Funding and Publications

Solitary chemosensory cell development and function
Project Description: The purpose of this grant is to apply gene editing approaches to study solitary chemosensory cells in primary human sinonasal epithelial differentiated cell culture. We will define SCC development from pluripotent progenitor cells, and test their capacity to differentiate further into specialized cells in the rare epithelial cell lineage, such as ionocytes and neuroendocrine cells. In addition we will test responses to disease-associated putative ligands identified in the PIs K23 grant period through study of murine SCCs and human bitter taste receptors in a heterologous expression system.

Scalable 3D molecular imaging and data analysis for cell census generation
Project Description: In this proposal, we propose to develop and apply new scalable 3D imaging and analysis methods to determine the location of glomeruli targeted by olfactory sensory neurons expressing specific olfactory receptors, the olfactory bulb connectome. This method will be scalable to other brain regions allowing systematic development of a human cell atlas key to understanding human brain function in health and disease.

Psaltis AJ, Mackenzie BW, Cope EK, Ramakrishnan VR. Unravelling the role of the microbiome in chronic rhinosinusitis. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2022 Mar 14:S0091-6749(22)00291-3. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2022.02.022. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35300985.

Frank DN, Qiu Y, Cao Y, Zhang S, Lu L, Kofonow JM, Robertson CE, Liu Y, Wang H, Levens CL, Kuhn KA, Song J, Ramakrishnan VR, Lu SL. A dysbiotic microbiome promotes head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Oncogene. 2022 Feb;41(9):1269-1280. doi: 10.1038/s41388-021-02137-1. Epub 2022 Jan 28. PMID: 35087236; PMCID: PMC8882136.

Diaz del Valle, Fernando; Zakrajsek, Jonathan; Min, Sung-Joon; Koff, Patricia; Bell, Harold; Kincaid, Keegan; Frank, Daniel; Ramakrishnan, Vijay; Ghosh, Moumita; Vandivier, Richard. Impact of Airline Secondhand Tobacco Smoke Exposure on Respiratory Health and Lung Function Decades after Exposure Cessation. Accepted for publication in CHEST. Published:March 06, 2022 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2022.02.049

Nakayama T, Lee IT, Le W, Tsunemi Y, Borchard NA, Zarabanda D, Dholakia SS, Gall PA, Yang A, Kim D, Akutsu M, Kashiwagi T, Patel ZM, Hwang PH, Frank DN, Haruna SI, Ramakrishnan VR, Nolan GP, Jiang S, Nayak JV. Inflammatory molecular endotypes of nasal polyps derived from Caucasian and Japanese populations. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2021 Dec 1:S0091-6749(21)01821-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2021.11.017. Epub ahead of print.

Baxter BD, Larson ED, Merle L, Feinstein P, Polese AG, Bubak AN, Niemeyer CS, Hassell J Jr, Shepherd D, Ramakrishnan VR, Nagel MA, Restrepo D. Transcriptional profiling reveals potential involvement of microvillous TRPM5-expressing cells in viral infection of the olfactory epithelium. BMC Genomics. 2021 Mar 30;22(1):224. doi: 10.1186/s12864-021-07528-y.

Soler ZM, Schlosser RJ, Bodner TE, Alt JA, Ramakrishnan VR, Mattos JL, Mulligan JK, Mace JC, Smith TL. Endotyping Chronic Rhinosinusitis Based on Olfactory Cleft Mucus Biomarkers. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2021 Feb 4:S0091-6749(21)00166-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2021.01.021. Epub ahead of print.

Vickery TW, Armstrong BA, Kofonow JM, Robertson CE, Kroehl ME, Reisdorph NA, Ramakrishnan VR*, Frank DN*. *co-corresponding authors. Altered tissue specialized pro-resolving mediators in chronic rhinosinusitis. Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes, and Essential Fatty Acids.

Sokoya M, Ramakrishnan VR, Frank DN, Rakhola J, Getz A, Kingdom TT, Kofonow JM, Nguyen Q, Janoff EN. Expression of Immunoglobulin D is Increased in Chronic Rhinosinusitis. Annals Allergy Asthma 2017;119(4):317-323.

Gitomer SA, Fountain CR, Kingdom TT, Getz AE, Sillau SH, Katial RK, Ramakrishnan VR. Clinical examination of tissue eosinophlia in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis and nasal polyposis. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2016;155(1):173-8.

Ramakrishnan VR, Hauser LJ, Feazel LM, Ir D, Robertson CE, Frank DN. Sinus microbiota varies among chronic rhinosinusitis phenotypes and predicts surgical outcome. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2015; 136(2):334-42. 

Hauser LJ, Feazel LM, Ir D, Fang R, Wagner BD, Robertson CE, Frank DN, Ramakrishnan VR. Sinus culture poorly predicts resident microbiota. Int Forum 
Allergy Rhinol 2015;5(1):3-9. 

Ramakrishnan VR, Feazel LM, Gitomer SA, Ir D, Robertson CE, Frank DN. The microbiome of the middle meatus in healthy adults. PLoS ONE 2013; 8(12): e85507. 

Barham HP, Cooper SE, Tizzano M, Kingdom TT, Finger TE, Kinnamon SC, Ramakrishnan VR. Solitary chemosensory cells and bitter taste receptor signaling in human sinonasal mucosa. Int Forum Allergy Rhinology 2013; 3(6):450-7.

Feazel L, Robertson C, Ramakrishnan VR, Frank DN. Staphylococcus aureus and microbiome diversity in chronic rhinosinusitis. Laryngoscope 2011; 122(2):467-72.

Mudd PA, Katial RK, Alam R, Hohensee S, Ramakrishnan V, Kingdom TT. Variations in expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase in nasal mucosa of aspirin-sensitive versus aspirin-tolerant patients with nasal polyposis. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 2011;107(4):353-9.