Lab personnel
- Associate Professor Rajesh Katare Associate Professor
- Jaya Papannarao Assistant Research Fellow
- Shalini Paul PhD Student
Research interests
- Molecular mechanisms involved in the development of cardiovascular complications in diabetes.
- Role of microRNAs in cardiovascular diseases.
- Development of novel genetic and stem cell therapies for the treatment of ischemic and non-ischemic cardiovascular complications
Keywords
microRNA; gene therapy; stem cells; chronic heart failure; Diabetes Mellitus; cardiomyopathy; tissue engineering.
Projects
- Pathological role of microRNAs in the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy
- Circulating microRNAs as potential biomarkers for early diagnosis of cardiovascular complications
- Gender differences in diabetic heart – why females are more prone to complications
- Investigating the role of suicidal autophagy in diabetic hearts
- Treatment of ischemic hearts with resident cardiac stem cells
- Development of engineered heart tissue using cardiac and mesenchymal stem cells
Current funding
- 2013–2015 Lottery Health Board project grant
- 2013–2015 New Zealand Society for the Study of Diabetes project (Sanofi) grant
- 2013–2014 Maurice & Phyllis Paykel Trust grant-in-ai
- 2013–2014 University of Otago research grant
- 2013–2014 Otago School of Medical Sciences Dean's Bequest grant
- 2012–2013 Heart Foundation New Zealand small project grant
- 2012–2013 Otago Medical Research Foundation project grant
Previous funding
- 2010–2012 British Heart Foundation project grant
- 2007–2010 Diabetes UK project grant
- 2004–2007 Ministry of Science and Education, Japan
- 2002–2004 Industrial grant with Mitsubishi Pharmaceuticals, Japan
Collaborators
- Associate Professor Patrick Manning, Department of Medicine, University of Otago
- Professor Vicky Cameron, Christchurch Heart Institute, University of Otago
- Dr Andrew Bahn, Department of Physiology, University of Otago
- Professor Paolo Madeddu, Bristol Heart Institute, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
- Professor Costanza Emanueli, Bristol Heart Institute, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
- Professor Saadeh Suleiman, Department of Cardiovascular Physiology, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
- Dr Antonio Beltrami, Department of Pathology, University of Udine, Italy
- Dr Daniela Cesselli, Department of Pathology, University of Udine, Italy
- Professor Sato Takayuki, Department of Physiology, Kochi University, Japan
- Dr Kakinuma Yoshihiko, Department of Physiology, Kochi University, Japan
- Professor Ando Motonori, Laboratory of Cell Physiology, Department of Science Education, Okayama University, Japan
Publications
Katare, R. (2022, August). Modulation of microRNAs: A mechanistic approach for the treatment of diabetic heart disease. Verbal presentation at the Metabolic & Cardiovascular Disease Satellite Meeting: Queenstown Research Week, Queenstown, New Zealand.
Tonkin, D., Williams, M., Schwenke, D., & Katare, R. (2022, August-September). Effects of synthetic miRNA cocktail for activation of endogenous progenitor cells in the diabetic heart. Poster session presented at the New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand.
'Uluaki'afua, K., Adhia, D., Mani, R., & Katare, R. (2022, August-September). Elucidating the role of miRNAs underlying chronic pain in rheumatoid arthritis. Poster session presented at the New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand.
Paul, S., Ali, A., & Katare, R. (2022, August-September). Investigating the effectiveness of a novel therapeutic to improve diabetic wound healing. Poster session presented at the New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand.
Reily-Bell, M., Gamble, A., & Katare, R. (2022, August-September). Investigating CRISPR/Cas13 as a novel tool for the knockdown of miRNA upregulated in diabetic heart disease (DHD). Poster session presented at the New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand.
Fenton, S., Augustine, R., Katare, R., & Schwenke, D. O. (2022, August-September). miRNA-138 drives tau protein dysfunction in diabetic cardiac autonomic neuropathy. Verbal presentation at the New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand.
Chau, A., Fenton, S., Pearson, J., Katare, R., & Schwenke, D. O. (2022, August-September). miRNA-138 as a novel therapeutic target for cardiac autonomic neuropathy in diabetes. Verbal presentation at the New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand.
Roberts, E., Tohu, P., Fenton, S., Katare, R., & Schwenke, D. (2022, August-September). Can loss of a 'hunger' hormone increase cardiovascular disease in Pacific people? Verbal presentation at the New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand.
Shah, R. M., Walker, G. F., Katare, R., & Das, S. C. (2022, August-September). Differential regulation of microRNAs associated with COPD in smokers. Verbal presentation at the New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand.
Chandrasekera, D. N. K., van Hout, I., Bunton, R., Parry, D., & Katare, R. (2022, August-September). A novel protocol for the enrichment of exosomes yield from biological fluids. Verbal presentation at the New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand.
Ghosh, N., Fenton, S., van Hout, I., Jones, G. T., Coffey, S., Williams, M. J. A., Sugunesegran, R., Parry, D., … Schwenke, D. O., Chatterjee, A., & Katare, R. (2022). Therapeutic knockdown of miR-320 improves deteriorated cardiac function in a pre-clinical model of non-ischemic diabetic heart disease. Molecular Therapy: Nucleic Acids, 29, 330-342. doi: 10.1016/j.omtn.2022.07.007
Yee-Goh, A. S., Yamauchi, A., van Hout, I., Bellae Papannarao, J., Sugunesegran, R., Parry, D., Davis, P., & Katare, R. (2022). Cardiac progenitor cells and adipocyte stem cells from same patients exhibit in vitro functional differences. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23, 5588. doi: 10.3390/ijms23105588
Satthenapalli, R., Lee, S., Bellae Papannarao, J., Hore, T. A., Chakraborty, A., Jones, P. P., Lamberts, R. R., & Katare, R. (2022). Stage-specific regulation of signalling pathways to differentiate pluripotent stem cells to cardiomyocytes with ventricular lineage. Stem Cell Research & Therapy, 13(1), 185. doi: 10.1186/s13287-022-02845-9
Avolio, E., Katare, R., Thomas, A. C., Caporali, A., Schwenke, D., Carrabba, M., … Madeddu, P. (2022). Cardiac pericyte reprogramming by MEK inhibition promotes arteriologenesis and angiogenesis of the ischemic heart. Journal of Clinical Investigation. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1172/jci152308
Waddingham, M. T., Tsuchimochi, H., Sonobe, T., Asano, R., Jin, H., Ow, C. P. C., Schwenke, D. O., Katare, R., … Pearson, J. T. (2022). Using synchrotron radiation imaging techniques to elucidate the actions of hexarelin in the heart of small animal models. Frontiers in Physiology, 12, 766818. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2021.766818
Khadka, P., Sinha, S., Tucker, I. G., Dummer, J., Hill, P. C., Katare, R., & Das, S. C. (2021). High-dose inhaled rifampicin powder formulations: Preparation, in vitro characterization and in vivo evaluation. Proceedings of the Drug Delivery to the Lungs (DDL) Conference (Vol. 32). Retrieved from https://ddl-conference.com
Khadka, P., Sinha, S., Hill, P. C., Dummer, J., Tucker, I. G., Katare, R. G., & Das, S. C. (2021). In vitro and in vivo evaluation of high-dose inhaled rifampicin powder formulations for tuberculosis treatment. New Zealand Medical Journal, 134(1547), (pp. 139). Retrieved from https://www.nzma.org.nz/journal
Hebbard, C., Lee, B., Katare, R., & Garikipati, V. N. S. (2021). Diabetes, heart failure, and COVID-19: An update. Frontiers in Physiology, 12, 706185. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2021.706185
Bellae Papannarao, J., Schwenke, D. O., Manning, P., & Katare, R. (2021). Upregulated miR-200c is associated with downregulation of the functional receptor for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ACE2 in individuals with obesity [Brief communication]. International Journal of Obesity. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1038/s41366-021-00984-2
Reily-Bell, M., Bahn, A., & Katare, R. (2021). Reactive oxygen species-mediated diabetic heart disease: Mechanisms and therapies. Antioxidants & Redox Signaling. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1089/ars.2021.0098
Coffey, S., Dixit, P., Saw, E. L., Babakr, A. A., van Hout, I., Galvin, I. F., Saxena, P., Bunton, R. W., Davis, P. J., Lamberts, R. R., Katare, R., & Williams, M. J. A. (2021). Thiamine increases resident endoglin positive cardiac progenitor cells and atrial contractile force in humans: A randomised controlled trial. International Journal of Cardiology, 341, 70-73. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2021.08.039
Kovanur Sampath, K., Mani, R., Katare, R., Neale, J., Cotter, J., & Tumilty, S. (2021). Thoracic spinal manipulation effect on neuroendocrine response in people with Achilles tendinopathy: A randomized crossover trial. Journal of Manipulative & Physiological Therapeutics, 44(5), 420-431. doi: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2021.06.001
Bir, S., Chandrasekera, D., Van Hout, I., Lequeux, S., Coffey, S., Bunton, R. W., Davis, P., Williams, M. J. A., & Katare, R. (2021). Use of exosomes to deliver proangiogenic microRNAs and reduce the microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus. Proceedings of the 44th New Zealand Society for the Study of Diabetes (NZSSD) Annual Scientific Meeting. Retrieved from https://www.ivvy.com.au/event/NZSSD2021
Chamorro-Jorganes, A., Sweaad, W. K., Katare, R., Besnier, M., Anwar, M., Beazley-Long, N., … Chandrasekera, D., … Emanueli, C. (2021). METTL3 regulates angiogenesis by modulating let-7e-5p and miRNA-18a-5p expression in endothelial cells. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, & Vascular Biology, 41, e325-e337. doi: 10.1161/atvbaha.121.316180
Purvis, N., Kumari, S., Chandrasekera, D., Bellae Papannarao, J., Gandhi, S., van Hout, I., Coffey, S., Bunton, R., Sugunesegran, R., Parry, D., Davis, P., Williams, M. J. A., Bahn, A., & Katare, R. (2021). Diabetes induces dysregulation of microRNAs associated with survival, proliferation and self-renewal in cardiac progenitor cells. Diabetologia, 64, 1422-1435. doi: 10.1007/s00125-021-05405-7