INCREDB ID : 112
Home >> Investigator Page Previous      Next
M. Radhakrishna Pillai, Ph.D., F.R.C.Path
Director 
 
Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology
Thycaud, Poojappura
Thiruvananthapuram - 695 014   
Kerala   
 
E-mail: director@rgcb.res.in
Phone: +91-471-2347973
 
URL: http://rgcb.res.in/departments/cancer_research/professor-m-radhakrishna-pillai/research.html
 
Area of Specialization:
Oncology
Research Summary:
Identification of cellular and molecular pathways that predict the progression of oral dysplasia to invasive cancer
Molecular ecology, molecular genetics and natural history of anterior tongue cancer in young adults without (or insignificant) tobacco exposure: can a distinct clinical entity be defined?
Engineering tumor stem cells for screening natural anticancer agents, chemosensitizers and chemopreventives
Tumor stem cells and malignant transformation of oral leukoplakia
Tumor stem cell profiles in breast cancer
Targeted anti-cancer lead discovery: virtual screening of chemical libraries enriched in natural products and in silico screening of chemical and natural small molecule databases against HPV
Functional characterization of novel proteins (the never born proteins) from non coding genomic sequences of bacteria and yeast
Disease perturbed networks in cancer
Clinical and biological significance of micro-RNA profiles in the molecular taxonomy of etiologically diverse oral carcinomas
Computational biology for design of optimum vaccine candidates and development of quantum dot based diagnostics for classical swine fever virus
Clinical and patho-biological effects of curcumin on oral leukoplakia: a double blind placebo controlled randomized trial
 
Publications:
1. Ramshid, P. K., Jagadeeshan, S., Krishnan, A., Mathew, M., Nair, S. A. and Pillai, M. R.  Synthesis and in vitro evaluation of some isatin-thiazolidinone hybrid analogues as anti-proliferative agents. Medicinal Chemistry. 2010.  6, 306-312. [PubMed]
2. Pillai, R. M., Babu, J. M., Jissa, V. T., Lakshmi, S., Chiplunkar, S. V., Patkar, M., Tongaonkar, H., Reddy, K. B., Chakka, K. N., Siddiqui, M., Roychoudury, S., Abraham, P., Peedicayil, A., Gnanamony, M., Subashini, J., Ram, T. S., Dey, B., Singh, N., Singh, A., Jain, S. K. and Jayshree, R. S.  Region-wise distribution of high-risk human papillomavirus types in squamous cell carcinomas of the cervix in India. International Journal of Gynecological Cancer. 2010.  20, 1046-1051. [PubMed]
3. Richard, V. and Pillai, M. R.  The stem cell code in oral epithelial tumorigenesis: 'the cancer stem cell shift hypothesis'. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta. 2010.  1806, 146-162. [PubMed]
4. Chandra, V., Girijadevi, R., Nair, A. S., Pillai, S. S. and Pillai, R. M.  MTar: a computational microRNA target prediction architecture for human transcriptome. BMC Bioinformatics. 2010.  11 Suppl 1, S2. [PubMed]
5. Hariharan, I. and Pillai, M. R.  Genotypes of the human papillomavirus: relevance to Indian field trials of the vaccine. The Indian Journal of Medical Research. 2009.  130, 247-260. [PubMed]
6. Hariharan, R., Babu, J. M., P, R. and Pillai, M. R.  Mutational analysis of Smad7 in human cervical cancer. Oncology Reports. 2009.  21, 1001-1004. [PubMed]
7. Krishnan, A., Nair, S. A. and Pillai, M. R.  Loss of cks1 homeostasis deregulates cell division cycle. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. 2010.  14, 154-164. [PubMed]
8. Reshmi, G. and Pillai, M. R.  Beyond HPV: oncomirs as new players in cervical cancer. FEBS Letters. 2008.  582, 4113-4116. [PubMed]
9. Krishnan, A., Hariharan, R., Nair, S. A. and Pillai, M. R.  Fluoxetine mediates G0/G1 arrest by inducing functional inhibition of cyclin dependent kinase subunit (CKS)1. Biochemical Pharmacology. 2008.  75, 1924-1934. [PubMed]
10. Hariharan, R. and Pillai, M. R.  Structure-function relationship of inhibitory Smads: Structural flexibility contributes to functional divergence. Proteins. 2008.  71, 1853-1862. [PubMed]
11. Krishnan, A., Nair, S. A. and Pillai, M. R.  Biology of PPAR gamma in cancer: a critical review on existing lacunae. Current Molecular Medicine. 2007.  7, 532-540. [PubMed]
12. Nair, S., Nair, R. R., Srinivas, P., Srinivas, G. and Pillai, M. R.  Radiosensitizing effects of plumbagin in cervical cancer cells is through modulation of apoptotic pathway. Molecular Carcinogenesis. 2008.  47, 22-33. [PubMed]
13. Joy, S., Nair, P. S., Hariharan, R. and Pillai, M. R.  Detailed comparison of the protein-ligand docking efficiencies of GOLD, a commercial package and ArgusLab, a licensable freeware. In Silico Biology. 2006.  6, 601-605. [PubMed]
14. Pillai, R., Marinelli, E. R. and Swenson, R. E.  A flexible method for preparation of peptide homo- and heterodimers functionalized with affinity probes, chelating ligands, and latent conjugating groups. Biopolymers. 2006.  84, 576-585. [PubMed]
15. Bindhu, O. S., Ramadas, K., Sebastian, P. and Pillai, M. R.  High expression levels of nuclear factor kappa B and gelatinases in the tumorigenesis of oral squamous cell carcinoma. Head & Neck. 2006.  28, 916-925. [PubMed]
16. Santhi, W. S., Sebastian, P., Varghese, B. T., Prakash, O. and Pillai, M. R.  NF-kappaB and COX-2 during oral tumorigenesis and in assessment of minimal residual disease in surgical margins. Experimental and Molecular Pathology. 2006.  81, 123-130. [PubMed]
17. Divya, C. S. and Pillai, M. R.  Antitumor action of curcumin in human papillomavirus associated cells involves downregulation of viral oncogenes, prevention of NFkB and AP-1 translocation, and modulation of apoptosis. Molecular Carcinogenesis. 2006.  45, 320-332. [PubMed]
18. Beutelspacher, S. C., Pillai, R., Watson, M. P., Tan, P. H., Tsang, J., McClure, M. O., George, A. J. and Larkin, D. F.  Function of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase in corneal allograft rejection and prolongation of allograft survival by over-expression. European Journal of Immunology. 2006.  36, 690-700. [PubMed]
19. von, W., Raju, N., Pillai, R., Bogdan, N. J., Marinelli, E. R., Nanjappan, P., Ramalingam, K., Arunachalam, T., Eaton, S., Linder, K. E., Yan, F., Pochon, S., Tweedle, M. F. and Nunn, A. D.  Tuftsin binds neuropilin-1 through a sequence similar to that encoded by exon 8 of vascular endothelial growth factor. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2006.  281, 5702-5710. [PubMed]
20. Joseph, T., Chacko, P., Wesley, R., Jayaprakash, P. G., James, F. V. and Pillai, M. R.  Germline genetic polymorphisms of CYP1A1, GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes in Indian cervical cancer: associations with tumor progression, age and human papillomavirus infection. Gynecologic Oncology. 2006.  101, 411-417. [PubMed]
21. Hariharan, R. and Pillai, M. R.  Homology modeling of the DNA-binding domain of human Smad5: a molecular model for inhibitor design. Journal of Molecular Graphics & Modelling. 2006.  24, 271-277. [PubMed]
22. Ambili, R., Santhi, W. S., Janam, P., Nandakumar, K. and Pillai, M. R.  Expression of activated transcription factor nuclear factor-kappaB in periodontally diseased tissues. Journal of Periodontology. 2005.  76, 1148-1153. [PubMed]
23. Chacko, P., Joseph, T., Mathew, B. S., Rajan, B. and Pillai, M. R.  Role of xenobiotic metabolizing gene polymorphisms in breast cancer susceptibility and treatment outcome. Mutation Research. 2005.  581, 153-163. [PubMed]
24. Chacko, P., Rajan, B., Joseph, T., Mathew, B. S. and Pillai, M. R.  Polymorphisms in DNA repair gene XRCC1 and increased genetic susceptibility to breast cancer. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. 2005.  89, 15-21. [PubMed]
25. Joseph, T., Kusumakumary, P., Chacko, P., Abraham, A. and Pillai, M. R.  DNA repair gene XRCC1 polymorphisms in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Cancer Letters. 2005.  217, 17-24. [PubMed]
26. Srinivas, G., Kusumakumary, P., Joseph, T. and Pillai, M. R.  In vitro drug sensitivity and apoptosis induction in newly diagnosed pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia: correlation with overall survival. Pediatric Hematology and Oncology. 2004.  21, 465-473. [PubMed]
27. Kesari, A. L., Chandrasekhar, S., Rajan, B., Mathew, B. S. and Pillai, M. R.  Clinicopathological significance of tissue homeostasis in Indian breast cancer. Breast Cancer. 2003.  10, 241-248. [PubMed]
28. Pillai, M. R., Sreevidya, S., Pollock, B. H., Jayaprakash, P. G. and Herman, B.  Polymorphism at codon 72 of p53, human papillomavirus, and cervical cancer in South India. Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology. 2002.  128, 627-631. [PubMed]
29. Preethi, T. R., Chacko, P., Kesari, A. L., Praseeda, I., Chellam, V. G. and Pillai, M. R.  Apoptosis in epithelial ovarian tumors. Pathology, Research and Practice. 2002.  198, 273-280. [PubMed]
30. Jacob, S. E., Sreevidya, S., Chacko, E. and Pillai, M. R.  Cellular manifestations of human papillomavirus infection in laryngeal tissues. Journal of Surgical Oncology. 2002.  79, 142-150. [PubMed]

 
Grant Support:
Project Title Role Funding Agency Sanction Number Sanction Date
Development of human papillomavirus vaccine prototype/s – Molecular epidemiology of HPV types prevalent in India and identification of HPV-16 L1 & E6 variants Department of Biotechnology, Government of India
Clinical and patho-biological effects of curcumin on oral leukoplakia: A double blind placebo controlled randomized trial Department of Biotechnology, Government of India
Virtual Screening (Vs) and laboratory validation of antihuman papillomavirus compounds Department of Biotechnology, Government of India
Targeted anti-cancer lead discovery: Virtual screening of chemical libraries enriched in natural products Department of Information Technology, Government of India
Prospective identification and clinical significance of tumor progenitor cells in breast cancer. Department of Biotechnology, Government of India
Molecular ecology, molecular genetics and natural history of anterior tongue cancer in young adults without (or insignificant) tobacco exposure: can a distinct clinical entity be defined? Department of Biotechnology, Government of India
Development of novel sensitizers based on NIR dyes Department of Science & Technology, Government of India

 
 
 
Education 
::
Ph.D.
::
F.R.C.Path
Honors and Awards
::
2003, National Bioscience Career Award, Department of Biotechnology,Government of India..
::
2000, Recipient of the Indian Council of Medical Research Sandoz Oration Award for Outstanding Cancer Research in the field of human papillomavirus research..
::
1991, Recipient of the Indian Council of Medical Research Raja Ravi Sher Singh Award for outstanding Cancer Research by a young scientist in recognition for PhD work on
Member
::
Fellow, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore.
::
Fellow, National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad.
::
Govt. of India - Department of Biotechnology Task Force in Chronic Disease Biology.
::
Governing Body - Translational Health Sciences & Technology Institute, (Govt. of India - Department of Biotechnology)
::
Governing Body - National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (Government of India), Kolkatta.
::
Research Council, National Institute of Interdisciplinary Sciences & Technology (CSIR-RRL), Thiruvananthapuram.
::
Academic Committee and Technology Development Committee Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute of Medical Sciences & Technology, (Govt. of India), Thiruvananthapuram.
::
Scientific Advisory Committee, National Centre for Cell Sciences (Govt. of India), Pune
  Last modified on : Mar 4, 2011
India Cancer Research Database has been developed by the Institute of Bioinformatics with funding from the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.