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Dr. Sivaram Mylavarapu
Professor
  • PhD 2001, National Institute of Immunology
  • Postdoc at University of Massachusetts Medical School, USA
  • Professor
sivaram[at]rcb[dot]res[dot]in

Cell Division, Intercellular Communication and Cellular Dynamics

We are studying fundamental molecular mechanisms regulating cell division and intercellular communication. Mammalian cells divide with high fidelity to generate two diploid daughter cells.

 We are studying molecular events controlling the quality control of early stages of mitosis up to chromosome segregation, focussing on how the microtubule-based motor dynein regulates multiple facets of this process. We are also investigating the role of molecular motors and vesicular traffic in regulating cytokinesis, the terminal step of mitosis.

 Elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of mitotic regulation is imperative to understand the basis for asymmetric stem cell division, early metazoan development and for therapeutic intervention in cell division disorders.

 Independently, we are investigating the molecular basis for biogenesis and function of tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) - tubular cytoplasmic connections found between eukaryotic cells that play important roles in health and disease. Our current investigations are centred around understanding how TNTs form and function in healthy somatic cells during interphase and mitosis, and in neurodegenerative contexts.

Our technical approaches span cell biological studies, quantitative high-resolution and super-resolution optical microscopy including live cell imaging, interaction proteomics and classical biochemistry. We have also employed Caenorhabditis elegans and zebrafish as model organisms to understand how these molecular mechanisms shape organism development.

 We have begun efforts to exploit the intricate molecular knowledge from our studies to design highly specific counter-measures to control cell division and intercellular communication, which are relevant for diseases like cancer, neurodegenerative disorders and intercellular viral transmission.

We invite excellent and motivated recent PhDs to contact the PI directly for applying to prestigious postdoctoral fellowship opportunities. Students who have recently submitted their PhD thesis are also welcome. The lab has mentored competitive young postdoctoral fellows to enable them to progress to the next stage of their careers.
 

  • Dr. Sharmishtha Samantaray

    Young Investigator 2011-13, Current Position: Scientist III, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bangalore India.

  • Dr. Megha Kumar

    DST-INSPIRE faculty 2017-18; Young Investigator 2013-17, Current Position: Senior Scientist, CSIR Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad Telangana, India.

  • Dr. Kuldeep Verma

    Former Young Investigator 2017-18, Current Position: Group leader/ staff scientist, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Hyderabad Telangana, India., Formerly: Assistant Professor, Nirma University, Ahmedabad India.

  • Dr. Sagar P Mahale

    Former PhD student, Current position: Postdoctoral fellow, Chandrasekhar Kanduri Lab, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg Sweden.

  • Dr. Amit Sharma

    Former PhD student, Current position: Postdoctoral fellow, Laurence Pelletier Lab, The Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute and the University of Toronto, Toronto Canada.

  • Dr. Pergu Rajaiah

    Former PhD student, Current position: Postdoctoral fellow, Amit Choudhary Lab, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge USA.

  • Dr. Harsh Kumar

    Former PhD student

  • Monika Rawat

    Former Integrated MSc-PhD student

  • Dr. Pushpa Kumari

    India Alliance DBT-Wellcome Trust Early Career Fellow, 2014-2020

  • Dr. Amrita Kumari

    Former PhD student, Current position: Postdoctoral fellow, Paul Kaufman Lab, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester MA, USA.

  • Dr. Sunayana Dagar

    Former PhD student, Current Position: Postdoctoral fellow, Srinivasa Subramaniam Lab, UF Scripps Biomedical Research, Jupiter FL, USA., Formerly: postdoctoral fellow at Yale University, New Haven CT, USA

  • Anushka Das

    former integrated MSc-PhD student

  • Harsh V Oza

    former integrated MSc-PhD student

  • Samanwita Ghosh

    Integrated MSc-PhD student

  • Samadip Chowdhury

    PhD scholar (Junior Research Fellow)

  • Sukirti Khantwal

    PhD scholar (Junior Research Fellow)

  • Manya Batra

    PhD scholar (Junior Research Fellow)

  • Mahima

    PhD scholar (Senior Research Fellow)

  • Mahendra Singh

    PhD scholar (Senior Research Fellow)

  • Neeraj Wasnik

    PhD scholar (Senior Research Fellow)

  • Diksha Pathak

    PhD scholar (Senior Research Fellow)

  • Chandan Kumar

    Research Associate

  • Fellow, Indian National Science Academy (INSA): 2024
  • Fellow, National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI): 2024
  • Member, Guha Research Conference (GRC): 2023
  • Distinguished Alumnus Award, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi: 2022

Selected Publications

All Publications

  1. Saha S, Verma R, Kumar C, Kumar B, Dey A, Surjit M, Mylavarapu SVS, and Maiti TK* (2021). Proteomic analysis reveals USP7 as a novel regulator of palmitic acid-induced hepatocellular carcinoma cell death. Cell Death and Disease, Jun 22; 13(6):563. doi: 10.1038/s41419-022-05003-4.
  2. Dagar S, Pathak D, Oza H and Mylavarapu SVS* (2021). Tunneling nanotubes and related structures: molecular mechanisms of formation and function. Biochem J, 478 (22): 3977-3998. doi: 10.1042/BCJ20210077
  3. Kumari A, Kumar C, Pergu R, Mahale SP, Kumar M, and Mylavarapu SVS* (2021). Phosphorylation and Pin1 binding to the LIC1 subunit selectively regulate mitotic dynein functions. Journal of Cell Biology, 220 (12): e202005184. doi:10.1083/jcb.20200518.
  4. Srinivasan B, Samaddar S, Mylavarapu SVS, Clement JP and Banerjee S* (2021). Homeostatic scaling is driven by a translation-dependent degradation axis that recruits miRISC remodeling. PLoS Biology, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001432.
  5. Pushpa K*, Dagar S, Kumar H, Pathak D and Mylavarapu SVS* (2021). The exocyst complex regulates C. elegans germline stem cell proliferation by controlling membrane Notch levels. Development, 148 (15):dev196345. doi: 10.1242/dev.196345.
  6. Kumari A, Kumar C, Wasnik N and Mylavarapu SVS* (2021). Dynein light intermediate chains as pivotal determinants of its multifunctionality. Journal of Cell Science, 134(10): jcs254870. Doi:10.1242/jcs.254870
  7. Dagar S, Pushpa K, Pathak D, Samaddar S, Saxena A, Banerjee S and Mylavarapu SVS (2020) Nucleolin regulates 14-3-3ζ mRNA and promotes cofilin phosphorylation to induce tunneling nanotube formation. FASEB Journal, https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.202001152R.
  8. Sharma A, Dagar S, Mylavarapu SVS (2020). Transgelin-2 and phosphoregulation of the LIC2 subunit of dynein regulate mitotic spindle orientation Journal of Cell Science, 133 (12):jcs239673. doi: 10.1242/jcs.239673. PMID: 32467330.
  9. Ananthanarayanan V, Mylavarapu SVS (2020). Meeting report - the Microtubules, Motors, Transport and Trafficking (M2T2) 2019 meeting. Journal of Cell Science, 133 (8).
  10. Kumar H, Pushpa K, Kumari A, Verma K, Pergu R and Mylavarapu SVS (2019). The Exocyst complex and Rab5 are required for Abscission by Localizing ESCRT III Subunits to the Cytokinetic Bridge. Journal of Cell Science 132 (14). PMID 31221728.
  11. Pergu R, Dagar S, Kumar H, Kumar R, Bhattacharya J and Mylavarapu SVS (2019). The chaperone ERp29 is required for tunnelling nanotube formation by stabilizing MSec. Journal of Biological Chemistry 294 (18): 7177-93.
  12. Dwivedi D, Kumari A, Rathi S, Mylavarapu SVS and Sharma M (2019). The dynein adaptor Hook2 plays essential roles in mitotic progression and cytokinesis. Journal of Cell Biology 218 (3): 871-894.
  13. Mylavarapu S, Kumar H, Kumar S, Sravanthi LS, Jain M, Basu A, Biswas M, Mylavarapu SVS, Das A and Roy M (2019). Activation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition and altered beta- catenin signalling in a novel Indian colorectal carcinoma cell line. Frontiers in Oncology 9: 54.
  14. Kumar M, Mylavarapu SV (2017) Role of Dynein Light Intermediate Chains in Embryonic divisions and Vertebrate Embryogenesis Mechanisms of Development 145:S62
  15. Mahale S, Kumar M, Sharma A, Babu A, Ranjan S, Sachidanandan C, Mylavarapu SV (2016) The Light Intermediate Chain 2 Subpopulation of Dynein Regulates Mitotic Spindle Orientation.. Sci Rep 6:22
  16. Mahale S P, Sharma A, Mylavarapu SV (2016) Dynein Light Intermediate Chain 2 Facilitates the Metaphase to Anaphase Transition by Inactivating the Spindle Assembly Checkpoint. PLoS One 11:e0159646
  17. Kumar M, Pushpa K, Mylavarapu SV (2015)  Splitting the cell, building the organism: Mechanisms of cell division in metazoan embryos IUBMB Life 67:575.
  18. Sivaram MVS, Wadzinski TL, Redick SD, Manna T, Doxsey SJ. (2009) Dynein Light Intermediate Chain 1 is required for progress through the Spindle Assembly Checkpoint. EMBO J 28(7):902.
  19. Srijita Banerjee, Mirsamadi N, Anantharaman L, Sivaram MVS, Gupta RB, Choudhury D, Roy RP. (2007) Electrostatic modification of the axial contact residues impact sickle hemoglobin polymerization by perturbing a network of coupled interactions. Protein J 26 (7):445.
  20. Sivaram MVS, Furgason ML, Brewer DN, Munson M. (2006) The structure of the Exocyst subunit sec6p reveals a conserved architecture with diverse roles. Nature Structural and Molecular Biology 13(6):555.
  21. Sivaram MVS, Saporita JA, Furgason ML, Boettcher AJ, Munson M. (2005) Dimerization of the Exocyst protein Sec6 and its interaction with the t-SNARE Sec9. Biochemistry 44(16):6302.
  22. Sudha R, Anantharaman L, Sivaram MVS, Lohiya NK, Gupta RB, Roy RP. (2004) Linkage of interactions in sickle hemoglobin fiber assembly: inhibitory effect emanating from mutations in the AB region of the alpha-chain is annulled by a mutation at its EF corner. J Biol Chem 279 (19):20018.
  23. Sivaram MVS, Sudha R, Roy RP. (2001) A role for the alpha 113 (GH1) amino acid residue in the polymerization of sickle hemoglobin. J Biol Chem 276(21):18209.
  24. John MV, Parwez I, Sivaram MVS, Mehta S, Marwah N, Ali S. (1996) Analysis of VNTR loci in fish genomes using synthetic oligodeoxyribonucleotide probes. Gene 172:191.
Dr. Sivaram Mylavarapu
Professor

Regional Centre for Biotechnology
NCR Biotech Science Cluster
3rd Milestone, Faridabad-Gurgaon Expressway
P.O. Box No. 3, Faridabad - 121 001
Haryana (NCR Delhi), India
E-mail: sivaram at rcb dot res dot in
Phone: 91 129-2848830

no text sivaram[at]rcb[dot]res[dot]in
no text 91 129-2848830

Dr. Sivaram Mylavarapu

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