Bappaditya Chandra

Exploring Nature's Droplet Factories in Health and Disease

Conventionally we know that Protein’s unique shape gives it a unique function. However, some proteins defy this convention—they don’t adopt fixed structures or shape. Instead, imagine a protein that's more like a flexible strand of cooked spaghetti rather than a meticulously folded origami. Recent discoveries suggest these "floppy" regions in proteins might help them to form liquid droplet-like structures inside cells. Just as oil droplets in water, proteins and nucleic acids in our cells can create specialized droplets that act as cellular control centers. This process known as, "liquid-liquid phase separation," and the resulting droplets are known as "biomolecular condensates", are like tiny biological factories where important cellular reactions take place. In our lab, we study how these molecular droplets influence health and disease, particularly in cancer.

Our lab currently explores several exciting directions:

• How protein droplets drive cancer progression
• The role of viral proteins in manipulating cellular droplets
• Understanding droplet formation in genetic disorders
• Developing Bio-materials using the concepts of protein-nucleic acid phase separation

BIOC 702: Comprehensive Biochemistry II