Kumar Selvarajoo, PhD
Institute for Advanced Bioscience
Keio University
14-1 Baba-cho, Tsuruoka
Yamagata, Japan 997-0035

Email: kumar[at]ttck.keio.ac.jp

Tel: +81-235-29-0830
Fax: +81-235-29-0809
 

See my interview: http://www.iab.keio.ac.jp/jp/content/view/444/139/

At macroscopic level, biological systems show remarkably well orchestrated, self-organized, robust and stable behavior to a wide range of perturbations. At microscopic level, single cells display noisy or stochastic and bursting behaviors. Such dual-mode phenomenon is observed in any complex system (see recent commentary). However, can complex and nonlinear systems display simple linear response? Our research investigates the fundamental behavior of cell response and focuses on the innate immunity and its link to cancer. Over the years, for population level response of immune cells to targeted perturbation, we have shown that the intracellular downstream signaling can be approximated using linear rules derived from the physical law of conservation. In a recent work (see paper), we have used such simplicity to predict a target to enhance apoptosis (programmed cell death) for TRAIL-resistant cancer cells. This has been highlighted by the Science Media Centre of Japan (see news), Nature Japan and several Japanese dailies such as the Yomiuri Shimbun (click news). Our current investigations focus on understanding the unifying laws of microscopic to macroscopic response. Knowing this will potentially enable us to utilize biological ‘noise’ for useful treatment purposes, for example, overcoming the effects of dynamic heterogeneity in cancer therapeutics. For research opportunities, please write to my email above.

• 2006-present, Assistant Professor, Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University, Japan
• 2008-present, Member, Editorial Board, Public Library of Science ONE, USA
• 2010-present, Guest Associate Editor, Frontiers in Systems Physiology, Switzerland
• 2011-present, Member, Editorial Board, Scientific Reports, NaturePG, UK
• 2009-present, Board of Advisors, Institute of Integrative Omics and Applied Biotechnology (IIOAB), India
• 2004-2006, Project Leader, Cell-Interaction Group, Bioinformatics Institute, Singapore
• 2001-2004, Bioinformatics Specialist, National Cancer Centre, Singapore
• 2002-2004, Director of Techonology, Systome Therapeutics Pte Ltd (spin-off company)
• 1998-2000, Computational Analysis Engineer, Singapore Technologies

Education

• 2000-2004, Doctor of Philosophy, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
• 1997, Research Internship, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH, Zurich.
• 1993-1997, Master of Engineering (Aeronautics), Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London.
• 1990-1993, Singapore Armed Forces (National Service).


Publications


Journals


• Selvarajoo K, ‘The recognition of chaos in host-pathogen response ’ (2012) Front. Physio.; 3:7.
• Piras V, Hayashi K, Tomita M, & Selvarajoo K, ‘Enhancing apoptosis in TRAIL-resistant cancer cells using fundamental response rules’ (2011) Scientific Reports ; 1:144.
• Selvarajoo K, ‘Macroscopic law of conservation revealed in the population dynamics of Toll-like receptor signaling ’ (2011) Cell Commun Signal ; 9:9.
• Tsuchiya M, Piras V, Guiliani A, Tomita M & Selvarajoo K, ‘Collective dynamics of specific gene ensembles crucial for neutrophil differentiation: the existence of genome vehicles revealed ’ (2010) PLoS ONE ; 5(8):e12116.
• Selvarajoo K,Tomita M & Tsuchiya M, ‘Can complex cellular processes be governed by simple linear rules?’ ’ (2009) J of Bioinformatics and Comp Biol.; 7(1):243-268.
• Helmy M, Gohda J, Inoue J, Tomita M, Tsuchiya M & Selvarajoo K, ‘Predicting novel features of Toll-like Receptor 3 signaling in macrophages ’ (2009) PLoS ONE ; 4(3):e4661.
• Tsuchiya M, Piras V, Choi S, Akira S,Tomita M, Guiliani A & Selvarajoo K, ‘Emergent genome-wide control in wildtype and genetically mutated lipopolysaccarides-stimulated macrophages ’ (2009) PLoS ONE ; 4(3):e4905.
• Tsuchiya M#, Selvarajoo K#, Piras V, Tomita M, Guiliani A, ‘ Local and global responses in complex gene regulation networks ’(2009) Physica A ; 388(8): 1738-1746, # equal first authors.
• Selvarajoo K, Takada Y, Godha J, Helmy M, Akira S, Tomita M, Tsuchiya M, Inoue J & Matsuo K, ‘ Signaling Flux Redistribution at Toll-like Receptor Pathway Junctions ’(2008) PLoS ONE; 3(10): e3430.
• Tsuchyia M, Wong ST, Yeo ZX, Colosimo A, Palumbo MC, Farina L, Crescenzi M, Mazzola A, Negri R, Bianchi MM, Selvarajoo K, Tomita M, & Giuliani A. ‘Gene expression waves: cell cycle independent collective dynamics in cultured cells’ (2007) FEBS Journal 274:2878-2886.
• Yeo ZX, Wong ST, Arjunan S, Piras V, Tomita M, Selvarajoo K, Giuliani A & Tsuchiya M. ‘Sequential logic model deciphers dynamic transcriptional control of gene expressions’ (2007) PLoS ONE 2(8):e776.
• Asti KG, Bastos-Filho JB, Cini M, De Ninno A, Del Giudice E, Drago A, Elia V, Farina L, Gagliasso E, Germano R, Giuliani A, Krishnan A, Levy Leblond JM, Licata I, Modonesi C, Rossi PA, Selvarajoo K, Silvestrini V, Tamino G, Tomita M, Tsuchiya M, Verma C, Vitiello G, Webber CL & Zbilut JP, ‘Web era Theatrum Mundi: Another Big Chill in Science?’ (2007) Alliage 61:41-46.
• Krishnan J, Selvarajoo K, Tsuchiya M, Lee G, & Choi S. ‘Toll-like receptor (TLR) signal transduction’(2007) Exp Mol Med. 39(4):421-438.
• Piras V#, Selvarajoo K#, Fujikawa N, Sangdun C, Tomita M, Guiliani A, & Tsuchiya M. ‘Statistical analysis of gene expression in innate immune response indicates dynamical interaction between MicroRNA and signalling molecules ’. (2007) Genomics and Informatics 5(3):1-6, # equal first authors.
• Selvarajoo K. ‘Discovering Differential Activation Machinery of the Toll-Like Receptor (TLR) 4 Signaling Pathways in MyD88 Knockouts’ (2006) FEBS Letters 580:1457-1464.

Book


• Selvarajoo K & Tsuchiya M. (editors) ‘Immuno Systems Biology ’. Springer - Life Sciences (Expected completion 2012).

Book chapters


• Selvarajoo K and Tsuchiya M. ‘In a quest to uncover governing principles of cellular networks: a systems biology perspective’. In OMICS: Biomedical Perspectives and Applications, CRC Press, San Diego, USA (2011) pp259-277.
• Selvarajoo K Arjunan S & Tomita M.‘In silico models for metabolic 'systems' engineering’. In Handbook for Metabolic Pathway Engineering, Smolke, C. D., Palsson, B. and Lee, S. Y. (editors). CRC Press, San Diego, USA (2009) pp17.1-23.
• Selvarajoo K. ‘Decoding the signalling mechanism of Toll-like receptor 4 signaling pathways in wildtypes and knockouts’. In ‘E-Cell System: Basic Concepts and Applications’ (guest edited by Ghosh S, Kluwer Academic Publishers - Landes Bioscience) (2007) http://eurekah.com/chapter/3584.
• Selvarajoo K. & Tsuchiya M., ‘Systematic Determination of Biological Network Topology: Non-Integral Connectivity Method (NICM) '. In ‘Introduction to System Biology’, Choi S (editor) The Humana Press Inc (2007) pp 449-471.

Proceedings


• Hayashi K, Piras V, Tomita M, Tsuchiya M, Selvarajoo K, ‘ Emergence of macroscopic simplicity from the Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha signaling dynamics ’ (2011) Nonlinear Theory and its Applications , pp 68-71.
• Tsuchiya M,Piras V, Tomita M, Selvarajoo K ‘ Collective fluctuations are crucial for global biological response ’ (2011) Nonlinear Theory and its Applications , pp 72-75.
• Selvarajoo K, Helmy M, Tomita M, Tsuchiya M, ‘ Inferring the mechanistic basis for the dynamic response of the MyD88-dependent and –independent pathways ’ (2008) Proceedings of 10th International Conference on Molecular Systems Biology, pp 110-113.
• Helmy M, Tomita M, Tsuchiya M & Selvarajoo K, ‘ In silico analysis of Toll-Like receptor 3 pathways’’ (2008) Proceedings of 1st International Symposium on Computational Biology & Bioinformatics, pp 14-18.

 

Patents


• Modelling of Biochemical Pathways. US National Application Number: 10/222 029, International Application Number: PCT/ GB2002 /003
• Non-Integral Connectivity Method (NICM) for the Discovery of Biological Network Topology. Priority Application Number: 60/728,299
Awards & Honors

• 2011, Marquis Who's Who in the World.
• 2011, 2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21st Century, IBC, Cambridge.
• 2004 Finalist, Young Inventors Award 2003. Far Eastern Economics Review and Dow Jones.
• 2002 Winner and Team Leader of Systome Therapeutics. StartUp@Singapore Competition. A National Techno-Venture Business Plan Competition
• 2001 Winner, Best Intellectual Property Filing. National Cancer Centre's Annual Academic Awards
• 2000 Nanyang Technological University CANES Research Scholar
• 1994 Winner, Best Aircraft Structure Design Competition, Imperial College.


Faculty/Staff