College of Medicine

Research Area(s)

  • Nerve-tumor interface
  • Nerve regeneration
  • Cancer biology
  • Self-renewing resident macrophage in the nervous system.

About

Postdoctoral Fellow, Division of Neurology, University of Alberta, Canada.

Postdoctoral Fellow, Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Canada.

PhD in Biotechnology (Area of research; Cancer Biology), Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, India.

Master of Pharmacy (Pharmacology), Manipal University, India.

Pharma R&D Experience;
  • Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Limited.
  • Alembic Pharmaceuticals Limited.

Research Interests

Molecular mapping of nerve-tumor interface
There is compelling evidence that tumor and nerves interact and mutually support the growth of each other. However, the molecular players involved in this interaction are not well identified. Full characterization of the tumor-nerve interface and identification of the molecular players involved will reveal novel therapeutic targets for cancer and nerve regeneration. My lab focusses on mapping the tumor-nerve interface to develop molecular targets for cancer and neurodegenerative disorders.

Defining the roles of self-renewing resident macrophage in the nervous system
A population of macrophages in the peripheral nervous system self-renew independent of contribution from monocytes. However, the specific contribution of this population to the functioning of the nervous system is not understood. My lab is interested in studying the unique functions of this population in nervous system homeostasis and disorders.


Selected Publications

  • Dwivedi S, Krishnan A. Neural invasion: a scenic trail for the nervous tumor and hidden therapeutic opportunity. Am J Cancer Res. 2020 Aug 1;10(8):2258-2270.
  • Bautista M, Krishnan A. The Autonomic Regulation of Tumor Growth and the Missing Links. Front Oncol. 2020 May 13; 10:744.
  • Krishnan A, Dwivedi S, Chandrasekhar A, Areti A, Zochodne D. In vitro priming response in dorsal root ganglia partially mimics injury-driven pre-conditioning response and reprograms neurons for enhanced outgrowth. Mol Cell Neurosci. 2020; Nov 25;103573 (Ahead of print).
  • Momeni Z, Bautista M, Neapetung J, Urban R, Yamamoto Y, Krishnan A, Campanucci V. RAGE signaling is required for AMPA receptor dysfunction in the hippocampus of hyperglycemic mice. Physiol Behav. 2020 Nov 19; 113255 (Ahead of print).
  • Chandrasekhar A, Komirishetty P, Areti A, Krishnan A, Zochodne DW. Dual Specificity Phosphatases Support Axon Plasticity and Viability. Mol Neurobiol. 2020; 58 (1), 391-407.
  • Duraikannu A, Krishnan A, Chandrasekhar A, Zochodne DW. Beyond trophic factors: Exploiting the intrinsic properties of adult neurons. Front Cell Neurosci. 2019 Apr 5; 13:128
  • Krishnan A, Bhavanam S, Zochodne DW. An intimate role for adult dorsal root ganglia resident cycling cells in the generation of local macrophages and satellite glial cells. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2018 Oct 1;77(10):929-941)
  • Krishnan A, Purdy K, Chandrasekhar A, Martinez J, Cheng C, Zochodne DW. A BRCA1 dependent DNA damage response in the regenerating adult peripheral nerve milieu. Mol Neurobiol. 2018 May;55(5):4051-4067
  • Asahchop EL, Branton WG, Krishnan A, Chen PA, Yang D, Kong L, Zochodne DW, Brew BJ, Gill MJ, Power C. HIV-associated sensory polyneuropathy and neuronal injury are associated with miRNA-455-3p induction. JCI Insight. 2018 Dec 6;3(23).
  • Krishnan A, Dhanya K, Saneesh Babu PS, Jagadeeshan S, Prasad M, Nair AS. Oncogenic actions of skp2 involve deregulation of cdk1 turnover mediated by FOXM1. J Cell Biochem 2017 Apr;118(4):797-807
  • Krishnan A, Duraikannu A, Zochodne DW. Releasing 'brakes' to nerve regeneration: intrinsic molecular targets. Eur J Neurosci. 2016 Feb;43(3):297-308
  • Krishnan A, Zochodne DW. Is cytoplasmic-PTEN a specific target for neuronal survival? Mol Neurobiol. 2015 Dec;52(3):1758-64
  • Singh B, Krishnan A, Micu I, Koshy K, Singh V, Martinez JA, Koshy D, Xu F, Chandrasekhar A, Dalton C, Syed N, Stys PK, Zochodne DW. Peripheral neuron plasticity is enhanced by brief electrical stimulation and overrides attenuated regrowth in experimental diabetes. Neurobiol Dis. 2015 Nov; 83:134-51.
  • Martinez JA, Kobayashi M, Krishnan A, Webber C, Christie K, Guo G, Singh V, Zochodne DW. Intrinsic facilitation of adult peripheral nerve regeneration by the Sonic hedgehog morphogen. Exp Neurol. 2015 Jul 22; 271:493-505.
  • Jagadeeshan S, Ramia YK, Singhal M, Subramanian A, Mavuluri J, Arivazhagan L, Arivazhagan R, Baskar G, Ravi M, Joseph LD, Sadasivan K, Krishnan A, Nair SA, Venkatraman G and.Rayala SK.Transcriptional Regulation of Fibronectin by Pak1 Modulate Pancreatic tumorigenesis. 2015 Jan 22;34(4):455-64.
  • Christie KJ *, Krishnan A *, Martinez JA, Purdy K, Singh B, Eaton S, Zochodne D. Enhancing adult Nerve Regeneration through the knockdown of Retinoblastoma Protein. Nat Commun. 2014 Apr 22; 5:3670 (*equal contribution)
  • Singh B, Singh V*, Krishnan A*, Koshy K, Martinez J, Cheng C, Almiquist C, Zochodne DW. Regeneration of diabetic axons is enhanced by selective knockdown of the PTEN gene. Brain. 2014 Apr; 137(Pt 4):1051-67. (*equal contribution)
  • Krishnan A. Neuregulin-1 type I: A hidden power within Schwann cells for triggering peripheral nerve remyelination. Sci. Signal. 2013; 6, jc1

 

Funding

  • NSERC Discovery Grant
  • College of Medicine Research Award (CoMRAD)
  • Research start-up fund, College of Medicine & Office of the Vice-Provost, Faculty Relations, University of Saskatchewan