Photo of Dr. Rheem Medh.

Rheem D. Medh

Professor

Ph.D. University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston

email: rheem.medh@csun.edu
Phone: (818) 677-3338
Fax: (818) 677-2034
Office: Chaparral Hall 5422

Personal Website: http://www.csun.edu/~rm77305/

My primary interest is in understanding how cells die. There are multiple forms of cell death; the one I am most interested in is called "apoptosis" or "programmed cell death". It is a form of cellular suicide, where the dying cell activates within itself a series of well-orchestrated events including activation and repression of precise sets of genes, which modulate the execution. This basic process holds the key to normal body function, health and disease. Apoptosis has been shown to play a role in several physiological processes, including development, normal tissue turnover, immune cell selection, and reproduction. Excessive apoptosis, or a defect in the process has been implicated in diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimers, autoimmune disorders, and cancer. My long-term goal is to understand the early genetic triggers of apoptosis and to utilize this information to design therapeutic strategies to alleviate or overcome human diseases, particularly cancer and bone disease.

Currently, I am studying the molecular events associated with apoptosis of leukemic cells in response to therapeutic agents such as glucocorticoid hormones, immunosuppressants and anti-proliferative agents, in parallel models of glucocorticoid-sensitive and resistant human lymphoblastic cells. Using microarray technology, we have identified a set of genes that may modulate leukemic cell apoptosis. Each of these genes is being systematically studied for its role in lymphoid cell apoptosis. This work involves the use of modern cell and molecular biology techniques such as mammalian cell culture, DNA and RNA isolation, Southern and Northern blotting, DNA cloning, polymerase chain reaction, protein expression, Western blot analysis, etc. There are a number of potential projects for undergraduate and graduate students interested in this field of research. I encourage students to visit my office or email me to explore the possibility of pursuing a fulfilling research project in my laboratory.

Additional Academic History:

MS: 1984, University of Bombay, India

Representative Publications:

Hirakawa Y, Medh, R.D. and Metzenberg, S. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis by deconvolution of internal standard. BMC Molecular Biology 11:30. doi:10.1186/1471-2199-11-30, 2010.

Hirakawa, Y, Nary, L.J., and Medh, R.D. Glucocorticoid evoked upregulation of RCAN1-1 in human leukemic CEM cells susceptible to apoptosis, Journal of Molecular Signalin, 4:6 doi:10.1186/1750-2187-4-6, 2009.

Priceman, S. J., Kirzner, J. D., Nary, L. J., Morris, D., Shankar, D. B., Sakamoto, K. M., Medh, R. D.. Calcium-dependent upregulation of E4BP4 expression correlates with glucocorticoid-evoked apoptosis of human leukemic CEM cells Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 344: 491-499, 2006.

Knockout mouse models for bone studies (as part of the series: Genetically Modified Animals in Endocrinology) Endocrine Reviews, 24: 836-839, 2003 (Compiled by Medh, R.D.)

Medh, R. D., Webb, M. S., Miller, A. L., Johnson, B. H., Fofanov, Y., Li, T., Wood, T. G., Luxon, B. A. and Thompson, E. B.  Gene expression profile of human CEM lymphoid cells sensitive and resistant to glucocorticoid-evoked apoptosis.  Genomics, 81: 543-555, 2003.

Medh, R.D., Thompson E.B. and Thompson, A.E. Glucocorticoid-induced apoptosis. Encyclopedia of Hormones, Editors-in-Chief: Henry H.L. and Norman A.W., Academic Press, Volume 1: 165-170, 2003.

Medh, R. D. Southern blotting for the analysis of human disease.  Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, 2002.

Medh, R.D.  Microarray-Based Expression Profiling of Normal and Malignant Immune Cells (Review) Endocrine Reviews 23: 393-400, 2002.

Miller, A. L., Johnson, B.H., Medh, R. D.,Townsend, C. M., and Thompson, E. B. Glucocorticoids and polyamine inhibitors synergize to kill human leukemic CEM cells.  Neoplasia, 4: 68-81, 2002.

Medh, R. D., Wang, A., Zhou, F., and Thompson, E. B.  Constitutive expression of ectopic c-Myc delays glucocorticoid-evoked apoptosis of human leukemic CEM-C7 cells, Oncogene, 20: 4629-4639, 2001.