Milan K. Bagchi

About

Milan K. Bagchi is the Deborah Paul Professor and Director of the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Illinois. He holds professorships in Molecular and Integrative Physiology as well as Biomedical and Translational Sciences. Dr. Bagchi's educational background includes a B.S. and M.S. from the University of Calcutta, India, a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska, and postdoctoral training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. His research focuses on steroid hormone signaling mechanisms in normal physiology and diseases, particularly the roles of estrogen and progesterone in regulating gene networks that control reproduction and early development. His laboratory aims to identify molecular pathways regulated by these steroid hormones during the growth and differentiation of hormone-responsive tissues, with a special emphasis on embryo implantation and fertility. The physiological effects of estrogen and progesterone are mediated through nuclear receptors that act as ligand-inducible transcription factors, and Dr. Bagchi's work characterizes these hormonal mechanisms at molecular and cellular levels. His research hypothesizes that defects in critical hormonal signaling pathways lead to improper uterine function during implantation, resulting in pregnancy loss and infertility. Using gene expression profiling combined with ChIP-sequencing analyses, his lab has uncovered novel steroid-regulated pathways that provide important insights into the…

Research topics

• Biology
• Endocrinology
• Genetics
• Cell biology
• Physiology
• Cancer research
• Internal medicine
• Medicine
• Chemistry
• Bioinformatics

Selected publications

• Extracellular vesicles secreted by human uterine stromal cells regulate decidualization, angiogenesis, and trophoblast differentiation

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2022 · 70 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  In humans, the uterus undergoes a dramatic transformation to form an endometrial stroma-derived secretory tissue, termed decidua, during early pregnancy. The decidua secretes various factors that act in an autocrine/paracrine manner to promote stromal differentiation, facilitate maternal angiogenesis, and influence trophoblast differentiation and development, which are critical for the formation of a functional placenta. Here, we investigated the mechanisms by which decidual cells communicate wi…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A hypoxia-induced Rab pathway regulates embryo implantation by controlled trafficking of secretory granules

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2020 · 45 citations

  Implantation is initiated when an embryo attaches to the uterine luminal epithelium and subsequently penetrates into the underlying stroma to firmly embed in the endometrium. These events are followed by the formation of an extensive vascular network in the stroma that supports embryonic growth and ensures successful implantation. Interestingly, in many mammalian species, these processes of early pregnancy occur in a hypoxic environment. However, the mechanisms underlying maternal adaptation to…

  DOI

• Role of Endometrial Extracellular Vesicles in Mediating Cell-to-Cell Communication in the Uterus: A Review

  Cells · 2023 · 33 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  There are several critical events that occur in the uterus during early pregnancy which are necessary for the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. These events include blastocyst implantation, uterine decidualization, uterine neoangiogenesis, differentiation of trophoblast stem cells into different trophoblast cell lineages, and formation of a placenta. These processes involve several different cell types within the pregnant uterus. Communication between these cell types must be intricate…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Interleukin-1β induces and accelerates human endometrial stromal cell senescence and impairs decidualization via the c-Jun N-terminal kinase pathway

  Cell Death Discovery · 2024-06-15 · 30 citations

  articleOpen access

  As the mean age of first-time mothers increases in the industrialized world, inquiries into causes of human reproductive senescence have followed. Rates of ovulatory dysfunction and oocyte aneuploidy parallel chronological age, but poor reproductive outcomes in women older than 35 years are also attributed to endometrial senescence. The current studies, using primary human endometrial stromal cell (ESC) cultures as an in vitro model for endometrial aging, characterize the proinflammatory cytokin…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Maternal high-fat diet during pregnancy with concurrent phthalate exposure leads to abnormal placentation

  Scientific Reports · 2021 · 17 citations

  Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is a synthetic chemical commonly used for its plasticizing capabilities. Because of the extensive production and use of DEHP, humans are exposed to this chemical daily. Diet is a significant exposure pathway and fatty food contain the highest level of phthalates. The impact on pregnancy following DEHP exposure and the associated interaction of high fat (HF) diet remains unknown. Here we report that exposure of pregnant mice to an environmentally relevant level o…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Role of Hypoxia in Regulating Stromal-Epithelial Communication during Pregnancy

  NIH · $1.6M · 2018–2024

• NIH Grant U54HD013541

  NIH · $14.9M · 2003

• NIH Grant U54HD055787

  NIH · $13.4M · 2014

Frequent coauthors

• Indrani C. Bagchi

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  179 shared

• Quanxi Li

  Gansu Agricultural University

  45 shared

• Robert N. Taylor

  Jacobs (United States)

  37 shared

• Athilakshmi Kannan

  37 shared

• Francesco J. DeMayo

  National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

  35 shared

• Mary J. Laws

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  34 shared

• John P. Lydon

  Baylor College of Medicine

  30 shared

• M. Jeyakumar

  17 shared

Awards & honors

• Romano Professorial Scholar

Similar researchers at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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• Martha U. Gilletteh-61
• Erik R. Nelsonh-44