Abhinav K. Jain, Ph.D.
Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, Division of Basic Sciences
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Research Interests
My research interest is focused on understanding the factors (proteins or non-coding RNAs) that control epigenetic regulation of gene expression during development and disease. The highly intricate epigenetic machinery that interfaces with chromatin to control precise gene expression patterns is often deregulated during disease progression. A more detailed understanding of this epigenetic machinery is necessary to clearly understand the mechanism of specific transcription factor (such as p53) activity during changing cellular states. We investigated p53’s activity during the earliest stages of development by using human Embryonic Stem Cell (hESC) differentiation as a model system and demonstrated that p53 plays significant roles in altering the cell cycle and epigenetic bivalency to promote differentiation of hESCs. Recently, we identified several p53-regulated long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) that control the stem cell state, including an ESC-specific lncRNA such as LncPRESS1 that safeguards pluripotency by maintaining ES-specific histone acetylation marks. Our long term goals are: a) investigating the roles of lncRNAs as effectors of p53’s activity during earliest stages of human stem cell differentiation, b) extending these studies to determine the relevance and mechanism of lncRNA functions to diseases, such as cancer, and c) delineating the functions of readers of histone post-translational modifications that regulate chromatin dynamics in cancer with ultimate aim of developing targeted therapeutics.
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2007 | Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA, PHD, Pharmacology |
| 2000 | BITS-Pilani, Pilani, IND, ME, Biotechnology |
| 1999 | Institute of Pharmacy, Nagpur University, Nagpur, IND, BPHARM, Pharmacy |
Postgraduate Training
| 2007-2012 | Postdoctoral Fellow, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX |
Experience & Service
Academic Appointments
Associate Member, The University of Texas MD Anderson UT Health Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS), Houston, TX, 2018 - Present
Member, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics program, Houston, TX, 2018 - Present
Member, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Graduate Program in Genetics & Epigenetics, Houston, TX, 2018 - Present
Instructor, Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, Division of Basic Science Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2014 - 2017
Instructor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Division of Basic Science Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2012 - 2014
Administrative Appointments/Responsibilities
Co-Director, Department of Epigenomics Profiling Core, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2017 - Present
Institutional Committee Activities
EMC Department Representative, The Faculty Senate, 2022 - Present
Member, Research Enablement, Activities and Conduct Team (REACT), 2021 - Present
Reviewer, MDACC Academic Review Committee, 2021 - 2021
Member, The Human Embryonic & Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Research Oversight (HEIPSCRO), 2020 - Present
Member, MDACC Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN) Project, 2019 - Present
Member (Reviewer), GSBS Admissions Genetics & Epigenetics Area Reviewer, 2019 - Present
Member, Genetics & Epigenetics Graduate Program's Community Committee, 2018 - 2020
Faculty co-ordinator, Genetics & Epigenetics Graduate Program's Rotation Talks, 2018 - 2019
Consultantships
Consultant, Cancer Guide Research Foundation, Inc, Marietta, GA, 2021 - Present
Honors & Awards
| 2015 | Poster Award, Genes and Development Program Retreat, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2012 | Poster Award, Genes and Development Program Retreat, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2012 | The Harold C. and Mary L. Daily Endowment Fund Fellowship Award, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2012 | AMGEN Abstract Award, Trainee Research Day, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2012 | 2012 RNA Center Award of Excellence in RNAi and ncRNA Research, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2011 | Poster Award, Center for Cancer Epigenetics Retreat, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2011 | Poster Award, Genes and Development Program Retreat, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2010 | Poster Award, Center for Cancer Epigenetics Retreat, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2010 | AMGEN Poster Award, Trainee Research Day, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2008 | Odyssey Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2006 | Student Travel Fellowship Award, Gordon Research Conference |
| 2006 | Kleberg Jr. Student Speaker Award, Baylor College of Medicine |
| 2001 | Prof S S Parmar Excellence in Research, Indian Academy of Neurosciences |
| 2001 | Biotechnology Industrial Fellowship Award, Biotech Consortium of India Ltd |
Professional Memberships
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Piya S, Yang Y, Bhattacharya S, Sharma P, Ma H, Mu H, He H, Ruvolo V, Baran N, Davis RE, Jain AK, Konopleava M, Kantarjian H, Andreeff M, You MJ, Borthakur G. Targeting the NOTCH1-MYC-CD44 axis in leukemia-initiating cells in T-ALL. Leukemia 36(5):1261-1273, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35173274.
- Van HT, Harkins PR, Patel A, Jain AK, Lu Y, Bedford MT, Santos MA. Methyl-lysine readers PHF20 and PHF20L1 define two distinct gene expression-regulating NSL complexes. J Biol Chem 298(3):101588, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35033534.
- Zhu M, Peng R, Liang X, Lan Z, Tang M, Hou P, Song JH, Mak CSL, Park J, Zheng SE, Huang A, Ma X, Chen R, Chang Q, Logothetis CJ, Jain AK, Lin SH, Katayama H, Hanash S, Wang G. P4HA2-induced prolyl hydroxylation suppresses YAP1-mediated prostate cancer cell migration, invasion, and metastasis. Oncogene 40(41):6049-6056, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34471235.
- Shah VV, Duncan AD, Jiang S, Stratton SA, Allton KL, Yam C, Jain A, Krause PM, Lu Y, Cai S, Tu Y, Zhou X, Zhang X, Jiang Y, Carroll CL, Kang Z, Liu B, Shen J, Gagea M, Manu SM, Huo L, Gilcrease M, Powell RT, Guo L, Stephan C, Davies PJ, Parker-Thornburg J, Lozano G, Behringer RR, Piwnica-Worms H, Chang JT, Moulder SL, Barton MC. Mammary-specific expression of Trim24 establishes a mouse model of human metaplastic breast cancer. Nat Commun 12(1):5389, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34508101.
- Vantaku V, Putluri V, Bader DA, Maity S, Ma J, Arnold JM, Rajapakshe K, Donepudi SR, von Rundstedt FC, Devarakonda V, Dubrulle J, Karanam B, McGuire SE, Stossi F, Jain AK, Coarfa C, Cao Q, Sikora AG, Villanueva H, Kavuri SM, Lotan Y, Sreekumar A, Putluri N. Epigenetic loss of AOX1 expression via EZH2 leads to metabolic deregulations and promotes bladder cancer progression. Oncogene 39(40):6265-6285, 2020. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31383940.
- Jiyong Liang, Lulu Wang, Chao Wang, Jianfeng Shen, Bojin Su, Anantha L Marisetty, Dexing Fang, Cynthia Kassab, Kang Jin Jeong, Wei Zhao, Yiling Lu, Abhinav K Jain, Zhicheng Zhou, Han Liang, Shao-Cong Sun, Changming Lu, Zhi-Xiang Xu, Qinghua Yu, Shan Shao, XiaoHua Chen, Meng Gao, Francois X Claret, Zhiyong Ding, Jian Chen, Pingsheng Chen, Michelle C Barton, Guang Peng, Gordon B Mills, Amy B Heimberger. Verteporfin Inhibits PD-L1 through Autophagy and the STAT1-IRF1-TRIM28 Signaling Axis, Exerting Antitumor Efficacy. Cancer Immunol Res 8(7):952-965, 2020. PMID: 32265228.
- Tandon N, Goller K, Wang F, Soibam B, Gagea M, Jain AK, Schwarts RJ, Liu Y. Aberrant Expression of Embryonic Mesendoderm Factor MESP1 Promotes Tumorigenesis. EBioMedicine 50:55-66, 2019. PMID: 31761621.
- Bosnakovski D, Gearhart MD, Toso EA, Recht OO, Cucak A, Jain AK, Barton MC, Kyba M. p53-independent DUX4 pathology. Dis Model Mech 10(10), 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28754837.
- Li J, Xi Y, Li W, McCarth RL, Stratton S, Zou W, Li W, Dent SY, Jain AK and Barton MC. TRIM28 interacts with EZH2 and SWI/SNF to activate genes that promote mammosphere formation. Oncogene 36(21):2991-3001, 2017. PMID: 28068325.
- Abhinav K. Jain, Yuanxin Xi, Ryan McCarthy, Kendra Allton, Kadir C. Akdemir, Lalit R. Patel, Bruce Aronow, Chunru Lin, Wei Li, Liuqing Yang, Michelle C Barton. LncPRESS1 is a p53-regulated lncRNA that safeguards pluripotency by disrupting SIRT6 mediated de-acetylation of histone H3K56. Mol Cell 64(5):967-981, 2016. PMID: 27912097.
- Jain AK, Allton K, Duncan AD, Barton MC. TRIM24 is a p53-induced E3-ubiquitin ligase that undergoes ATM-mediated phosphorylation and autodegradation during DNA damage. Mol Cell Biol 34(14):2695-709, 2014. PMID: 24820418.
- Akdemir KC, Jain AK, Allton K, Aronow B, Xu X, Cooney AJ, Li W, Barton MC. Genome-wide profiling reveals stimulus-specific functions of p53 during differentiation and DNA damage of human embryonic stem cells. Nucleic Acids Res 42(1):205-23, 2014. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24078252.
- Jain AK, Allton K, Iacovino M, Mahen E, Milczarek RJ, Zwaka TP, Kyba M, Barton MC. p53 regulates cell cycle and microRNAs to promote differentiation of human embryonic stem cells. PLoS Biol 10(2):e1001268, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22389628.
- Minard ME, Jain AK, Barton MC. Analysis of epigenetic alterations to chromatin during development. Genesis 47(8):559-72, 2009. PMID: 19603511.
- Allton K, Jain AK, Herz HM, Tsai WW, Jung SY, Qin J, Bergmann A, Johnson RL, Barton MC. Trim24 targets endogenous p53 for degradation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 106(28):11612-6, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19556538.
- Lee OH, Jain AK, Papusha V, Jaiswal AK.. An auto-regulatory loop between stress sensors INrf2 and Nrf2 controls their cellular abundance. J Biol Chem 282(50):36412-20, 2007.
- Jain AK, Jaiswal AK. GSK-3beta acts upstream of Fyn kinase in regulation of nuclear export and degradation of NF-E2 related factor 2. J Biol Chem 282(22):16502-10, 2007. e-Pub 2007. PMID: 17403689.
- Ahn KS, Sethi G, Jain AK, Jaiswal AK, Aggarwal BB. Genetic deletion of NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 abrogates activation of nuclear factor-kappaB, IkappaBalpha kinase, c-Jun N-terminal kinase, Akt, p38, and p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinases and potentiates apoptosis. J Biol Chem 281(29):19798-808, 2006. e-Pub 2006. PMID: 16682409.
- Dhakshinamoorthy S, Jain AK, Bloom DA, Jaiswal AK. Bach1 competes with Nrf2 leading to negative regulation of the antioxidant response element (ARE)-mediated NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 gene expression and induction in response to antioxidants. J Biol Chem 280(17):16891-900, 2005. e-Pub 2005. PMID: 15734732.
- Thirumagal Thiyagarajan, Suriyan Ponnusamy, Dong-Jin Hwang, Yali He, Sarah Asemota, Kirsten L. Young, Daniel L. Johnson, Vera Bocharova, Weidong Zhou, Abhinav K. Jain, Emanuel F. Petricoin, Lawrence M. Pfeffer, Duane D. Miller, and Ramesh Narayanan. Chemical Biology Approach Unravels Structural and Molecular Characteristics of the Disordered Region of Androgen Receptor (AR). Nat. Commun.
- Vidya Gopalakrishnan; Keri Callegari; Jyothishmathi Swaminathan; Xue Xiao; Shinji Maegawa; Kenian Chen; Lei Guo; Qinbo Zhou; Feng Wang; Tara H.W. Dobson; Amanda R. Haltom; Shavali Shaik; Ajay Sharma; Javiera Bravo-Alegria; Xiao-Nan Li; Arif Harmanci; Veena Rajaram; Cynthia Hawkins; Abhinav Jain; Lin Xu. Integrated epigenomics analyses links REST to RNA Polymerase II pausing. Mol. Cell.
Invited Articles
- Jain AK. Emerging roles of long non-coding RNAs in the p53 network. RNA Biol 17(11):1648-1656, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32432959.
- Jain AK, and Barton MC. p53: emerging roles in stem cells, development and beyond. Development 145(dev.158360), 2018. PMID: 29654218.
- Jain AK and Barton MC. Bromodomain histone readers and cancer. J Mol Biol 429(13), 2016. PMID: 27890782.
- Jain AK, Barton MC. Outside the p53 RING: Transcription Regulation by Chromatin-Bound MDM2. Mol Cell 62(6):805-807, 2016. PMID: 27315554.
- Jain AK, Barton MC. Unmet expectations: miR-34 plays no role in p53-mediated tumor suppression in vivo. PLoS Genet 8(7):e1002859, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22870065.
- Jain AK, Barton MC. Making sense of ubiquitin ligases that regulate p53. Cancer Biol Ther 10(7):665-72, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20930521.
- Jain AK, Barton MC. Regulation of p53: TRIM24 enters the RING. Cell Cycle 8(22):3668-74, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19844164.
Grant & Contract Support
| Title: | To assess the functional significance of p53 regulated long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) that determine the human stem cell state |
| Funding Source: | MDACC Center for Stem Cell & Developmental Biology |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Characterization of p53 regulated lincRNA networks that establish the human stem cell state |
| Funding Source: | MDACC Center for RNA Interference and Non-Coding RNAs |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | A novel histone reader-lncRNA module in breast cancer |
| Funding Source: | IRG-MDACC |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | MD Anderson Epigenetics SPORE |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |
| Title: | A novel epigenetic reader-lncRNA module in breast cancer |
| Funding Source: | Department of Defense (DOD) |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | CUT&RUN, a revolutionary new genome-wide DNA-protein interaction profiling technique as a new service in EpiCore |
| Funding Source: | MDACC-CCSG Development Funds for New Technology Implementation |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | To setup a ChIP-Seq shared resource in MDACC |
| Funding Source: | MDACC Center of Cancer Epigenetics |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Role of IL-1 in Innate and Acquired Resistance to Immunotherapy in Melanoma |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |
| Title: | Androgen Receptor (AR) is a Druggable Tumor Suppressor in Hormone Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NIEHS |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |
| Title: | Epigenetic mechanisms in the CNS vessel development and maintenance |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NHLBI |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |
| Title: | Linking genome variation to transcriptional network dynamics in human B cells |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NHGRI |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| Title: | Discovery of Novel Selective Androgen Receptor Irreversible Covalent Antagonists (SARICA) for the Treatment of AR and AR-SV-Positive Triple-Negative Breast Cancer |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |
| Title: | Role of interleukin-1 in resistance to immunotherapy in melanoma |
| Funding Source: | NIH |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |