| Description: | [DPS Seminar] Dr. Kaushik Sengupta (SAHA INSTITUTE OF NUCLEAR PHYSICS) -- Lamin A: the principal component nuclear architecture |
| Date: | Wednesday, Nov 14, 2018 |
| Time: | 3 p.m. - 4 p.m. |
| Venue: | G02, Lecture Hall Complex |
| Details: | Lamins are intermediate filament proteins of nuclear origin. There has been an upsurge in the research on lamin biology particularly lamin A/C much due to the fact that more than 450 mutations have been uncovered so far in LMNA gene. These numerous mutations produce a plethora of diseases in humans which are collectively termed as laminopathies. The laminopathies converge to a commonality where the nuclear shape and rigidity are perturbed and so are the nuclear processes. We have shown over a series of publications how the self association of lamin A or homopolymerization as well as heterooligomerization in tandem with B-type lamins are affected in some severe muscular dystrophy and dilated cardiomyopathy mutants. We used spectroscopy and calorimetry to unravel these oligomerization process. We also provided a detailed explanation of the viscoelasticity of lamin A for the very first time and likewise deduced the effects on nuclear elasticity in case of mutations of lamin A. We have characterized the contribution of individual domains in modulating the elasticity of this biopolymer. It is interesting to note that lamin A expression in mammalian cells is directly proportional to the stiffness of the tissue and is differentially regulated. In a novel set of studies we have shown how matrix mediated static and dynamic stretching of cells lead to an alteration of nuclear orientation and architecture. Recently we are mimicking extracellular matrix roughness and stiffness by fabricating nanopatterned surfaces and observing how the mechanotransduction route is affected with mutant lamin A as sink using a variety of techniques from omics platform to traction force microscopy and super resolution imaging techniques. We have developed various patterned surfaces which mimic the stiffness and topology of the ECM in the physiological milieu. |
| Calendar: | Seminar Calendar (entered by ipsita.banerjee) |