Faculty & Staff

Sudip Mandal
Assistant Professor PhD (2003) BHU,
Room No. 4F10
Sector 81
IISER Mohali

Phone: 0172-2293175
Email: sudip[at]iisermohali.ac.in


Sudip Mandal

Research summary

Mitochondria, as we all studied in our school days, are bean shaped organelles considered as the powerhouse  of  the  cell  and  the  biochemical  pathways  leading  to  ATP  synthesis  within  the mitochondria  is  well  understood.  However,  studies  in  the  recent  past  have  established mitochondria   as   dynamic   polymorphic   structures   having   branched   reticulate   network interspersed with small bean shaped structures that integrate diverse extra and intra cellular signals to regulate several cellular functions.

Mitochondrial biology, therefore, has become a fast growing area in genetics and medicine, linking cell biological processes to metabolic disorders and  cancer.  We  are  interested  in  understanding  the  role  of  mitochondrion  in  controlling  cell biological processes like proliferation, growth and differentiation. We use the model organism, Drosophila   melanogaster,   for   genetic   dissection   of   retrograde   signaling   pathways   from mitochondria to nucleus that are essential in modulating cellular responses. Taking advantage of the advanced genetic tools available in this model system and using high-end microscopy and molecular  genetic  approaches  we  aim  to  unravel  the  mechanistic  basis  of  mitochondrial regulation of cellular functions.

 

The other focus of our research involves embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells, by virtue of their capacity to proliferate indefinitely and to differentiate into almost all types of somatic cells, hold the potential to be used for therapeutic purposes. Current research in this field aims to a) develop means to direct embryonic stem cells to differentiate into specific cell types that can be used for therapy and (b) to reprogram adult somatic cells to form induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells. In this pursuit scientists are trying to understand the genetic regulations and modifications in the genome that contribute to the processes of reprogramming and differentiation. Although it is equally important to understand how these processes are affected by the cellular metabolic state, very limited studies address this issue. We aim to understand the metabolic control of pluripotency and  early  lineage  specification  of  ESCs    and  EpiSCs.  To  achieve  this  goal,  we  employ  a combination  of  microscopic,  histological,  biochemical,  genetic  and  molecular  cell  biological approaches.

Selected Publications

  • Freije, W.A., Mandal, S., and Banerjee, U. (2012). Expression profiling of attenuated mitochondrial function identifies retrograde signals in Drosophila. G3 2, 843-851.
  • Mandal, S., Lindgren, A.G., Srivastava, A.S., Clark, A.T., and Banerjee, U. (2011). Mitochondrial  function  controls  proliferation  and  early  differentiation  potential  of embryonic stem cells. Stem cells 29, 486-495.
  • Mandal, S., Freije, W.A., Guptan, P., and Banerjee, U. (2010). Metabolic control of G1-S transition: cyclin E degradation by p53-induced activation of the ubiquitin- proteasome system. The Journal of cell biology 188, 473-479.
  • Owusu-Ansah,  E.,  Yavari,  A.,  Mandal,  S.,  and  Banerjee,  U.  (2008).  Distinct mitochondrial  retrograde  signals  control  the  G1-S  cell  cycle  checkpoint.  Nature genetics 40, 356-361.
  • Liao, T.S., Call, G.B., Guptan, P., Cespedes, A., Marshall, J., Yackle, K., Owusu- Ansah,  E.,  Mandal,  S.,  Fang,  Q.A.,  Goodstein,  G.L.,  et  al.  (2006). An  efficient genetic screen in Drosophila to identify nuclear-encoded genes with mitochondrial function. Genetics 174, 525-533.
  • Mandal, S., Guptan, P., Owusu-Ansah, E., and Banerjee, U. (2005). Mitochondrial regulation of cell cycle progression during development as revealed by the tenured mutation in Drosophila. Developmental cell 9, 843-854.

Group

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