Appointments:
Associate Professor, Dept. of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick
Affiliations:
Adjunct Professor, University of New Brunswick
Research Interests:
Energy metabolism, proteotoxicity, autophagy, lysosome, fatty acids, cardiotoxicity, Breast Cancer, Anti-cancer drugs
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- Lysosomal autophagy and proteotoxicity in cancer biology and therapeutics
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- Role of energy metabolism in cancer pathology
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- Pathophysiology of anti-cancer therapeutics
Reprogrammed energetics and metabolism is an emerging hallmark of cancer cells. Indeed, altered mitochondrial fuel metabolism contributes to oncogenic mutations which in turn influences cellular signaling and function. Numerous oncogenic processes that are resistant to chemotherapeutics are found to exhibit features of intermittent oxygen and nutrient deprivation, mitochondrial stress, abnormal cell growth and suppressed cellular death. Recent studies have shown that abnormalities in cellular metabolism augment autophagy to facilitate cancer cells to precipitously adapt to environmental stressors by sustaining uninterrupted proliferation thereby evading demise by radiation and/or chemotherapy. Our laboratory is currently elucidating the mechanism by which tumor cell metabolism signals changes in lysosomal autophagy and mechanisms by which this signaling could influence the outcomes of treating cancer. Secondly, reprogramming of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) metabolism facilitates tumor growth and survival and our lab is also examining the role of BCAA metabolizing enzyme in cancer pathogenesis. By specifically examining the cross talk between mitochondria and lysosome we hope to uncover novel biochemical pathways that could be targeted selectively to render cancer cells susceptible to first line cancer treatment and avoid chemoresistance.
What brought you to your current institution? I was recruited to set up the research program at Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick, in Saint John NB.
Hometown: Born and raised in Mumbai. Trained in India, Canada and US
Why are you interested in your area of research? Cancerous tissue and cancer cells depend on uninterrupted supply of nutrients to thrive. The key to destroying cancer is to understand the molecular underpinnings of nutrient metabolism. As a scientist with expertise in metabolism, I am applying my knowledge in metabolism to learn and design strategies to target metabolic dependency of cancer.
Learn More about my research: https://metabolismlab.com/
Follow me on Twitter @tpulinil
Involvement with BHCRI to date:
I am an Associate member of BHCRI since 2017. I’ve served as grants panel reviewer for CRTP and BHCRI. One of my trainee Dr. Logan Slade was a former recipient of CRTP award.
Email:
Website:
http://www.biochem.dal.ca/facultystaff/faculty/pulinilkunnil.php