Sib Sankar Roy , Ph.D.

Chief Scientist
Cell Biology & Physiology
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Research Interest

A) Molecular mechanisms associated with ovarian cancer pathogenesis

  • Exploring the role of tumour-microenvironment derived factors, including growth factors (e.g., VEGF), cytokines, and their respective receptors on different facets of ovarian cancer progression, including EMT, metastasis, and chemoresistance.
  • Understanding the complex protein-protein interactions (PPI) between Ets1 and its partners (e.g., DAXX/EAP) to determine their influence on oncogenesis and potential therapeutic targets for disease management.
  • Investigating the role of key oncogenic transcription factors as major regulators of mitochondrial fission and fusion dynamics, and their contribution to driving oncogenesis.

B) Implications of metabolic and bioenergetic alterations in tumor cells

  • The role of CPT1 and SREBP1 in altered lipid metabolism in tumour cells and the impact on oncogenesis.
  • Exploring the complex interactions between adipocytes and gynaecological cancer cells (focusing on key facilitators like adipokines and energy sensors like SIK2) and their role in influencing lipid metabolism and tumour progression.
  • Assessing the molecular bases and metabolic implications of mitochondrial fission-fusion dynamics in driving oncogenicity
  • Elucidating the role of Cancer-associated Fibroblasts (CAFs) in reprogramming of lipid metabolism and thereby tumor progression.
  • Determining the metabolic adaptations responsible for tumor cell survival and proliferation during nutrient scarcity. 

C) The role of transporters in oncogenesis

  • Understanding the implications of diverse transporter proteins, like mitochondrial glutamine transporter, lactate transporters, on the bioenergetic and metabolic fate of cancer cells.
  • Identifying the molecular underpinnings determines the expression and activity regulations of these transporter proteins.
  • Examining the oncogenic implications of these transporter proteins and their roles in cancer development and progression.

 

Credentials

Metabolic Disorder Laboratory
PhD, Bose Institute, Kolkata
Post Doc: Harvard School of Public Health, Boston.
Fellow of The National Academy of Sciences, India (FNASc)
Fellow of the West Bengal Academy of Science and Technology (FAScT)

Patents & Publications

Publications:

 

  1. Pakhira, S., Kundu, S., & Roy, S. S. (2025). The role of fatty acid oxidation in metabolic crosstalk between tumor cells and associated factors in the microenvironment. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA)-Reviews on Cancer, 189447. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbcan.2025.189447
  2. Tanbir, S. E., & Roy, S. S. (2026). SREBP1a induced PINK1-Parkin mediated mitophagy facilitates ovarian cancer progression. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA)-Molecular Basis of Disease, 1872(1), 168043. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2025.168043
  3. Pakhira, S., & Roy, S. S. (2025). Altered fatty acid oxidation via CPT1A promotes epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition in ovarian cancer. The FEBS Journal. DOI: 10.1111/febs.70193
  4. Bandopadhyay, S., Dey, U., Chakraborty, P., Debnath, P., Kundu, S., Laik, D., & Roy, S. S. (2024). The Role of Matrix Metalloproteinases MMP2 and MMP9 in Ovarian Cancer Progression. In Handbook of Proteases in Cancer (pp. 100-112). CRC Press.
  5. Chatterjee, P., Ghosh, D., Chowdhury, S. R., & Roy, S. S.*, 2024. ETS1 drives EGF-induced glycolytic shift and metastasis of epithelial ovarian cancer cells. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA)-Molecular Cell Research, 1871(8), 119805.
  6. Ghosh S., Sk E.T., Mitra T. and Roy S.S.*. Unveiling stem-like traits and chemoresistance mechanisms in ovarian cancer cells through the TGFβ1-PITX2A/B signaling axis. Biochem. Cell Biol. 2024. DOI: 10.1139/bcb-2024-0010.
  7. Chatterjee P., Bhowmik D, Roy S.S.*. A systemic analysis of monocarboxylate transporters in ovarian cancer and possible therapeutic interventions. Channels. 2023. doi:10.1080/19336950.2023.2273008. PMID: 37934721.
  8. Ghosh, D., Pakhira, S., Ghosh, D.D., Roychoudhury, S. and Roy, S.S.*, 2023. Ets1 facilitates EMT/invasion through Drp1-mediated mitochondrial fragmentation in ovarian cancer. Iscience. 2023. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107537. PMID: 37664613.
  9. De K., Prasad P., Sinha S., Mukhopadhyay S. and Roy, S.S., Synthesis, Characterization, and Biological Evaluation of Radiolabeled Glutamine Conjugated Polymeric Nanoparticles: A Simple Approach for Tumor Imaging. ACS Applied Bio Materials, 2023. doi:10.1021/acsabm.3c00048.
  10. Bandopadhyay S, Kamal IM, Padmanaban E, Ghosh DD, Chakrabarti S, Roy SS*. Oncogene‐mediated nuclear accumulation of lactate promotes epigenetic alterations to induce cancer cell proliferation. J Cell Biochem. 2023;1‐25. doi:10.1002/jcb.30381
  11. Karmakar E, Das N, Mukherjee B, Das P, Mukhopadhyay S, Roy SS*. Lipid-induced alteration in retinoic acid signaling leads to mitochondrial dysfunction in HepG2 and Huh7 cells. Biochem Cell Biol. 2023 Feb 14. doi: 10.1139/bcb-2022-0266. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36787544.
  12. Karmakar E, Das P, Yatham P, Kumar D, Mukhopadhyay S, Roy SS*. Seedpod extracts of Wrightia tinctoria shows significant anti-inflammatory effects in HepG2 and RAW-264.7cell lines. Nat Prod Res. 2022 Nov 17:1-5. doi: 10.1080/14786419.2022.2146688. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36394338.
  13. Bandopadhyay S, Prasad P, Ray U, Das Ghosh D, Roy SS*. SIRT6 promotes mitochondrial fission and subsequent cellular invasion in ovarian cancer. FEBS Open Bio. 2022 Sep;12(9):1657-1676. doi: 10.1002/2211-5463.13452. Epub 2022 Jun 24. PMID: 35686673; PMCID: PMC9433826.
  14. Prasad P, Ghosh S, Roy SS*. Glutamine deficiency promotes stemness and chemoresistance in tumor cells through DRP1-induced mitochondrial fragmentation. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2021 May;78(10):4821-4845. doi: 10.1007/s00018-021-03818-6. Epub 2021 Apr 24. PMID: 33895866.
  15. Prasad P, Roy SS*. Glutamine regulates ovarian cancer cell migration and invasion through ETS1. Heliyon. 2021 May 31;7(5):e07064. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07064. PMID: 34136678; PMCID: PMC8180613.
  16. Tulika Mitra, Parash Prasad, Pritha Mukherjee, Susri Ray Chaudhuri, Urmi Chatterji and Sib Sankar Roy* (2018) Stemness and chemoresistance are imparted to the OC cells through TGFβ1 driven EMT. J Cell Biochem; 119(7):5775-5787. doi: 10.1002/jcb.26753.
  17. Bhattacharya R, Mitra T, Chaudhuri SR, Roy SS* (2018) Mesenchymal splice isoform of CD44 (CD44s) promotes EMT/invasion and imparts stem-like properties to ovarian cancer cells. J Cell Biochem. 119(4):3373-3383. doi: 10.1002/jcb.26504.
  18. Bhattacharya R, Ray Chaudhuri S, Roy SS* (2018). FGF9-induced ovarian cancer cell invasion involves VEGF-A/VEGFR2 augmentation by virtue of ETS1 upregulation and metabolic reprogramming. J Cell Biochem. 119 (10):8174-8189. doi: 10.1002/jcb.26820.
  19. Atanu Naskar, Susanta Bera, Rahul Bhattacharya, Sib Sankar Roy, Sunirmal Jana (2018); Effect of bovine serum albumin immobilized Au-ZnO-graphene nanocomposite on human ovarian cancer cell. Journal of Alloys and Compounds; 734: 66-74. Doi: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2017.11.029.
  20. Jain MR, Giri SR, Bhoi B, Trivedi C, Rath A, Rathod R, Ranvir R, Kadam S, Patel H, Swain P, Roy SS, Das N, Karmakar E, Wahli W, Patel PR (2018). Dual PPARα/γ Agonist Saroglitazar Improves Liver Histopathology and Biochemistry in Experimental NASH Models. Liver Int. 38(6):1084-1094.  doi: 10.1111/liv.13634.
  21. Nandi I, Chall S, Chowdhury S, Mitra T, Roy SS, Chattopadhyay K. (2018) Protein Fibril-Templated Biomimetic Synthesis of Highly Fluorescent Gold Nanoclusters and Their Applications in Cysteine Sensing. ACS Omega. 3(7):7703-7714. doi: 10.1021/acsomega. 8b01033.
  22. Upasana Ray and Sib Sankar Roy* (2018) Aberrant lipid metabolism in cancer cells: the role of oncolipid-activated signaling. FEBS J. 285(3):432-443 doi: 10.1111/febs. 14281. Review. `
  23. Ananya Pradhan, Surya Kanta Dey, Pralay Maity, Sib Sankar Roy and Sujata Maiti Choudhury (2018) Evaluation of in vitro and in-vivo anti-inflammatory property exhibited by gold Nanoparticles using indole-3-carbinol. International J Current Research in Life Sciences. Vol. 07, No. 11, pp.2809-2812.
  24. Sarkar-Banerjee S, Chowdhury S, Mitra T, Sanyal D, Roy SS, Chattopadhyay K (2018). The role of intestinal fatty acid-binding proteins in protecting cells for fatty acid induced impairment of mitochondrial dynamics and apoptosis. Cell Physiol Biochem (In Press).
  25. Upasana Ray, Shreya Roy Chowdhury, Madavan Vasudevan, Kiran Bankar, Susanta Roychoudhury and Sib Sankar Roy* (2017) Gene regulatory networking reveals the molecular cue to lysophosphatidic acid-induced metabolic adaptations in ovarian cancer cells. Molecular Oncology. 11(5):491-516. doi: 10.1002/1878-0261.12046.
  26. Shreya Roychowdhury, Upasana Ray, B.P Chatterjee and Sib Sankar Roy* (2017) Targeted apoptosis in ovarian cancer cells through mitochondrial dysfunction in response to Sambucusnigra agglutinin. Cell Death and Disease (Nature Publishing Group). 8, e2762; doi:10.1038/cddis.2017.77
  27. Nabanita Das, Ashok Mandala, S Naaz, S Giri, M Jain, D Bandyopadhyay, Russel J. Reiter, Sib Sankar Roy* (2017) Melatonin protects against lipid-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in hepatocytes and inhibits stellate cell activation during hepatic fibrosis in mice. J. Pineal Research; 62(4). doi: 10.1111/jpi.12404.
  28. Ray U, Chowdhury SR, Roy SS. 2017. Lysophosphatidic Acid Promotes Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition in Ovarian Cancer Cells by Repressing SIRT1. Cell Physiol. Biochem. 41:795-805. DOI: 10.1159/000458744.
  29. Tulika Mitra and Sib Sankar Roy* (2017) Co-activation of TGFβ and Wnt signalling pathways abrogates EMT in ovarian cancer cells. Cell Physiol. Biochem; 41(4):1336-1345. doi: 10.1159/000464436.
  30. Nabanita Das, Ashok Mandala, Sudarshan Bhattacharjee, Debasri Mukherjee, Debasish Bandyopadhyay and Sib Sankar Roy* (2017) Dietary fat proportionately enhances oxidative stress and glucose intolerance followed by impaired expression of genes associated with mitochondrial biogenesis. Food Function.;8(4):1577-1586. doi: 10.1039/c6fo01326k.
  31. Datta S, Choudhury D, Das A, Das Mukherjee D, Das N, Roy SS, Chakrabarti G. (2017) Paclitaxel resistance development is associated with biphasic changes in reactive oxygen species, mitochondrial membrane potential and autophagy with elevated energy production capacity in lung cancer cells: A chronological study. Tumour Biol.; 39(2): doi: 10.1177/1010428317694314.
  32. Kingshuk Basu, Kousik Gayen, Tulika Mitra, Abhishek Baral, Sib Sankar Roy and Arindam Banerjee (2017). Different color emissive copper nanoclusters and cancer cell imaging. ChemNanoMat; DOI: 10.1002/cnma.201700162.
  33. Sujata Roy Moulik, Puja Pal, Suravi Majumder, Buddhadev Mallick, Shreyasi Gupta, PayelGuha, Sib Sankar Roy and Dilip Mukherjee (2016) Gonadotropin and sf-1 regulation of cyp19a1a gene and aromatase activity during oocyte development in the rohu, L. rohita. Comp Biochem Physiol, part-A; 196:1-10; doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2016.02.004
  34. A Pradhan et al, S. S. Roy, S. Maiti Choudhury (2016). Gold nanoparticles from indole-3-carbinol exhibit cytotoxic, genotoxic and antineoplastic effects through the induction of apoptosis. RSC Advances. 2016, 6, 56435; DOI: 10.1039/c6ra05591e.
  35. Atanu Naskar, Susanta Bera, Rahul Bhattacharya, Pritam Saha, Sib Sankar Roy, Tuhinadri Sen and Sunirmal Jana (2016) Synthesis, characterization and antibacterial activity of Ag incorporated ZnO-graphene nanocomposites. RSC Advances, 6, 88751-88761. DOI: 10.1039/c6ra14808e.
  36. Ashok Mandala, Nabanita Das, Sudarshan Bhattacharjee, Bidisha Mukherjee, Satinath Mukhopadhyay* and Sib Sankar Roy* (2016) Thioredoxin interacting protein mediates lipid-induced impairment of glucose uptake in skeletal muscle. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2016 Oct 28;479(4):933-939. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2016.09.168. Epub 2016 Oct.
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