Assistant Professor

Internal Medicine, Division of Molecular Cardiology
1901 S. 1st Street, Building 205
Office: 1R23
Temple, Texas 76504
Phone: 254-743-4915
Lab:  254-743-0099
Fax: 254-743-0165
Email: rsguleria@medicine.tamhsc.edu
Download Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

Education

M.Sc., Microbiology, Dr. Rammanohar Lohia University, India, 1997

Ph.D., Biochemistry, King George's Medical University and University of Lucknow, India, 2002

Post-doctoral Research Associate, Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, Temple, Texas, 2004-2009

Research Interests

Role of renin angiotensin system in diabetes induced cardiac remodeling with special reference to retinoid receptor mediated signaling

Vitamin A (retinol) and its natural and synthetic derivatives (retinoid) participate in a wide range of biological processes, including vision, neoplasia, embryonic development, normal reproductive function, regulation of epithelial and hematopoietic cellular differentiation, and cardiovascular development.  Retinoic acid (RA), the active metabolite of vitamin A, is the main signaling retinoid in the body.  RA functions by binding to nuclear receptor proteins.  Two families of retinoid receptors exist:  the RARs family comprises three distinct genes (RARα, β and γ), whose encoded proteins bind both all-transRA (atRA) and 9-cis RA, and the RXRs family, which also contains three members (RXRα, β and γ) that preferentially bind 9-cis RA.  These ligand-activated retinoid receptors act as transcription factors which bind to RA response elements in the promoters/enhancers of numerous target genes, leading to transcriptional stimulation or repression.

Deficiency of vitamin A or embryonic deletion of selected retinoid receptors has been linked to a variety of defects in cardiovascular development.  In the post-development period, retinoid are required for the proper functioning of a number of organs (skin, lung, liver, neuronal and immune systems) and have important regulatory activity in the cardiovascular system.  Numerous studies have focused on characterization of the intracellular signal transduction molecules that promote cardiac hypertrophy; but, little work has focused on signaling pathways that might negatively regulate hypertrophy.  Retinoid have been shown to have significant anti-hypertrophic effects in neonatal cardiomyocytes.  Our study also demonstrated that RA has suppression effects on cyclic stretch-iniduced cardiac hypertrophy.  However, the signaling mechanism of RA-induced inhibitory effects on the hypertrophic process are not clear.  Currently, we are investigating the molecular mechanism of retinoic acid mediated inhibition of cardiac growth and its regulation of the renin-angiotensin system in the heart. 

Diabetes mellitus is a key risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and heart failure.  Enhanced expression and activation of renin-angiotensin system components has been implicated in the development of diabetes induced cardiac remodeling.  We observed that the high glucose-induced synthesis of Ang II was suppressed by retinoic acid.  This observation generated lot of enthusiasm and currently we are also investigating the role of retinoic acid signaling in diabetes-induced development of cardiac remodeling by using in vitro and in vivo systems.

Selected Publications

Guleria RS, Choudhary R, Tanaka T, Baker KM, Pan J.  Retinoid acid receptor-mediated signaling protects cardiomyocytes from hyperglycemia-induced apoptosis:  Role of the renin-angiotensin system.  Journal of Cellular Physiology, 226:1292-1307, 2011.

Sampson HW, Chaput CD, Brannen J, Probe RA, Bayless KJ, Guleria RS, et al.  Alcohol consumption during the inflammatory stage of fracture healing:  A microarray analysis of gene and miRNA expression.  Alcohol.  In Review.

Verma SK, Lal H, Golden HB, Smith M, Guleria RS, Foster DM, Lu G, Dostal DE.  Differential roles of Rac1 and RhoA in regulation of angiotensinogen gene expression in stretched cardiac fibroblasts.  In Review.

Choudhary R, Palm-Leis A, Scott RC III, Guleria RS, Rachut E, Baker KM, Pan J.  All-trans retinoic acid prevents development of cardiac remodeling in aortic banded rats by inhibiting the renin-angiotensin system.  American J. Physiol Heart Circ Physiol.  2008 Feb; 294(2):H633-44.  2007, December 21.

Joshi S, Guleria RS, Pan J, DiPette D, Singh US.  Heterogeneity in retinoic acid signaling in neuroblastomas: Role of matrix metalloproteinase's in retinoic acid-induced differentiation.  Biochem Biophys Acta. 2007 Sept; 1772(9):1093-102.

Lal H, Veerma SK, Guleria RS, Smith M, Foster DM, Dostal DE.  Stretch-induced MAP kinase activation in cardiac myocytes:  Differential roles of β1-integrin and focal adhesion kinase.  J Molecular Cellular Cardiology 2007 Aug; 43(2):137-47.

Lal H, Guleria RS, Foster DM, Lu G, Watson LE, Sanghi S, Smith M, Dostal DE.  Integrins:  Novel therapeutic targets for cardiovascular diseases.  Cardiovascular and Hematological Agents in Medicinal Chemistry 2007 Apr; 5(2):109-32.

Guleria RS, Pan J, Dipette D, Singh US.  Hyperglycemia inhibits retinoic acid-induced activation of RAC1, prevents differentiation of cortical neurons, and causes oxidative stress in a rat model of diabetic pregnancy.  Diabetes 2006 Dec; 55(12):3326-34.

Joshi S, Guleria RS, Pan J, Bayless KJ, Davis JE, Dipette D, Singh US.  Ethanol impairs Rho GTPase signaling and differentiation of cerebellar granule neurons in a rodent model of fetal alcohol syndrome.  Cellular Molecular Life Science 2006 Nov; 3(23):2859-70.

Joshi S, Guleria RS, Pan J, Dipette D, Singh US.  Retinoic acid receptors and tissue-transglutaminase mediate short-term effect of retinoic acid on migration and invasion of neuroblastoma SHSY5Y cells.  Oncogene 2006 Jan 12; 25(2):240-7.

Guleria RS, Jain A, Tiwari V, Misra MK.  Protective effect of green tea extract against the erythrocytic oxidative stress injury during Myocabacterium tuberculosis infection in mice.  Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, 2002;

Jain A, Tiwari V, Guleria RS, Verma RK.  Qualitative evaluation of mycobacterial DNA extraction protocols for polymerase chain reaction.  Molecular Biology Today 2002:3:43-49.

Guleria RS, Jain A.  The clinical spectrum of free radical mediated injury.  Indian J Bio-Research 2001; 46(1);9-18.

National Service/Recognition

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Fellowship (CSIR), India - 1997

Fellowship from International Clinical Epidemiology Network (INCLEN)/WHO/Johns Hopkins School of Public Health USA - 2000-2001

Fellowship from Department of Science and Technology (DST), India - 2001-2002

Young Investigator Award, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Texas, 2006

Best Manuscript Award, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Texas, 2007