Educations / Professional Experience

Educations

2002-2008

PhD in Molecular Biology Saha Institute Nuclear Physics Crystallography and Molecular Biology Division Affiliated to University of Calcutta

Current Position

2009-

Post-Doctoral Fellow, Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan

Professional Experience

2008 – 2009

Post-Doctoral Fellow, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, USA. & Cleveland Clinic Foundation, USA.

2001 - 2002

Post M.Sc. Associate ship Course in Biophysical Sciences, Saha Institute Nuclear Physics

1999 - 2001

M.Sc. in Biochemistry Special Paper: Molecular Biology University of Calcutta

1996 – 1999

B.Sc. in Chemistry (Hons), Presidency College, Kolkata University of Calcutta

Expertise /Research Interests

Future Research Endeavors

As a principal investigator I want to work on molecular mechanism behind the childhood disease Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) genetic causes of which can‘t be found in many patients and only some psycho-somatic drugs are used to treat them. My research ideas and mechanistic studies will open up some new links between neurodegenerative diseases and neurodevelopmental disorders, e.g. ASD, and will be able to establish some new targets to design effective therapies for ASD and other neurological diseases. I shall use CRISPR technology to modify these targets in ES cells and proceed to stem cell therapies for ASD and other diseases. Putative small molecules will be tested to design effective drug targets for these diseases. This part has been written as formal research proposal that can be produced upon request. Beside this written proposal, I am also interested in finding out how maternal infection during pregnancy can cause ASD and related molecular and genetic causes that will also direct us to engineer new therapeutic targets of this disease. This idea has been developed on some preliminary experimental results and I believe it can be established as an interesting field of research.

Current Research Experience

My present research work is on molecular and cellular neurosciences. This research is focused on role of RNA binding proteins (RBPs) on hippocampal spinogenesis, dendritic and spine transport of synaptic proteins, and spine translation. Using several techniques eg primary neuron culture from 18.5 days mouse embryos, stem cell culture, polysome profiling, RNA IP, live and fixed cell FISH techniques and CRISPR/Cas9 mediated genome editing, the co-regulation of dendritic translation and transport of synaptic mRNAs have been elucidated. This work has opened up a new molecular link between a range of neurodevelopmental disorders and several neurodegenerative diseases that can be explored and used in translational research and drug development.

Novel findings:

1) TDP-43 regulates spinogenesis by regulating the translation of synaptic proteins e.g. Rac1.

2) There exists, a previously unknown, physical and functional co-operation between neurodegenerative disease modulator TDP-43 and neurodevelopmental disorder related protein FMRP.

3) TDP-43 inhibits mRNA translation by recruiting the translation inhibitory complex FMRP/CYFIP1/eIF4E and facilitates dendritic transport of these mRNP granules by recruiting FMRP/Kinesin1.Thus TDP-43 associated mRNP granules are transported in neuron dendrites as translation remain inactive during the transport process.

4) Using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing we have succeeded to modify protein genome to express it as fluorescence tagged in pyramidel neurons differentiated from stem cells. Following this endogenous fluorescence tagged protein and endogenous mRNA, using beacon, we, for the first time, can study co-movement of endogenous RNA and protein simultaneously in neuronal processes.

5) TDP-43 is also important for dendritic base to spine transport of mRNPs.

Most of these works have been published in 3 peer reviewed journals and one review (total IF: 44.163). Two more is under preparation.

In another project I’m involved in research related to role of DNMT3A in cancer progression. I am also involved in one drug discovery project and along with other colleagues I am trying to establish the high throughput chemical library screening analysis.

Three manuscripts are under preparation from this part of research work.

Affiliated Institution: Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica.

Previous Research Experience

Post Doc: Role of ERα and ERβ in breast cancer

In my postdoctoral research I have worked on association of p53 and Estrogen Receptors (ER) in breast cancer. I have mainly concentrated on the molecular association between ERα and p53 and involvement of other accessory proteins in this association. Our result also indicates that ERβ can play similar role as ERα in ERα null cell lines.

Doctoral Research: Molecular mechanisms underlying apoptosis in Huntington’s disease.

In my PhD career I worked on the molecular pathology of Huntington’s disease (HD), emphasizing mainly on

1) the apoptotic signalling that leads to neuronal death

and

2) the role of huntingtin interacting proteins in disease pathogenesis.

Novelties:

- This study elucidated, in detail, the apoptotic signalling initiated by huntingtin protein with pathogenic extension of polyglutamine repeats, Huntingtin interacting protein 1 (Hip1), and Huntingtin interacting protein 1- protein interacter (Hippi).

- This research work was the first to establish Hippi as a transcription factor that regulates gene expression to facilitate cell death in HD cell model system.

Academic role play:

As a full-time researcher, I am experienced in writing of research proposals/grants for individuals as well as lab grant application. From 2010/2011 onwards along with my principal investigator I undertook the responsibilities of conceiving the idea of the projects, applying and writing grants for MOST (Ministry of Science and Technology Taiwan) and others, doing experiments, and communicating/publishing the results. The complete roles played by me were acknowledged by giving communicating authorship in our last few publications (please see the publication list). As a senior PhD student I helped the principal investigator to train the junior students and as post-doctoral research associate I am now independently teaching and training students and other post-doctoral fellows. I am currently guiding/instructing other post-doctoral fellow(s) in the lab.

I am constantly working as reviewer for different journals of MDPI, PLOS groups. The manuscripts from the other journals that I have reviewed so far include Human Molecular Genetics, Molecular Brain, Acta Neuropathologica Communication, Neurobiology of Disease, Neurochemistry International, and many more. I have also worked as reviewer for grant proposals from MND (Motor Neuron Disease Association) and MRC (Medical Research Council).