Principal investigator

Dr. H. Raghuraman

Associate Professor

Crystallography and Molecular Biology Division

Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics

Kolkata, India

I had done my Ph.D. with Prof. Amitabha Chattopadhyay at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, India, and my post-doctoral research with Prof. Eduardo Perozo at the University of Chicago.  I am currently working as an Associate Professor at the Crystallography and Molecular Biology Division, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP), Kolkata, India since December 2014.  Basically, my research interest is focused on understanding the basic and fundamental aspects of lipid-protein interactions in membranes, and structural dynamics of membrane proteins.  I predominantly use site-directed labeling methods (fluorescence and EPR) for my research purposes.  I have worked with several challenging systems that include the hemolytic peptide melittin (Ph.D. work), CXCR1 N-domain peptide (during Ph.D.) and studied how the membrane components shape the organization and dynamics of these peptides in membranes.  

During my post-doctoral training, I had the opportunity to learn electrophysiology, X-ray crystallography, pulsed EPR and have significantly contributed to complex systems such as HIV protease, Centralspindlin complex, K+ channel KcsA, and voltage-sensing domains of KvAP and Ci-VSD.  I have consistently published my research findings in peer-reviewed journals and have given several invited lectures.  The long-term goal of my current research is to comprehensively understand the structural dynamics associated with voltage sensor movement and gating mechanisms of K+ and Mg2+ ion channels in membranes.  We use a combination of sophisticated site-directed spectroscopic approaches to probe changes in the organization and dynamics (that includes hydration dynamics too) in different functional states of these channel proteins.   Apart from that, my group is also interested in understanding how Mg2+channels sense the cytoplasmic Mg2+ and transports across the membranes since, unlike Na+ and K+ channels, the gating and permeation mechanisms of Mg2+ channels are not well understood.  Overall, I have been working in the field of membrane peptides/proteins and lipid-protein interactions for ~25 years now.