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Subburaman Mohan PhD

Interim Associate Chief of Staff for Research and Director of Musculoskeletal Disease Center at VA Loma Linda; Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry and Orthopedic Surgery at Loma Linda University

VA Loma Linda health care

The major focus of my research program is focused on two major health problems in the VA patient population, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.

The population of elderly veterans continues to increase, and, therefore, issues affecting the aged have become a VA research priority. Osteoporosis and osteoarthritis are significant age-related public health problems in the Veterans as well as in the general U.S. population and pose a substantial financial burden.  It is estimated that approximately one in two women and one in four men age 50 and older will break a bone due to osteoporosis. Osteoarthritis is known to affect over 30 million adults in the U.S. The pathogenesis of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis are known to involve increased destruction of bone and cartilage, not compensated by parallel increases in the synthesis of new tissue.  Therefore, the long-term goals of my VA- and NIH-sponsored research is focused on identifying the defective signaling pathways that contribute to bone and cartilage loss in the elderly, and to develop novel anabolic strategies for treatment of these debilitating bone diseases. 

 Our translational research during the past three decades has been on the discovery of novel genes and evaluation of the functions of genes that are relevant to regeneration and maintenance of bone and cartilage tissues. For our gene discovery program, we have utilized a number of molecular genetic approaches including quantitative trait loci using inbred strains of mice, spontaneous mouse mutants, phenotype-driven chemical mutagenesis, whole genome microarray, yeast-2-hybrid systems, and informatics. Our functional genomic studies for evaluation of gene function include both transgenic overexpression and targeted and conditional gene knock out approaches. My research group has discovered several novel genes and identified their functions in bone and cartilage. The current research in my laboratory is focused on the following areas: 1) My VA merit review funded application, Development of 3D printed synthetic bone graft containing small molecules for sequential activation of hedgehog and hypoxia signaling for treatment of nonunion fractures, deals with preclinical studies to identify novel approaches to promote bone regeneration.  2) My NIH funded application, Role and mechanism of claudin-11 action and signaling in bone, deals with the role and mechanism of action of claudin tight junction proteins in regulating skeletal metabolism. 3) My NIH RO1 funded application, Role and mechanism of action of Kinase Suppressor of Ras (KSR)2, an obesity and type 2 diabetes gene, in bone metabolism, and NIH R21 funded application, Thyroid hormone receptor β1 agonist therapy for the treatment of bone marrow adiposity in aging and obesity, deal with how metabolic disturbances during obese and diabetic conditions promote bone marrow adiposity at the expense of bone formation and therapeutics to treat impaired bone formation in these disease conditions.    Our laboratory has been very productive over the years with 370 peer review research articles, 30 review articles and 28 book chapters. Our publications have received more than 50,000 citations with an H-factor of 100 and an i-10-index of 900.  Our research has led to several important discoveries in the areas of bone and mineral metabolism and has received continuous funding from federal agencies (VA, NIH, DOD) over a span of 30 years.  Our ongoing studies are designed to not only provide mechanistic insights into the role of the key signaling pathways in the pathophysiology of the various bone-wasting diseases but also to identify novel and rational drug targets for the development of novel effective therapies to treat metabolic bone diseases that impact the health of veterans and general population.   

Contributions to Science (i10-index: 903; H-index: 100: >400 publications; 51794 citations)

Recent publications

  1. Gomez, GA, Aghajanian P, Pourteymoor S, Larkin D, Mohan S.  Differences in pathways contributing to thyroid hormone effects on postnatal cartilage calcification versus endochondral ossification center development. eLife. 2022 Jan 31:11: e76730. Doi: 10.7554/eLife.76730. PMID: 35098920.
  2. Rundle CH, Gomez GA, Pourteymoor S, Mohan S.  Sequential application of small molecule therapy enhances chondrogenesis and angiogenesis in murine segmental defect bone repair.  J Orthop Res. 2022 Nov 29. Doi:10 1002/jor.25493. PMID:36448182.
  3. Gomez GA, Rundle CH, Xing W, Kesavan C, Pourteymoor S, Lewis RE, Powell DR, Mohan S. Contrasting effects of Ksr2, an obesity gene, on trabecular bone volume and bone marrow adiposity. eLife 2022 Nov 7:11: e82810. Doi:10.7554/eLife.82810. PMID: 36342465.
  4. Kesavan C, Gomez GA, Pourteymoor S, Mohan S.  Development of an animal model for traumatic brain injury augmentation of heterotopic ossification in response to local injury.  Biomedicines 2023 Mar 18:11(3):943. Doi:10.3390/biomedicines 11030943 PMID: 36979922.

Complete List of Published Work in My Bibliography:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/subburaman.mohan.1/bibliography/44107035/public/?sort=date&direction=ascending

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