The Faculty in Reproductive Biology at Illinois

Milan K. Bagchi

Molecular & Integrative Physiology
Ph.D., University of Nebraska

To e-mail Dr. Bagchi use: mbagchi@life.uiuc.edu

The research in my laboratory explores the mechanisms of gene regulation by steroid and thyroid hormones. Whereas the steroid hormones estrogen and progesterone are principal regulators of development and function of female reproductive tissues such as ovary, uterus, and mammary gland, the thyroid hormone exerts profound influence on growth and differentiation of a wide variety of tissues, especially during early development. The cellular actions of these hormones are mediated through specific high affinity nuclear receptor proteins, which function as ligand-inducible transcription factors. The hormone-receptor complexes interact with the hormone-responsive genes in the target cells and regulate RNA synthesis. The overall goal of my laboratory is to gain a clear understanding of the molecular pathways that translate the signals initiated by hormone binding to nuclear receptors into modulation of the expression of specific cellular genes.

Recent studies revealed the existence of novel cellular cofactors designated coactivators and corepressors, which modulate the gene regulatory activities of nuclear hormone receptors in target tissues. A coactivator interacts with the hormone-bound nuclear receptor and functions as a critical positive modulator of receptor-dependent gene activation. A corepressor, on the other hand, interacts with certain unliganded nuclear receptors to promote receptor-mediated transcriptional repression. The coactivator and corepressor proteins exist in multiprotein complexes, which may function by regulating chromatin structure and transcription initiation at the target promoter in an opposing fashion. To explore the mechanisms of gene regulation by steroid and thyroid hormone receptors, we devised in vitro reconstituted systems in which a recombinant steroid or thyroid hormone receptor regulates transcription of a target reporter gene in cell-free nuclear extracts. We are currently exploiting these hormone-regulated gene expression systems to dissect the functional roles of the coactivator and corepressor proteins in receptor-mediated transcriptional activation and repression, respectively. We expect that such knowledge will open up new avenues to control the tissue-specific action of nuclear hormone receptors in a variety of human disease states such as breast cancer, endometriosis, and resistance to thyroid hormone.

News Items

Absence of critical protein linked to infertility

Selected Publications:

Bagchi, I.C., Li, Q., Cheon, Y.P., Mantena, S.R., Kannan, A., and Bagchi, M.K. (2005) "Use of the progesterone receptor antagonist RU 486 to identify novel progesterone receptor-regulated pathways in implantation," Semin. Reprod. Med. 23, 38-45. [Abstract]

Liu, X. and Bagchi, M.K. (2004) "Recruitment of distinct chromatin modifying complexes by tamoxifen-complexed estrogen receptor to natural target gene promoters in vivo," J. Biol. Chem. 279, 15050-15058. [Abstract]

Li, Q., Cheon, Y.P., Kannan, A., Shanker, S., Bagchi, I.C., and Bagchi, M.K. (2004) "A novel pathway involving progesterone receptor, 12/15-lipoxygenease-derived eicosanoids, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma regulates implantation in mice," J. Biol. Chem. 279, 11570-11581. [Abstract]

Cheon, Y.P., Demayo, F.J., Bagchi, M.K., and Bagchi, I.C. (2004) "Induction of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-2 beta, a cysteine protease inhibitor in decidua: a potential regulator of embryo implantation," J. Biol. Chem. 279, 10357-10365. [Abstract]

Cheon, Y.P., Xu, X., Bagchi, M.K., and Bagchi, I.C. (2003) "Immune-responsive gene 1 (Irg1) is a novel target of progesterone receptor and plays a critical role during implantation in the mouse," Endocrinology 144, 5623-5630. [Abstract]

Li, Q., Wang, J., Armant, D.R., Bagchi, M.K., and Bagchi, I.C. (2002) "Calcitonin downregulates E-cadherin expression in rodent uterine epithelium during implantation," J. Biol. Chem. 277, 46447-46455. [Abstract]

View Publications by Milan K. Bagchi listed on the National Library of Medicine (PubMed)

Last updated August 17, 2005

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