.G., Meghah, V., Bhatti, B., Swamy, C.V., Sundaram, C.S., and
Idris, M.M. (2012). Proteomic analysis of zebrafish caudal fin regeneration. Molecular and Cellular
Proteomics 11, M111-014118.
Saxena, S., Singh, S.K., Lakshmi, M.G., Meghah, V., Sundaram, C.S., Swamy, C.V., and Idris, M.M.
(2011). Proteome profile of zebrafish kidney. Journal of Proteomics 74, 2937-2947.
Singh, S.K., Saxena, S., Meena Lakshmi, M.G., Saxena, P., and Idris, M.M. (2011). Proteome profile
of zebrafish Danio rerio olfactory bulb based on two-dimensional gel electrophoresis matrix assisted
laser desorption/ionization MS/MS analysis. Zebrafish 8, 183-189.
Singh, S.K.*, Lakshmi, M.G.*, Saxena, S., Swamy, C.V., and Idris, M.M. (2010). Proteome profile of
zebrafish caudal fin based on one-dimensional gel electrophoresis LCMS/MS and two- dimensional
gel electrophoresis MALDI MS/MS analysis. Journal of Separation Science 34, 225- 232
