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Home >> Research

Dhrubajyoti Chakravarti, Ph.D.

Research Assistant Professor

Biosketch

Our laboratory is examining the mechanism of mutagenesis in carcinogen-exposed cells. In particular, we are focusing on the repair of DNA damage induced by environmental and endogenous carcinogens. These carcinogens form abundant amounts of depurinating DNA adducts, which spontaneously dissociate from DNA to form abasic sites. As a result, big changes to the repair activity in the cell happen, which induces an imbalance in base excision repair.  This causes frequent mistakes in the repair of the abasic sites that form mutations leading to cancer. Understanding these mechanisms may allow the development of novel targets for cancer prevention. 

Contact Information

Office Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases
University of Nebraska Medical Center
986805 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-6805
Phone 402-559-2951
Fax 402-559-8068
E-mail dchakrav@unmc.edu

Education and Training

1998 Post-doc Cancer Research University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE Dr. Eleanor Rogan
1993 Post-doc Genetics University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN Dr. Bruce McKee
1989 Post-doc DNA damage repair Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN Dr. Sankar Mitra
1990 Ph.D Biochemistry University of Calcutta, Calcutta, India Dr. Amit Ghosh
1982 M.Sc Biochemistry University of Calcutta, Calcutta, India  
1979 B.Sc Chemistry University of Calcutta, Calcutta, India  

Academic Appointments

2002-Present Graduate Faculty Fellow, University of Nebraska Graduate College, Omaha, NE
2000-Present Research Assistant Professor, Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
1998-2000 Instructor, Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE

Consulting Positions

2007-Present Member, Editorial Board, The Open Dermatology Journal

Publications      Pubmed Search for "Chakravarti D"

Journal Articles
 

Chakravarti, D. and Ghosh, A. (1987) Reversal by cyclic AMP of the inhibition of synthesis of a catabolite repressible enzyme in Vibrio cholerae. J. Gen. Microbiol. 133, 3265-3270.

Chakravarti, D. and Ghosh, A. (1987) A simple procedure for the quick identification of tryptophanase-positive recombinant clones and tryptophanase-regulatory mutants in bacteria. Biotech. Tech. 1, 34-38.

Chakravarti, D., Ibeanu, G., Tano. K. and Mitra, S. (1991) Cloning and expression in Eschericia coli of human cDNA encoding the DNA repair protein N-mehylpurine-DNA glycosylase. J. Biol. Chem. 266, 15710-15715.

Merrill, C.J., Chakravarti, D., Habera, L., Das, S., Eisenhour, L. and McKee, B.D. (1992) Promoter containing ribosomal DNA fragments function as X-Y meiotic pairing sites in Drosophila melanogaster males.  Developmental Genet. 13, 468-484.

Chakravarti, D., Pelling, J.C., Cavalieri, E.L. and Rogan, E.G. (1995) Relating aromatic hydrocarbon-induced DNA adducts and c-H-ras mutations in mouse skin papillomas: the role of apurinic sites. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92, 10422-10426.

Chakravarti, D., Mailander, P., Franzen, J., Higginbotham, S., Cavalieri, E. L. and Rogan E.G. (1998) Detection of dibenzo[a,l]pyrene-induced H-ras codon 61 mutant genes in preneoplastic SENCAR mouse skin using a new PCR-RFLP method. Oncogene 16, 3203-3210.

Chakravarti, D., Cavalieri, E.L. and Rogan, E.G. (1998) Linear amplification mapping of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-reactive sequences in H-ras gene. DNA Cell Biol. 17, 529-539.

Chakravarti, D., Mailander, P.C., Cavalieri, E.L. and Rogan, E.G. (2000) Evidence that error-prone repair converts dibenzo[a,l]pyrene-induced depurinating lesions into mutations: formation, clonal proliferation and regression of initiated cells carrying H-ras oncogene mutations in early preneoplasia. Mutat. Res. 456, 17-32.

Chakravarti, D., Mailander, P.C., Li, K-M., Higginbotham, S., Zhang, H.L., Gross, M.L., Meza, J.L., Cavalieri, E.L. and Rogan, E.G. (2001) Evidence that a burst of depurination in SENCAR mouse skin induces error-prone repair and forms mutations in the H-ras gene. Oncogene 20, 7945-7953.

Cavalieri, E.L., Rogan, E.G. and Chakravarti, D. (2002) Initiation of cancer and other diseases by catechol ortho-quinones: a unifying mechanism. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 59, 665-681.

Cavalieri, E.L., Rogan, E.G. and Chakravarti, D. (2004) The role of endogenous catechol quinones in the initiation of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Methods Enzymol. 382, 293-319.

Khan, G.A., Bhattacharya, G., Mailander, P.C., Meza, J.L., Hansen, L.A. and Chakravarti, D. (2005) Harvey-ras gene expression and epidermal cell proliferation in dibenzo[a,l]pyrene-treated early preneoplastic SENCAR mouse skin. J. Invest. Dermatol. 125, 567-574.

Singh, S., Chakravarti, D., Edney, J.A., Hollins, R.R., Johnson, P.J., West, W.W., Higginbotham, S.M., Cavalieri, E.L. and Rogan, E.G. (2005) Relative imbalances in the expression of estrogen-metabolizing enzymes in the breast tissue of women with breast carcinoma. Oncol. Rep. 14, 1091-1096.

Chakravarti, D., Badawi, A.F., Venugopal, D., Meza, J.L., Crandall, L.Z., Rogan, E.G. and Cavalieri, E.L.       (2005) Improved measurement of dibenzo[a,l]pyrene-induced abasic sites by the Aldehyde-Reactive Probe assay. Mutat. Res. 588, 158-165.

Zhao, Z., Kosinska, W., Khmelnitsky, M., Cavalieri, E.L., Rogan, E.G., Chakravarti, D., Sacks, P. and Guttenplan, J.B. (2006) Mutagenic activity of 4-hydroxyestradiol, but not 2-hydroxyestradiol, in BB Rat2 embryonic cells, and the mutational spectrum of 4-hydroxyestradiolChem. Res. Toxicol. 19, 475-479.

Cavalieri, E., Chakravarti, D., Guttenplan, J., Hart, E., Ingle, J., Jankowiak, R., Muti, P., Rogan, E., Russo, J., Santen, R. and Sutter, T. (2006) Catechol estrogen quinones as initiators of breast and other human cancers. Implications for biomarkers of susceptibility and cancer preventionBBA Reviews on Cancer 1766, 63-78.

Mailander, P.C., Meza, J.L., Higginbotham, S. and Chakravarti, D. (2006) Induction of A.T to G.C mutations by erroneous repair of depurinated DNA following estrogen treatment of the mammary gland of ACI ratsJ. Steroid Biochem. Mol. Biol. 101, 204-215.

Chakravarti, D., Zahid, M., Backora, M., Myers, E.M., Gaikwad, N., Weisenburger, D.D., Cavalieri, E.L., Rogan, E.G. and Joshi, S.S. (2006) Ortho-quinones of benzene and estrogens induce hyperproliferation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Leuk. Lymphoma 47, 2635-2644.

Chakravarti, D., Mailander, P.C., Cavalieri, E.L. and Rogan, E.G. (2007) SENCAR mouse skin papillomas induced by 6-methylbenzo[a]pyrene carry H-ras codon 52 (CTALeu → CCAPro) and codon 13 (GGCGly →  GTCVal) mutations. The Open Dermatol. J. 1, 6-9.

Chakravarti, D., Venugopal, D., Mailander, P.C., Meza, J.L., Higginbotham, S., Cavalieri, E.L. and Rogan, E.G. (2008) The role of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-DNA adducts in inducing mutations in mouse skin.  Mutat. Res. 649, 161-178.

Venugopal, D., Zahid, M., Mailander, P.C., Meza, J.L., Rogan, E.G., Cavalieri, E.L. and Chakravarti, D. (2008) Reduction of estrogen-induced transformation of mouse mammary epithelial cells by N-acetylcysteine. J. Steroid Biochem. Mol. Biol., 109, 22-30.

Ali, M.F., Meza, J.L., Rogan, E.G. and Chakravarti, D. (2008) Prevalence of BER gene polymorphisms in sporadic breast cancerOncol. Rep., 19, 1033-1038.

Brusick, D., Small, M.S., Cavalieri, E.L., Chakravarti, D., Ding, X., Longfellow, D.G., Nakamura, J., Rogan, E.G. and Swenberg, J.A. (2008) Possible genotoxic modes of action for naphthaleneRegulatory Toxicol. Pharmacol., 51, 43-50.

Chakravarti, D. and Mailander, P.C. (2008) Formation of template-switching artifacts by linear amplification. J. Biomol. Tech., in press.
 

 
Books or chapters in books
 

Chakravarti, D. Polycyclic aromatic compounds mapping. In: Encyclopedia of Analytical Chemistry: Instrumentation and Application. (2000). pp. 5144-5159. R.A. Meyers (Ed), John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Chichester, England.

 

Laboratory Members

 

 

 

 

 

Paula C. Mailander, BS, Research Technologist II, Tel: 402-559-6030, E-mail: pmailand@unmc.edu

      Mohamed F. Ali, Graduate Student, Tel: 402-559-6030, E-mail: mali@unmc.edu
         
Former members        
         

     

Gausal A. Khan, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Research Associate, Currently at: Methodist Research Institute, Indianapolis, IN.  gkhan@clarian.org

     

Divya Venugopal, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Research Associate, Currently at: GeneGuard Corporation
dvenugopal@yahoo.com

         
       
 
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