Nidhi Rohatgi, PhD

Division

• Anatomic & Molecular Pathology

Education

• BS: Delhi University, New Delhi, India
• Masters, Biotechnology: Hamdard University, New Delhi, India
• PhD, Biochemistry: All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

Recognition

• ASBMR Young Investigator Travel Award for the abstract presentation “ASXL2 Regulates Skeletal, Glucose and Lipid Homeostasis,” American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, Houston, Texas, 2014
• Travel Award for poster presentation “ASXL1 epigenetically regulates osteoclast differentiation” at Musculoskeletal Research Symposium, Washington University-School of Medicine, 2016
• Best Investigator Award, for oral presentation “ASXL1 epigenetically suppresses osteoclast differentiation”. American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, Atlanta, Georgia, 2016
• Travel Award for poster presentation “ASXl1 epigenetically regulates osteoclast differentiation” American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, Denver, Colorado, 2017

Research Interests

Skeletal homeostasis is maintained by molecular coupling of processes that regulate bone formation to that of bone resorption. The process of bone resorption is accomplished by myeloid lineage cells-osteoclasts, while osteoblasts synthesize new bone. There is an abundance of information regarding genetic modulation of osteoclast and osteoblast formation and function, however, the role of epigenetic regulators in this process is enigmatic. My research is focused on understanding how chromatin modifications by polycomb repressive complex (PRC2) controls osteoclast epigenome and if these alterations regulate bone formation or bone resorption invivo.

Selected Publications

Liu H, Remedi MS, Pappan KL, Kwon G, Rohatgi N, Marshall CA, McDaniel ML. Glycogen synthase kinase-3 and mammalian target of rapamycin pathways contribute to DNA synthesis, cell cycle progression, and proliferation in human islets. Diabetes. 2009 Mar;58(3):663-72. PubMed PMID: 19073772; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2646065

Rohatgi N, Remedi MS, Kwon G, Pappan KL, Marshall CA, McDaniel ML. Therapeutic Strategies to Increase Human β-Cell Growth and Proliferation by Regulating mTOR and GSK-3/β-Catenin Pathways. Open Endocrinol J. 2010;4. PubMed PMID: 24339841; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3856862

Vernier S, Chiu A, Schober J, Weber T, Nguyen P, Luer M, McPherson T, Wanda PE, Marshall CA, Rohatgi N, McDaniel ML, Greenberg AS, Kwon G. β-cell metabolic alterations under chronic nutrient overload in rat and human islets. Islets. 2012 Nov-Dec;4(6):379-92. PubMed PMID: 23247575; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3605166

Rohatgi N, Aly H, Marshall CA, McDonald WG, Kletzien RF, Colca JR, McDanielML. Novel insulin sensitizer modulates nutrient sensing pathways and maintains β-cell phenotype in human islets. PLoS One. 2013 May 1;8(5): e62012. PubMed PMID: 23650507; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3641131

Aly H, Rohatgi N, Marshall CA, Grossenheider TC, Miyoshi H, Stappenbeck TS, Matkovich SJ, McDaniel ML. A novel strategy to increase the proliferative potential of adult human β-cells while maintaining their differentiated phenotype. PLoS One. 2013 Jun 12;8(6):e66131. PubMed PMID: 23776620; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3680388

Fukunaga T, Zou W, Rohatgi N, Colca JR, Teitelbaum SL. An insulin-sensitizing thiazolidinedione, which minimally activates PPARγ, does not cause bone loss. J Bone Miner Res. 2015 Mar;30(3):481-8. PubMed PMID: 25257948; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4472363

Warren JT, Zou W, Decker CE, Rohatgi N, Nelson CA, Fremont DH, Teitelbaum SL. Correlating RANK Ligand/RANK Binding Kinetics with Osteoclast Formation and Function. J Cell Biochem. 2015 Nov;116(11):2476-83. PubMed PMID: 25864714; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4581524

Izawa T*, Rohatgi N*, Fukunaga T, Wang QT, Silva MJ, Gardner MJ, McDaniel ML, Abumrad NA, Semenkovich CF, Teitelbaum SL, Zou W. ASXL2 Regulates Glucose, Lipid, and Skeletal Homeostasis. Cell Rep. 2015 Jun 16;11(10):1625-37. PubMed PMID: 26051940; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4472564 *These authors contributed equally to this work

Zou W, Rohatgi N, Chen T, Schilling J, Yousef AA, Teitelbaum SL. PPARγ Regulates Pharmacological but not Physiological or Pathological Osteoclast Formation. Nat Med. 2016 Nov 8;22(11):1203-1205. PubMed PMID: 27824823; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5179330

Liu H, Javaheri A, Godar RJ, Murphy J, Ma X, Rohatgi N, Mahadevan J, Hyrc K, Saftig P, Marshall C, McDaniel ML, Remedi MS, Razani B, Urano F, Diwan A. Intermittent fasting preserves beta-cell mass in obesity-induced diabetes via the autophagy-lysosome pathway. Autophagy. 2017;13(11):1952-1968. PubMed PMID: 28853981; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5788488

Zhang Y, Rohatgi N, Veis DJ, Schilling J, Teitelbaum SL, Zou W. PGC1β Organizes the Osteoclast Cytoskeleton by Mitochondrial Biogenesis and Activation. J Bone Miner Res. 2018 Jun;33(6):1114-1125. PubMed PMID: 29521005; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6002881

Rohatgi N, Zou W, Collins PL, Brestoff JR, Chen TH, Abu-Amer Y, Teitelbaum SL. ASXL1 Impairs Osteoclast Formation by Epigenetic Regulation of NFATc1. Blood Adv. 2018 Oct 9; 2(19): 2467–2477. PMID: 30266822; PMCID: PMC6177649