A photo of Biplab DasGupta.

Member, Division of Oncology

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics

513-803-1370

Biography & Affiliation

Biography

My research areas are cancer metabolism and brain tumors. Our work seeks to identify new metabolic targets that could lead to novel and innovative treatments for cancer. We are also examining the molecular links between cancer and diabetes.

I became interested in cancer research during my graduate research courses in biology. In one of my lab’s groundbreaking discoveries, we identified the energy sensor adenosine monophosphate-activated protein (AMP) kinase as an essential gene for glioblastoma pathology. This work was published in Nature Cell Biology. We also performed the first gene-metabolite interactome of diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG).

I am honored to have received the Larry E. Kun Achievement in Excellence award, the TeamConnor Childhood Cancer Foundation award (2019) and the Outstanding Achievement Award from Cincinnati Children’s for Brain Tumor Research (2016). I have been a principal investigator for more than 11 years and began working at Cincinnati Children’s in 2009. Work in my laboratory has been continuously supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and various private foundation grants.

We have published in many well-respected journals, including Nature Cell Biology, PNAS, Nature Communications, Cancer Cell, Cell Reports, Science Advances, Cell Stem Cell, Developmental Cell, Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research, Journal of Neuroscience, Neuro-Oncology, and Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, among others.

Research Interests

Metabolism; cancer development

Academic Affiliation

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics

Research Divisions

Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Oncology, Cancer and Blood Diseases



Education

PhD: Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Calcutta, 2003.

Postdoctoral Fellowship: Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis.

Publications

Selected Publication

AMPK in the brain: its roles in glucose and neural metabolism. Muraleedharan, R; Dasgupta, B. FEBS Journal. 2021.

Mechanisms of stearoyl CoA desaturase inhibitor sensitivity and acquired resistance in cancer. Oatman, N; Dasgupta, N; Arora, P; Choi, K; Gawali, MV; Gupta, N; Parameswaran, S; Salomone, J; Reisz, JA; Lawler, S; et al. Science advances. 2021; 7.

AMPK-Regulated Astrocytic Lactate Shuttle Plays a Non-Cell-Autonomous Role in Neuronal Survival. Muraleedharan, R; Gawali, MV; Tiwari, D; Sukumaran, A; Oatman, N; Anderson, J; Nardini, D; Bhuiyan, MA N; Tkac, I; Ward, AL; et al. Cell Reports. 2020; 32.

AMP kinase promotes glioblastoma bioenergetics and tumour growth. Chhipa, RR; Fan, Q; Anderson, J; Muraleedharan, R; Huang, Y; Ciraolo, G; Chen, X; Waclaw, R; Chow, LM; Khuchua, Z; et al. Nature Cell Biology. 2018; 20:823-835.

The transcription factor Olig2 is important for the biology of diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas. Anderson, JL; Muraleedharan, R; Oatman, N; Klotter, A; Sengupta, S; Waclaw, RR; Wu, J; Drissi, R; Miles, L; Raabe, EH; et al. Neuro-Oncology. 2017; 19:1068-1078.

Evolving Lessons on the Complex Role of AMPK in Normal Physiology and Cancer. Dasgupta, B; Chhipa, RR. Trends in Pharmacological Sciences. 2016; 37:192-206.

Serine/Threonine Kinase MLK4 Determines Mesenchymal Identity in Glioma Stem Cells in an NF-κB-dependent Manner. Kim, S; Ezhilarasan, R; Phillips, E; Gallego-Perez, D; Sparks, A; Taylor, D; Ladner, K; Furuta, T; Sabit, H; Chhipa, R; et al. Cancer Cell. 2016; 29:201-213.

The AMPK inhibitor compound C is a potent AMPK-independent antiglioma agent. Liu, X; Chhipa, RR; Nakano, I; Dasgupta, B. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. 2014; 13:596-605.

Discrete mechanisms of mTOR and cell cycle regulation by AMPK agonists independent of AMPK. Liu, X; Chhipa, RR; Pooya, S; Wortman, M; Yachyshin, S; Chow, LM L; Kumar, A; Zhou, X; Sun, Y; Quinn, B; et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2014; 111:E435-E444.

Direct inhibition of retinoblastoma phosphorylation by nimbolide causes cell-cycle arrest and suppresses glioblastoma growth. Karkare, S; Chhipa, RR; Anderson, J; Liu, X; Henry, H; Gasilina, A; Nassar, N; Roychoudhury, J; Clark, JP; Kumar, A; et al. Clinical Cancer Research. 2014; 20:199-212.