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Faculty Detail    
Name RAJEEV S. SAMANT
  
Campus Address WTI 320E
Phone  (205) 975-6262
E-mail  rajeevsamant@uabmc.edu
Other websites Research Gate
Google Scholar
UAB Scholars
     

Education
Graduate  Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay/India)    1998  Ph. D. 


Faculty Appointment(s)
Appointment Type Department Division Rank
Primary  Joint Pathology  Molecular & Cellular Pathology Professor
Secondary  Surgery - General Surgery  Surgery - Gen Surg Gastrointestinal Section Associate Professor
Center  Biomatrix Eng Regen Med (BERM) Ctr  Biomatrix Eng Regen Med (BERM) Ctr Professor
Center  Comprehensive Cancer Center  Comprehensive Cancer Center Professor
Center  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci Professor
Center  Nutrition Sciences Research  Nutrition Obesity Res Ctr (NORC) Professor

Graduate Biomedical Sciences Affiliations
Cancer Biology 
Cell, Molecular, & Developmental Biology 
Molecular and Cellular Pathology Program 
Pathobiology and Molecular Medicine 

Biographical Sketch 
Dr. Samant received his M.S. and Ph. D. degree in Biotechnology from the Indian Institute of Technology (Mumbai, India). He worked in the field of metastasis suppression in the laboratory of Dr. Danny R. Welch at Hershey, PA. He was a faculty at the Mitchell Cancer Institute, University of South Alabama (2004-2012) before joining UAB in 2012. He is a senior scientist at the UAB-O' Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Society Memberships
Organization Name Position Held Org Link
AACR-Minorities in Cancer Research (AACR-MICR)   Member   
AACR-Women in Cancer Research (AACR-WICR)   Member   
American Association of Cancer Research (AACR)   Member  http://www.aacr.org/ 
Metastasis Research Society (MRS)  Member  http://metastasis-research.org/ 
 



Research/Clinical Interest
Title
Tumor progression and metastasis of cancer.
Description
Multiple factors contribute to dysregulated cellular signaling as cancer progresses. At the Samant laboratory, our investigations are focused on identification of unique transcriptional and translational changes that affect tumor progression. We are assessing aberrant modulation of developmental signaling to identify novel therapeutic targets which will allow us to intervene in the process of tumor progression and metastasis. In addition to the transcriptional and translational changes, intracellular location and stability of key proteins is altered as cancer progresses. Our research also encompasses intense investigations on the role of ribosome biogenesis and functional organization of intranucleolar macro-molecular complexes in the context of malignant progression.

Selected Publications 
Publication PUBMEDID
Metge BJ, Kammerud SC, Pruitt HC, Shevde LA, Samant RS. Hypoxia re-programs 2'-O-Me modifications on ribosomal RNA. iScience. 2020;24(1):102010.   33490918  
Weeks SE, Metge BJ, Samant RS. (2019) The nucleolus: a central response hub for the stressors that drive cancer progression. Cell Mol Life Sci. 76(22):4511-4524   31338556 
Pruitt, H.C., Metge, B.J., Weeks, S.E., Chen, D., Wei, S., Kesterson, R.A., Shevde, L.A., Samant, R.S. (2018). Conditional knockout of N-Myc and STAT Interactor Disrupts Normal Mammary Development and Enhances Metastatic Ability of Mammary Tumors. Oncogene 37(12):1610-1623.  29326438 
Pruitt HC, Devine DJ, Samant RS. Roles of N-Myc and STAT Interactor in Cancer: From Initiation to Dissemination. Int J Cancer. 2016 doi: 10.1002/ijc.30043.  26874464  
Metge BJ, Mitra A, Chen D, Shevde LA, Samant RS. N-Myc and STAT Interactor regulates autophagy and chemosensitivity in breast cancer cells. Sci Rep. 2015 Jul 6;5:11995  26146406 
Rostas JW 3rd, Pruitt HC, Metge BJ, Mitra A, Bailey SK, Bae S, Singh KP, Devine DJ, Dyess DL, Richards WO, Tucker JA, Shevde LA, Samant RS. microRNA-29 negatively regulates EMT regulator N-myc interactor in breast cancer. Mol Cancer. 2014 Aug 29;13(1):200.  25174825 
Devine DJ, Rostas JW, Metge BJ, Das S, Mulekar MS, Tucker JA, Grizzle WE, Buchsbaum DJ, Shevde LA, Samant RS. Loss of N-Myc interactor promotes epithelial–mesenchymal transition by activation of TGF-β/SMAD signaling. Oncogene. 2013 Jun 17. doi: 10.1038/onc.2013.215  23770854 
Das S, Samant RS, Shevde LA.Nonclassical activation of Hedgehog signaling enhances multidrug resistance and makes cancer cells refractory to Smoothened-targeting Hedgehog inhibition.J Biol Chem. 2013 Apr 26;288(17):11824-33.   23508962 
Mitra A, Rostas JW, Dyess DL, Shevde LA, Samant RS. Micro-RNA-632 downregulates DNAJB6 in breast cancer.Lab Invest. 2012  22710984 
Andrews JF, Sykora LJ, Barik Letostak T, Menezes ME, Mitra A, Barik S, Shevde LA, Samant RS. Cellular stress stimulates nuclear localization signal (NLS) independent nuclear transport of MRJ.Exp Cell Res. 2012 Jun 10;318(10):1086-93.  22504047 
Menezes ME, Mitra A, Shevde LA, Samant RS.DNAJB6 governs a novel regulatory loop determining Wnt/beta-catenin signalling activity.Biochem J. 2012 Jun 15;444(3):573-80.  22455953 
Mitra A, Menezes ME, Pannell LK, Mulekar MS, Honkanen RE, Shevde LA, Samant RS.DNAJB6 chaperones PP2A mediated dephosphorylation of GSK3beta to downregulate beta-catenin transcription target, osteopontin.Oncogene. 2012   22266849 
Harris LG, Pannell LK, Singh S, Samant RS, Shevde LA.Increased vascularity and spontaneous metastasis of breast cancer by hedgehog signaling mediated upregulation of cyr61.Oncogene. 2011  22056874 
Morrow KA, Das S, Metge BJ, Ye K, Mulekar MS, Tucker JA, Samant RS, Shevde LA.Loss of tumor suppressor Merlin in advanced breast cancer is due to post-translational regulation.J Biol Chem. 2011 Nov 18;286(46):40376-85.   21965655 
Menezes ME, Devine DJ, Shevde LA, Samant RS Dickkopf1: a tumor suppressor or metastasis promoter? Int J Cancer. 2012 Apr 1;130(7):1477-83.  21953410 
Harris LG, Samant RS, Shevde LA.Hedgehog signaling: networking to nurture a promalignant tumor microenvironment.Mol Cancer Res. 2011 Sep;9(9):1165-74.  21775419 
Das S, Samant RS, Shevde LA.Hedgehog signaling induced by breast cancer cells promotes osteoclastogenesis and osteolysis.J Biol Chem. 2011 Mar 18;286(11):9612-22.  21169638 
Mitra A, Menezes ME, Shevde LA, Samant RS.DNAJB6 induces degradation of beta-catenin and causes partial reversal of mesenchymal phenotype.J Biol Chem. 2010 Aug 6;285(32):24686-94.  20522561 
Das S, Harris LG, Metge BJ, Liu S, Riker AI, Samant RS, Shevde LA.The hedgehog pathway transcription factor GLI1 promotes malignant behavior of cancer cells by up-regulating osteopontin.J Biol Chem. 2009 Aug 21;284(34):22888-97.   19556240 
Shevde LA, Metge BJ, Mitra A, Xi Y, Ju J, King JA, Samant RS Spheroid-forming subpopulation of breast cancer cells demonstrates vasculogenic mimicry via hsa-miR-299-5p regulated de novo expression of osteopontin.J Cell Mol Med. 2010 Jun;14(6B):1693-706.  19538464 
Fillmore RA, Mitra A, Xi Y, Ju J, Scammell J, Shevde LA, Samant RS. Nmi (N-Myc interactor) inhibits Wnt/beta-catenin signaling and retards tumor growth.Int J Cancer. 2009 Aug 1;125(3):556-64.  19358268 
Mitra A, Shevde LA, Samant RS. Multi-faceted role of HSP40 in cancer.Clin Exp Metastasis. 2009;26(6):559-67.  19340594 
Mitra A, Fillmore RA, Metge BJ, Rajesh M, Xi Y, King J, Ju J, Pannell L, Shevde LA, Samant RS. Large isoform of MRJ (DNAJB6) reduces malignant activity of breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res. 2008;10(2):R22  18328103 
 

Keywords
Ribosome Biogenesis, Epithelial-Mesenchymal-Transition, mylti-protein complexes, transcription regulation, nucleolus, protein stability, chaperones, Hest shock proteins