Prasad K Padmanabhan Assistant Research Professor

Research Interests:

Collectively, rare genetic disorders affect more than 30 million people in USA (https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/). Studies on rare disorders are key for understanding the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms associated with the diseases. My interest, under the guidance of Prof. Kasturi Haldar, is to describe the molecular mechanisms of two independent disorders; kabuki syndrome and non-ketotic hyperglycinemia (NKH) and explain the associated complications. Rare genetic disorders like Kabuki syndrome and non-ketotic hyperglycinemia (NKH) have a significant impact on affected individuals and their families, and research into their molecular mechanisms is crucial for developing effective therapies. We use mice models to study both the disorders and also test small molecular formulations to design new therapeutic approaches. Our lab is interested in multiomics approaches such as bulk RNA sequencing, single cell RNA sequencing and label free proteomics and these techniques are invaluable for understanding the molecular signatures associated with these disorders. The data generated from these experiments is vast, and data science analysis is crucial for extracting meaningful insights and that will direct us to detail validation procedures. In-depth lab procedures are essential for validating findings from omics approaches and for conducting experiments with mouse models. This includes various molecular biology techniques and assays. Overall, our research approach combining molecular biology techniques, data science analysis, and animal models is wide-ranging and promising for gaining a greater understanding of Kabuki syndrome and NKH, as well as for developing likely therapeutic interventions.

Biography:

• Assistant Research Professor, Department of Biological Science, University of Notre Dame IN. 2023-Present
• Staff scientist, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN, USA. 2020-2023
• Research Associate, Laval University, Quebec. 2015-2020
• Post-doctorate fellow, Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health. 2012-2015
• Post-doctorate fellow, Laval University, Quebec. 2007-2012

Education:

• Ph.D (Molecular Biology and Biochemistry of Infectious Diseases, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India)
• M.S. in Biochemistry, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Karnataka, India)

Recent Papers:

• Mukherjee A, Crochetière MÈ, Sergerie A, Amiar S, Thompson LA, Ebrahimzadeh Z, Gagnon D, Lauruol F, Bourgeois A, Galaup T, Roucheray S, Hallée S, Padmanabhan PK, Stahelin RV, Dacks JB, Richard D. A Phosphoinositide-Binding Protein Acts in the Trafficking Pathway of Hemoglobin in the Malaria Parasite Plasmodium falciparum. mBio. 2022 Jan 18;13(1): e0323921. doi: 10.1128/mbio.03239-21.
• Padmanabhan PK, Ferreira GR, Zghidi-Abouzid O, Oliveira C, Dumas C, Mariz FC, Papadopoulou B.,Genetic depletion of the RNA helicase DDX3 leads to impaired elongation of translating ribosomes triggering co-translational quality control of newly synthesized polypeptides. Nucleic Acids Res. 2021 Sep 20;49(16):9459-9478. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkab667. 
• Aguiar BG, Dumas C, Maaroufi H, Padmanabhan PK, Papadopoulou B. The AAA + ATPase valosincontaining protein (VCP)/p97/Cdc48 interaction network in Leishmania. Sci Rep. 2020 Aug 4;10(1):13135. doi: 0.1038/s41598-020-70010-4.
• Bhattacharya A, Bigot S, Padmanabhan PK, Mukherjee A, Coelho A, Leprohon P, Papadopoulou B, Ouellette M. New insights in the mode of action of anti-leishmanial drugs by using chemical mutagenesis screens coupled to next-generation sequencing. Microb Cell. 2020 Jan 21;7(2):59-61. doi: 10.15698/mic2020.02.708
• Bhattacharya A, Leprohon P, Bigot S, Padmanabhan PK, Mukherjee A, Roy G, Gingras H, Mestdagh A, Papadopoulou B, Ouellette M. Coupling chemical mutagenesis to next generation sequencing for the identification of drug resistance mutations in Leishmania. Nature Commuication. 2019 Dec 9;10(1):5627. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-13344-6.
• Guedes Aguiar B, Padmanabhan PK, Dumas C, Papadopoulou B.Valosin-containing protein VCP/p97 is essential for the intracellular development of Leishmania and its survival under heat stress. Cell Microbiol. 2018 Oct;20(10):e12867. doi: 10.1111/cmi.12867.
• Hiva Azizi, Tatiany P. Romão, Karen Santos Charret, Padmanabhan PK, Osvaldo P. de Melo Neto, Michaela Müller-McNicoll, Barbara Papadopoulou.RNA secondary structure and nucleotide composition of the conserved hallmark sequence of Leishmania SIDER2 retroposons are essential for endonucleolytic cleavage and mRNA degradation. PLoS One, Jul 13, 2017.
• Padmanabhan PK, Zghidi-Abouzid O, Samant M, Dumas C, Aguiar BG, Estaquier J, Papadopoulou B. DDX3 DEAD-box RNA helicase plays a central role in mitochondrial protein quality control in Leishmania. Cell Death Diseases, Oct 13, 2016.
• Mantel PY, Hjelmqvist D, Walch M, Kharoubi-Hess S, Nilsson S, Ravel D, Ribeiro M, Grüring C, Ma S, Padmanabhan PK, Trachtenberg A, Ankarklev J, Brancucci NM, Huttenhower C, Duraisingh MT, Ghiran I, Kuo WP, Filgueira L, Martinelli R, Marti M. Infected erythrocyte-derived extracellular vesicles alter vascular function via regulatory Ago2-miRNA complexes in malaria. Nature Communications, Oct 10, 2016.
• Yuan Li, Sheena Shah-Simpson, Kwame Okrah, A. Trey Belew, Jungmin Choi, Kacey L. Caradonna, Padmanabhan PK, David M. Ndegwa, M. Ramzi Temanni, Héctor Corrada Bravo, Najib M. El-Sayed, Barbara A. Burleigh.Transcriptome Remodeling in Trypanosoma cruzi and Human Cells during Intracellular Infection. PLoS Pathog. 2016 Apr 5;12(4):e1005511. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1005511. eCollection 2016 Apr