![[Dept. of Animal Sciences]](../../images/animalsciences.gif "[Dept. of Animal Sciences]"){kind=small}
Professor II, Department of Animal Sciences Endocrine Research Facility, Room 104 Tel: 732-932-1529 Email: sarkar@aesop.rutgers.edu |
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Research
My current research focuses on understanding how stress promotes infection, cancers and alcohol-related diseases using the laboratory rodent as an animal model . Also, we are evaluating the feasibility of cell therapy, gene therapy and tissue-targeted transgenic procedures to understand and prevent stress problems and cancers in normal and alcoholic patients.
Scientific Projects
- Signal transduction pathways for alcohol action on ß-EP neuronal differentiation and neurotransmission
- Alcohol and opioid peptide interaction in the control of NK cell activity
- Clock genes regulation of neuroendocrine and immune functions
- Fetal alcohol effects on stress axis
- Fetal alcohol effects on circadian rhythms
- Neuronal stem cells and their differentiation
- Beta-endorphin cell transplants in control of stress disorders and cancer
- Fetal alcohol effects on tumor susceptibility
- Alcohol induced oxidative stress and toxicity in developing neurons
- Epigenetic of alcohol effect on stress axis development
- Opioid receptor dimerization
- Neuron and glial interaction in controlling alcohol apoptotic action
- Cell–cell (paracrine and gap-junctional) communications in the control of hormonal carcinogenesis in pituitary lactotropic cells.
- Determination of the efficacy of adenoviral vector delivery of growth factors in the treatment of pituitary tumors.
- Effects of alkylphenols in the control of sexual differentiation of the neuroendocrine brain and the development of reproductive functions
Experience
Title |
Location |
Year |
| Distinguished Professor and Director | Endocrine Program, Center for Alcohol Studies, Department of Animal Sciences; Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey | 2001 |
| Chair and Professor | Department of Animal Sciences; Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey | 1999 |
| Director | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program, Washington State University | 1998 |
| Adjunct Professor | Department of Genetics and Cell Biology, Washington State University | 1989 |
| Adjunct Professor | Program of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Washington State University | 1989 |
| Professor | Department of Veterinary and Comparative Anatomy, Pharmacology and Physiology; Washington State University | 1996 |
| Associate Professor (Tenured) | Department of Veterinary and Comparative Anatomy, Pharmacology and Physiology; Washington State University | 1988 |
| Assistant Professor | University of California, San Diego, Department of Reproductive Medicine | 1983 |
| Research Associate | Michigan State University, Department of Physiology | 1980 |
| Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow | Yale University School of Medicine, Section of Neurological Surgery | 1979 |
| Postdoctoral Research Assistant | University of Oxford, Department of Anatomy | 1979 |
Education
Degree |
Location |
Year |
| D. Phil. | Oxford University, UK | 1979 |
| Ph.D. | Calcutta University, India | 1975 |
| M.S. | Calcutta University, India | 1972 |
| B.S. | Calcutta University, India | 1970 |
National Committees
Federal Advisory Board, Member of NIH Study Section (ALTX III, Neurotox 4)
Charter Member, American Neuroendocrine Society, 1997-present
Membership Committee, Endocrine Society, 1996–1999
Finance Committee, Research Society on Alcoholism, 1997–1998
President, Society for Neuroscience Northern Rocky Mountain Chapter, 1998–1999
Public Communication Committee, Research Society on Alcoholism, 1999–2001
Editorial Positions
Editorial board member: Neuroendocrinology 1987–1990, Endocrinology 1989–1992, Open Endocrinology Journal , 2007
Current Research faculty, Postdocs, and Graduate Students
Maria Ortiguela, MD, PhD, Visiting Scientist, 2006-present
Maria Agapito, Neuroscience, 2006-present
Tiffany Polanco, Animal Science (Co-advisor with Cohick), 2007
Rola Bekdash, Neuroscience, 2007-present
Changqing Zhang, Endocrinology and Animal Sciences, present
Nadka Boyadjieva, MD, PhD, Visiting Scientist, 1993–present
Amitabha Sengupta. Postdoctoral Research Associate, 2007-present
Dmitry Govorko, Postdoctoral Research Associate, 2008-present
Finla Chathu, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, present
Madhabi Dokur, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, present
Courses
Course Director, Byrne Seminars : Endocrine Health and Diseases, Fall 2008
Course Director, 16:067:510, Neuroendocrinology
Instructor, 11:067:494 and 701, Research in Animal Sciences
Instructor, 16:761:600, Physiological Basis of Diseases
Representative Publications
Kabir N, Chaturvedi C, Liu LS, Sarkar DK. 2005 TGF- b 3 increases gap–junctional communication among folliculostellate cells to increase bFGF release. Endocrinology 146:4054-4060 [ A coverpage article ]
Spanagel R, Rosenwasser AM, Schumann G, Sarkar DK. 2005 Alcohol consumption and the body's biological clock. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 29:1550-1557 [ Public citatation ]
Sarkar DK, Chaturvedi K, Oomizu, S, Boyadjieva N, Chen CP. 2005 Dopamine and TGF- b 1 interact to inhibit the growth of pituitary lactotropes. Endocrinology 146:4179-4188 [ A feature article ]
Arjona A, Sarkar DK. 2006 Evidence supporting a circadian control of natural killer cell function. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 20:469-476.
Chen CP, Kuhn P, Chaturvedi K, Boyadjieva NI, Sarkar DK. 2006 Ethanol induces apoptotic death of developing b -endorphin neurons via suppression of cyclic adenosin monophosphate production and activation of transforming growth actor-- b 1-linked apoptotic signaling. Molecular Pharmacology 69:706-17.
Arjona A, Boyadjieva N, Kuhn P, Sarkar DK. 2006 Fetal ethanol exposure disrupts the daily rhythms of splenic granzyme B, IFN-gamma, and NK cell cytotoxicity in adulthood. Alcohol Clin Exp Res . 30:1039-1044.
Chen CP, Kuhn P, Advis JP, Sarkar DK. 2006 Prenatal ethanol exposure alters the expression of period genes governing the circadian function of beta-endorphin neurons in the hypothalamus. J Neurochem . 97:1026-1033.
Sarkar DK. 2006 Genesis of prolactinomas: studies using estrogen-treated animals. Front Horm Res . 35:32-49.
Arjona A, Sarkar DK. 2006 The circadian gene mPer2 regulates the daily rhythm of IFN- g . Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research 26:645-649.
Boyadjieva N, Advis JP, Sarkar DK. 2006 Role of beta-endorphin, corticotropin-releasing hormone and autonomic nervous system in mediation of the effect of chronic ethanol on natural killer cell cytolytic activity. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 30:1761-1767.
Chaturvedi K, Sarkar DK. 2006 Isolation and characterization of rat pituitary endothelial cells. Neuroendocrinology 83: 387-393.
Chen CP, Boyadjieva N, Advis JP, Sarkar DK. 2006 Ethanol suppression of the hypothalamic POMC level and the splenic NK cell cytolytic activity is associated with a reduction in the expression of proinflammatory cytokines but not antiinflammatory cytokines in neuroendocrine and immune cells . Alcohol Clin Exp Res 30:1925-1932.
Sarkar A, Chaturvedi K, Chen CP, Sarkar DK. 2007 Changes in thrombospondin-1 levels in the cells of the anterior pituitary during estrogen-induced prolactin-secreting pituitary tumors . J Endocrinolgy 192:395-403.
Sarkar DK, Kuhn P, Marano J, Chen CP, Boyadjieva N. 2007 Alcohol exposure during the developmental period induces beta-endorphin neuronal death and causes alteration in the opioid control of stress axis function. Endocrinology 148:2828-2834.
Sarkar DK , Boyadjieva NI. 2007 Ethanol alters production and secretion of estrogen-regulated growth factors that control prolactin-secreting tumors in the pituitary. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 31:2101-2105.
Arjona A, Sarkar DK. 2008 Are circadian rhythms the code of hypothalamic-immune communication? Insights from natural killer cells. Neurochem Res. 33:708-718.
Kuhn P, Sarkar DK. 2008 Ethanol induces apoptotic death of ß-endorphin neurons in the rat hypothalamus by a TGF-ß1-dependent mechanism. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 32 (4):706-14.
Chaturvedi K, Sarkar DK. 2008 Alteration in G proteins and prolactin levels in pituitary after ethanol and estrogen treatment. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 32: 806-13.
Sarkar DK, Boyadjieva NI, Chen CP, Ortigüela M , Reuhl K, Clement KM, Kuhn P, Marano J. 2008 Cyclic adenosine monophosphate differentiated beta-endorphin neurons promote immune function and prevent prostate cancer growth. Proceedings National Academy of Science 105:9105-9110 [ public citation ]