Department of
Biology

Girish Ratnaparkhi obtained his PhD from the Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He had postdoctoral stints at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles in the USA before joining IISER Pune. 

Research

Mechanisms of Cell Signalling in Animal Development and Disease

Molecular mechanisms underlying the development of organisms are remarkably conserved. Many developmental paradigms and their underlying genetic networks were first elucidated in Drosophila and these have provided insights into the development processes governing other organisms, including humans. In my research group, we utilize Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism to study the regulation of cellular signalling in the context of development and its misregulation in disease. The ongoing projects under this broad theme are.

1. Signalling in the innate immune response. In Drosophila, the Toll/NF-kappaB and IMD/NF-kappaB signalling cascades are the major facilitators of the host-defence response to pathogens. We are interested in uncovering new mechanisms and players that fine-tune the immune response.

2. Signalling mechanisms regulate disease progression in a Drosophila model for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis 8 (ALS8). We utilize a VAP(P58S) mutant line to understand gene regulatory networks involved in ALS.

3. Mon1 is a modulator of cellular signalling. In collaboration with Dr. Anuradha Ratnaparkhi, ARI, Pune, we have been involved in understanding Mon1, a component of the Rab7 GEF complex in both organ:organ signalling as a well as anterograde signalling in the neuro-muscular junction.

Selected Publications

Caspar, an adapter for VAP and TER94, connects glial ER Stress, proteasomal degradation and NF-kappaB signalling in a Drosophila model of ALS8. Tendulkar S, Hegde S, Thulasidharan A, Garg L, Kaduskar B, Ratnaparkhi A, Ratnaparkhi GS* (2021). bioRxiv 2021.04.07.438776. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.07.438776v1

SUMOylation of Jun fine-tunes the Drosophila gut immune response. Soory A, Ratnaparkhi GS* (2021). bioRxiv 2021.08.12.456072; doi: Manuscript under review in PLOS Pathogens (Aug 2021). https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.12.456072v3

SUMOylation of Dorsal attenuates Toll/NF B signalling. Hegde S, Sreejan A, Gadgil CJ, Ratnaparkhi GS* (2021). BioRxiv 2021.07.09.459254. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101
/2021.09.07.459254v1

Drosophila DMon1 constitutes a novel node in the brain-gonad axis essential for female germline maturation. Dhiman N, Shweta Y, Shweta T, Deshpande G, Ratnaparkhi GS*, Ratnaparkhi A* Development. 2019 Jul 10;146(13). pii: dev166504. doi: 10.1242/dev.166504.
Preprint @bioRxiv 508598; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/508598.

SOD1 activity threshold and TOR signalling modulate VAP(P58S) aggregation via reactive oxygen species-induced proteasomal degradation in a Drosophila model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Chaplot K, Pimpale L, Ramalingam B, Deivasigamani S, Kamat SS, Ratnaparkhi GS*. Dis. Mod. Mech. 2019 Feb 7;12(2). pii: dmm033803. doi: 10.1242/dmm.033803.