S Thameem Dheen
Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy
Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
Tel: 6516 3217/3200
Email: antstd@nus.edu.sg

What are your present research interests or distinctive viewpoint to your research?

My research interests primarily revolve around two distinct areas: Understanding the molecular and epigenetic mechanisms that contribute to 1) neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring of diabetic pregnancy and 2) microglia-mediated neuroinflammation in neuropathology and cognitive impairment in healthy ageing brain.

What do you see as your future research directions?

We aim:
1. to determine glucose sensitive molecular targets (genes and epigenetic factors including miRNAs) that can potentially be risk factors for neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring of diabetic pregnancy.
2. to establish a comprehensive database of the molecular, morphological and functional features of dystrophic microglia associated with aging and pathological brains. This would form the basis for identification of novel biomarkers associated with healthy aging microglia as well as microglia found in a pathological state.

Does your laboratory have a particularly strong research expertise?

We have the expertise in microglia biology, cerebral organoids culture, molecular and epigenomic analysis, deep tissue imaging and characterizing animal models (diabetic pregnancy and stroke).

Selected Recent Publications

1.Kandilya D; Shyamasundar S; Singh DK; Banik A; Hande MP; Stünkel W; Chong YS; Dheen ST (2020). High glucose alters the DNA methylation pattern of neurodevelopment associated genes in human neural progenitor cells in vitro. Scientific Reports Vol. 10 (1):15676.
2. Gupta N; Jadhav S; Tan K-L; Saw G; Mallilankaraman KB; Dheen ST (2020). miR-142-3p Regulates BDNF Expression in Activated Rodent Microglia Through Its Target CAMK2A. Frontiers In Cellular Neuroscience Vol. 14:132.
3. Saw G; Krishna K; Gupta N; Soong TW; Mallilankaraman K; Sajikumar S; Dheen ST (2019). Epigenetic regulation of microglial phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway involved in long-term potentiation and synaptic plasticity in rats. GLIA Vol. 68 (3), pp. 656 – 669.
4. Subhramanyam CS; Wang C; Hu Q; Dheen ST (2019). Microglia-mediated neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative diseases. Seminars In Cell & Developmental Biology Vol. 94, pp. 112 – 120.
5. Kandilya D; Maskomani S; Shyamasundar S; Tambyah PA; Yng CS; Lee RCH; Hande MP; Mallilankaraman K; Chu JTH; Dheen ST (2019). Zika virus alters DNA methylation status of genes involved in Hippo signaling pathway in human neural progenitor cells. Epigenomics Vol. 11 (10), pp. 1143 – 1162.
6. Karthikeyan A; Gupta N; Tang C; Mallilankaraman K; Silambarasan M; Shi M; Lu L; Ang BT; Ling EA; Dheen ST (2018). Microglial SMAD4 regulated by microRNA-146a promotes migration of microglia which support tumor progression in a glioma environment. Oncotarget Vol. 9 (38) pp. 24950 – 24969.
7. Patnala R; Arumugam T; Gupta N; Dheen ST (2017). HDAC Inhibitor Sodium Butyrate-Mediated Epigenetic Regulation Enhances Neuroprotective Function of Microglia During Ischemic Stroke. Molecular Neurobiology Vol. 54 (8), pp. 6391 – 6411.