Muralidhar Hegde

Muralidhar Hegde, PhD

Professor of Neurosurgery, Academic Institute
Everett E. and Randee K. Bernal Centennial Chair for the Neurological Institute, Houston Methodist
Weill Cornell Medical College


Hegde Lab


Phone:
713.441.7456


mlhegde@houstonmethodist.org
Biography

Dr. Hegde earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Neurosciences from the University of Mysore, India in 2006. He performed his graduate research at the Max-Planck Institute of Biophysical Chemistry, Gottingen, Germany as a DST-DAAD visiting fellow, and at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India. He held an Assistant Professor appointment at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas, USA before becoming a member of the Houston Methodist Research Institute in 2013. As a member of the Research Institute cancer and neuroscience research programs, he directs a research program focusing on understanding the role of genome damage repair in cell death (neurodegenerative diseases) and cell proliferation (cancer) and its potential exploitation in therapeutics. Dr. Hegde has also been a member of grant review boards for the Alzheimer’s Association, USA, Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, French Scientific Grants (FMRM) and the Motor Neuron Disease Association, UK, in addition to NIH and DOD-CDMRP study sections. He is a Deputy Chief Editor for the Springer Journal Metabolic Brain Disease and Associate Editor for the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and serves on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Jacobs Journal of Radiation Oncology and Research, Journal Neuroscience Research and Therapeutics, the Chinese Journal of Biology, and a peer-reviewer for more than 30 international journals.

Dr. Hegde has published over 90 peer-reviewed publications including more than a dozen as senior author. He has also published five book chapters, edited a book on ALS and four journal special issue collections.  These articles have received nearly 3000 citations. He has received several awards including gold medals in Masters, New Investigator awards from the Alzheimer’s Association, the Environmental Mutagenesis Society, Researcher of the Month (May 2011) at UTMB and prestigious Gopal Krishna Memorial Young Scientist award from ASIOA. He has recently been awarded the Career Cornerstone award from Houston Methodist for outstanding contribution to translational research.

Description of Research

Dr. Hegde’s research program focuses on delineating the molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases with a primary emphasis on genome damage and their repair inhibitions/deficiencies in neurons. His laboratory is interested in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and Stroke. He showed that DNA repair inhibitions/deficiencies play a key role in the etiology of neurodegenerative diseases. He demonstrated that transition metals, iron and copper, act as a ‘double whammy’ by both inducing DNA damage and by inhibiting their repair via direct binding and oxidation of NEIL enzymes involved in oxidized DNA base repair. These studies were funded by American Parkinson’s Disease Association. His current studies focus on characterizing the role of ALS-linked RNA binding protein TDP-43 in DNA double-strand break repair and testing the hypothesis that TDP-43’s nuclear clearance and aggregation in ALS (and other neurodegenerative diseases) cause deficient DNA double-strand repair and contributes significantly to cell death. In another project funded by Alzheimer’s Association’s New Investigator grant, he is delineating the mechanism of genotoxicity of amyloid proteins and exploring its prevention by natural compounds. In collaboration with Dr. Sankar Mitra, he is also exploring the potential of genome repair inhibitions in cancer therapeutics. Dr. Hegde’s research program is supported by NIH/NINDS R01, Muscular Dystrophy Association, ALS Association, Alzheimer’s Association and Melo Foundation.

Areas Of Expertise

Genome damage response DNA repair Neurodegenerative diseases Alzheimer’s disease Parkinson’s disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS Stroke
Education & Training

MS, Karnataka University
PhD, University of Mysore, Karnataka
BS, Karnataka University
Postdoctoral Associate, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
Publications

TDP43 interacts with MLH1 and MSH6 proteins in a DNA damage-inducible manner
Provasek, VE, Kodavati, M, Kim, B, Mitra, J & Hegde, ML 2024, , Molecular Brain, vol. 17, no. 1, 32. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13041-024-01108-3

Regulation of DNA damage response by RNA/DNA-binding proteins: Implications for neurological disorders and aging
Kodavati, M, Maloji Rao, VH, Provasek, VE & Hegde, ML 2024, , Ageing Research Reviews, vol. 100, 102413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2024.102413

Hemin-Induced Transient Senescence Via DNA Damage Response: A Neuroprotective Mechanism Against Ferroptosis in Intracerebral Hemorrhage
Maloji Rao, VH, Vasquez, V, Kodavati, M, Mitra, J, Provasek, V, Voh, A, Liopo, A, Derry, PJ, Mikheve, A, Rostomily, RC, Horner, PJ, Tour, JM, Britz, GW, Kent, TA & Hegde, M 2024, , Research square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4686841/v1

RNA/DNA Binding Protein TDP43 Regulates DNA Mismatch Repair Genes with Implications for Genome Stability
Provasek, VE, Bacolla, A, Rangaswamy, S, Mitra, J, Kodavati, M, Yusuf, IO, Malojirao, VH, Vasquez, V, Britz, GW, Li, G-M, Xu, Z, Mitra, S, Garruto, RM, Tainer, JA & Hegde, ML 2024, , bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.16.594552

FUS unveiled in mitochondrial DNA repair and targeted ligase-1 expression rescues repair-defects in FUS-linked motor neuron disease
Kodavati, M, Wang, H, Guo, W, Mitra, J, Hegde, PM, Provasek, V, Rao, VHM, Vedula, I, Zhang, A, Mitra, S, Tomkinson, AE, Hamilton, DJ, Van Den Bosch, L & Hegde, ML 2024, , Nature Communications, vol. 15, no. 1, 2156. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45978-6

Erratum: Correction: The Role of the Mammalian DNA End-processing Enzyme Polynucleotide Kinase 3'-Phosphatase in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3 Pathogenesis (PLoS genetics (2015) 11 1 (e1004749))
Chatterjee, A, Saha, S, Chakraborty, A, Silva-Fernandes, A, Mandal, SM, Neves-Carvalho, A, Liu, Y, Pandita, RK, Hegde, M, Hegde, PM, Boldogh, I, Ashizawa, T, Koeppen, AH, Pandita, TK, Maciel, P, Sarkar, PS & Hazra, TK 2024, , PLoS Genetics, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. e1011124. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1011124

lncRNA Sequencing Reveals Neurodegeneration-Associated FUS Mutations Alter Transcriptional Landscape of iPS Cells That Persists in Motor Neurons
Provasek, VE, Kodavati, M, Guo, W, Wang, H, Boldogh, I, Van Den Bosch, L, Britz, G & Hegde, ML 2023, , Cells, vol. 12, no. 20, 2461. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12202461

Human DNA polymerase ? promotes RNA-templated error-free repair of DNA double-strand breaks
Chakraborty, A, Tapryal, N, Islam, A, Sarker, AH, Manohar, K, Mitra, J, Hegde, ML & Hazra, T 2023, , Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 299, no. 3, 102991. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2023.102991

Introduction to The Special Issue: Novel Molecular Pathways and Therapeutic Challenges in Neurodegenerative Diseases
Kosagisharaf, JR & Hegde, ML 2023, , Journal of Alzheimers Disease, vol. 94, no. s1, pp. S3-S7. https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-230622

Editorial: The self-renewal and reprogramming of cancer stem cells and their crosstalk with the immune microenvironment
Li, C, Rao, JK, Emani, LS, Kosagisharaf, RJ & Hegde, ML 2022, , Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, vol. 10, 1024761, pp. 1024761. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2022.1024761

Mitochondrial DNA damage-repair defects in mutant FUS-linked motor neuron diseases and its mitigation via targeted expression of DNA Ligase I
Wang, H, Kodavati, M, Guo, W, Mitra, J, Zhang, A, Mitra, S, Tomkinson, AE, Hamilton, DJ, Van Den Bosch, L & Hegde, M 2022, , 7th US-EU Conference on Endogenous DNA Damage and Repair, Newyork, United States, 11/6/22 - 11/9/22.

SARS-CoV-2 and the central nervous system: Emerging insights into hemorrhage-associated neurological consequences and therapeutic considerations
Mitra, J, Kodavati, M, Provasek, VE, Rao, KS, Mitra, S, Hamilton, DJ, Horner, PJ, Vahidy, FS, Britz, GW, Kent, TA & Hegde, ML 2022, , Ageing Research Reviews, vol. 80, 101687. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2022.101687

Pouteria sapota (Red Mamey Fruit): Chemistry and Biological Activity of Carotenoids
Lakey-Beitia, J, Vasquez, V, Mojica-Flores, R, Fuentes C. AL, Murillo, E, Hegde, ML & Rao, KS 2022, , Combinatorial Chemistry and High Throughput Screening, vol. 25, no. 7, pp. 1134-1147. https://doi.org/10.2174/1386207324666210301093711

DNA Double-Strand Breaks as Pathogenic Lesions in Neurological Disorders
Provasek, VE, Mitra, J, Malojirao, VH & Hegde, ML 2022, , International journal of molecular sciences, vol. 23, no. 9, 4653. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23094653

CRISPR/Cas9 screen in human iPSC-derived cortical neurons identifies NEK6 as a novel disease modifier of C9orf72 poly(PR) toxicity
Guo, W, Wang, H, Kumar Tharkeshwar, A, Couthouis, J, Braems, E, Masrori, P, Van Schoor, E, Fan, Y, Ahuja, K, Moisse, M, Jacquemyn, M, Furtado Madeiro da Costa, R, Gajjar, M, Balusu, S, Tricot, T, Fumagalli, L, Hersmus, N, Janky, R, Impens, F, Vanden Berghe, P, Ho, R, Thal, DR, Vandenberghe, R, Hegde, ML, Chandran, S, De Strooper, B, Daelemans, D, Van Damme, P, Van Den Bosch, L & Verfaillie, C 2023, , Alzheimers and Dementia, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 1245-1259. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.12760

DNA Damage and Repair Deficiency in ALS/FTD-Associated Neurodegeneration: From Molecular Mechanisms to Therapeutic Implication
Wang, H, Kodavati, M, Britz, GW & Hegde, ML 2021, , Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, vol. 14, 784361, pp. 784361. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.2021.784361

A contemporary review of therapeutic and regenerative management of intracerebral hemorrhage
Sadaf, H, Desai, VR, Misra, V, Golanov, E, Hegde, ML, Villapol, S, Karmonik, C, Regnier-Golanov, A, Sayenko, D, Horner, PJ, Krencik, R, Weng, YL, Vahidy, FS & Britz, GW 2021, , Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1002/acn3.51443

Heritable pattern of oxidized DNA base repair coincides with pre-targeting of repair complexes to open chromatin
Bacolla, A, Sengupta, S, Ye, Z, Yang, C, Mitra, J, De-Paula, RB, Hegde, ML, Ahmed, Z, Mort, M, Cooper, DN, Mitra, S & Tainer, JA 2021, , Nucleic Acids Research, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 221-243. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkaa1120

Heritable pattern of oxidized DNA base repair coincides with pre-targeting of repair complexes to open chromatin
Bacolla, A, Sengupta, S, Ye, Z, Yang, C, Mitra, J, De-Paula, RB, Hegde, ML, Ahmed, Z, Mort, M, Cooper, DN, Mitra, S & Tainer, JA 2021, , Nucleic Acids Research, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 221-243. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkaa1120

Biopsychosocial intersections of social/affective touch and psychiatry: Implications of ‘touch hunger’ during COVID-19
Banerjee, D, Vasquez, V, Pecchio, M, Hegde, ML, Ks Jagannatha, R & Rao, TSS 2021, , International Journal of Social Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764021997485