Shigeki Sugii

Dr. Shigeki Sugii graduated with B.S. from Kyoto University, Japan. He received his Ph.D. at Dartmouth College School of Medicine (New Hampshire, USA), where he studied intracellular cholesterol homeostasis and transport. He then moved to the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (La Jolla, California) to conduct his postdoctoral research with Professor Ronald Evans. At Salk / HHMI, he studied roles of nuclear receptor superfamily, especially PPARgamma, in adipocyte biology and metabolism using mouse models of obesity and diabetes. More recently, he generated induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from adipose-derived cells, and investigated metabolic changes during reprogramming and differentiation.

In 2011, he assumed a joint appointment as Group Leader at Singapore Bioimaging Consortium and as Assistant Professor at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the inaugural Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at NTU. He is currently an executive committee member (vice treasurer) of Stem Cell Society Singapore. He was a recipient of Kakiuchi Yoshinobu Memorial Award from Japanese Society for Science and Technology Studies in 2009. His current research interests include characterization of metabolic pathways in adipose-derived stem cells and their clinical applications into metabolic diseases.

Recent Publications

Dinish, U.S., Wong, C.L., Sriram, S., Ong, W.K., Balasundaram, G., Sugii, S., and Olivo, M. (2017) Diffuse Optical Spectroscopy and Imaging to Detect and Quantify Adipose Tissue Browning. Sci. Rep. 7, 41357.

Perumal, J., Sriram, S., Lim, H.Q., Olivo, M., Sugii, S. (2016) Retinoic Acid Is Abundantly Detected in Different Depots of Adipose Tissue by SERS. Adipocyte 5, 378-383.

Chaurasia, B., Kaddai, V.A., Lancaster, G.I., Henstridge, D.C., Sriram, S., Galam, D.L.A., Gopalan, V., Bhanu Prakash, K.N., Velan, S.S., Bulchand, S., Tsong, T.J., Wang, M., Siddique, M.M., Yuguang, G., Sigmundsson, K., Mellet, N.A., Weir, J.M., Meikle, P.J., Bin Mohamed Yassin, M.S., Shabbir, A., Shayman, J.A., Hirabayashi, Y., Toh, S.A., Sugii, S., and Summers, S.A. (2016) Adipocyte Ceramides Regulate Subcutaneous Adipose Browning, Inflammation and Metabolism. Cell Metab. 24, 820-834.

Takeda, K., Sriram, S., Chan, X.H.D., Ong, W.K., Yeo, C.R., Tan, B., Lee, S.A., Kong, K.V., Hoon, S., Jiang, H., Yuen, J.J., Perumal, J., Agrawal, M., Vaz, C., So, J., Shabbir, A., Blaner, W.S., Olivo, M., Han, W., Tanavde, V., Toh, S.A., and Sugii, S. (2016) Retinoic Acid Modulates Visceral-Specific Adipogenic Defects of Human Adipose-derived Stem Cells. Diabetes 65, 1164-1178.

Lysaght, T., and Sugii, S. (2016) Uncertain Oversight of Regenerative Medicines in Japan under the ASRM. Cell Stem Cell 18, 438-439.

Srijaya, T.C., Sriram, S., Sugii, S., and Abu Kasim, N.H. (2016) Stem Cells in Dentistry: Potential Applications and Perspectives in Clinical Research. In P.V. Pham (Ed.), Stem Cells in the Clinical Applications, In Press, Springer (*Co-corresponding Author)

Park, M., Kaddai, V., Ching, J., Fridanto, K.T., Sieli R.J., Sugii, S., and Summers, S.A. (2016) A Role for Ceramides, but NOT Sphingomyelins, as Antagonists of Insulin Signaling and Mitochondrial Metabolism in C2C12 Myotubes. J. Biol. Chem. 291, 23978-23988.

Gunet, V., Tan, N.S., Sugii, S., Lim, T.C., Wong, T.C., Choong, C. (2016) Comparative Study of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells from Abdomen and Breast. Ann. Plast. Surg. 76, 569-575.

Bhanu Prakash, K.N., Verma, S.K., Yaligar, J., Goggi, J., Gopalan, V., Lee, S.S., Tian, X., Sugii, S., Leow, M.K., Bhakoo, K., and Velan, S.S. (2016) Segmentation and Characterization of Interscapular Brown Adipose Tissue in Rats by Multi-Parametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging. MAGMA 29, 277-286.

Ong, W.K., Tan, C.S., Chan, K.L., Goesantoso, G.G., Chan, X.H.D., Chan, E., Yin, J., Yeo, C.R., Khoo, C.M., So, J., Shabbir, A., Toh, S.A., Han, W., and Sugii, S. (2014) Identification of Specific Cell Surface Markers of Adipose-derived Stem Cells from Subcutaneous and Visceral Fat Depots. Stem Cell Reports 2, 171-179.

Lim, M.H., Ong, W.K., and Sugii, S. (2014) Current Landscape of Adipose-derived Stem Cells in Clinical Applications. Expert Rev. Mol. Med. 16, e8.

Raichur, S., Wang, S.T., Chan, P.W., Li, Y., Ching, J., Chaurasia, B., Dogra, S., Öhman, M.K., Takeda, K., Sugii, S., Pewzner-Jung, Y., Futerman, A.H., and Summers, S.A. (2014) CerS2 haploinsufficiency inhibits β-oxidation and confers susceptibility to diet-induced steatohepatitis and insulin resistance. Cell Metab. 20, 687-695.

Wee, K., Yang, W., Sugii, S., and Han, W. (2014) Towards a mechanistic understanding of lipodystrophy and seipin functions. Biosci. Rep. 34, e00141.

Yang, W., Thein, S., Lim, C.Y., Ericksen, R.E., Sugii, S., Xu, F., Robinson, R., Kim, J.B., and Han, W. (2014) Arp2/3 Complex Regulates Adipogenesis by Controlling Cortical Actin Remodeling. Biochem. J. 464, 179-92.

Choong, P.F., Teh, H.X., Teoh, H.K., Ong, H.K., Choo, K.B., Sugii, S., Cheong, S.K., Kamarul, T. (2014) Heterogeneity of Osteosarcoma Cell Lines Led to Variable Responses in Reprogramming. Int. J. Med. Sci. 11, 1154-1160.

Huang, C.J., Nguyen, P.N.N., Choo, K.B., Sugii, S., Wee, K., Cheong, S.K., Kamarul, T. (2014) Frequent Co-Expression of miRNA-5p and -3p Species and Cross-Targeting in Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells. Int. J. Med. Sci. 11, 824-833.

Yaligar, J., Gopalan, V., Ong, W.K., Sugii, S., Shui, G., Lam, B.D.; Henry, C.J., Wenk, M.R., Tai, E.S., and Velan, S.S. (2014) Evaluation of Dietary Effects on Hepatic Lipids in High Fat and Placebo Diet Fed Rats by In Vivo MRS and LC-MS Techniques. PLoS ONE. 9, e91436.

Gong, Y.D., Zhang, B., Notake, T., Minamide, H., Olivo, M., and Sugii, S. (2014) Investigations on Polarimetric Terahertz Frequency Domain Spectroscopy. Appl. Phys. A. 115, 83-86.

Ong, W.K., and Sugii, S. (2013) Adipose-derived Stem Cells: Fatty Potentials for Therapy. Int. J. Biochem. Cell Biol. [“Cells in Focus” series] 45, 1083-1086.

Qiu, W., Wee, K., Takeda, K., Lim, X., Sugii, S., Radda, G.K., and Han, W. (2013) Suppression of Adipogenesis by Pathogenic Seipin Mutant Is Associated with Inflammatory Response. PLoS ONE 8, e57874.

Yang, W., Thein, S., Guo, X., Xu, F., Venkatesh, B., Sugii, S., Radda, G.K., and Han, W. (2013) Seipin Differentially Regulates Lipogenesis and Adipogenesis through a Conserved Core Sequence and an Evolutionarily Acquired C-terminus. Biochem. J. 452, 37-44.

Yang, W., Guo, X., Thein, S., Xu, F., Sugii, S., Baas, P.W., Radda, G.K., and Han, W. (2013) Regulation of Adipogenesis by Cytoskeleton Remodeling Is Facilitated by Acetyltransferase MEC-17-Dependent Acetylation of α-Tubulin. Biochem. J. 449, 605-612.

Sugii, S., and Evans, R.M. (2011) Epigenetic Codes of PPARγ in Metabolic Disease. FEBS Lett. [REVIEW ARTICLE] 585, 2121-2128.

Sugii, S., Kida, Y., Berggren, W.T., and Evans, R.M. (2011) Feeder-Dependent and Feeder-Independent iPS Cell Derivation from Human and Mouse Adipose Stem Cells. Nature Protoc. 6, 346-358.

Sugii, S., Kida, Y., Kawamura, T., Suzuki, J., Vassena, R., Yin, Y.Q., Lutz, M.K., Berggren, W.T., Izpisua Belmonte, J.C., and Evans, R.M. (2010) Human and Mouse Adipose-Derived Cells Support Feeder Independent Induction of Pluripotent Stem Cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 107, 3558-3563.