AREA OF RESEARCH

My broad research interest is to understand the mechanism of protein degradation by Ubiquitin-Proteasome-System (UPS) in human 3Ds – Disease, Disorders & Development. The UPS is the major protein degradation machinery in all eukaryotes responsible for the timely degradation of the damaged, unused and retired proteins Thereby it regulates almost all cellular signaling pathways during normal and diseased settings. Despite the extensive involvement of Proteasomes in human pathologies and being a potential hotspot for target therapy, we are lacking the deeper understanding on the Proteasome functionality under disease conditions.

Currently my lab research focuses to investigate the mechanism of Proteasome impairment under human pathologies and how to develop modalities for synthetic manipulation of UPS to degrade misfolded proteins and oncoproteins. In other words, we will be investigating the mechanism of how proteasome complexes are manipulated by several physiological factors during disease progression and learn how can we exploit UPS for therapeutic interventions. For instances currently I am exploring a possibility for a novel approach to activate the UPS by repurposing some FDA-approved drugs (Viagra) to trigger misfolded protein degradation. We integrate interdisciplinary approaches including protein biochemistry, proteomic, structural biology and molecular cell biology to answer these imperative questions. Currently, the importance of proteasome research holds great value and a high demand for the Indian ecosystem. This setting provides a golden opportunity and a suitable background to drive proteasome research toward therapeutics interventions.

PUBLICATIONS

1. Brindhavanam PT, Sahu I*. Decoding the ubiquitin landscape by cutting-edge ubiquitinomic approaches. Biochemical Society Transactions. Apr 2024; 52(2):627-637. [* Corresponding Author]. See publication
2. Sahoo M.P#, Levi T#, Cohen N, Sahu I, Kleifeld O*. Activity-Guided Proteomic Profiling of Proteasomes Uncovers a Variety of Active (and Inactive) Proteasome species. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics. March 2024, Vol. 23 (3), 100728. See publication
3. Sahu I, Zhu He, Buhrlage Sara*, Marto Jarrod A*. Proteomic approaches to study ubiquitinomics. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Gene Regulatory Mechanisms. June 2023, Vol.1866 (2), 194940. See publication
4. Sahu I#*, Bajorek M#, Osmulski P, Krutauz D, Reis N, Gaczynska M, Glickman M.H*. A unique role for the N-terminus of the alpha-2 subunit in aiding substrate translocation into the catalytic core of the proteasome. Biomolecules. 2023, 3(3), 480. [* Corresponding Author, # Equal Contribution]. See publication
5. Sahu I*, Sahoo M.P, Kleifeld O*, Glickman M.H*. Isolation of Proteasome-Trapped Peptides (PTPs) for degradome analysis. Methods in Molecular Biology. 2023, 2602: 229–241. [* Corresponding Author]. See publication
6. Sahu I, Mali S.M, Sulkshane P, Morag R, Xu C, Rozenberg A, Sahoo M.P, Singh S.K, Ding Z, Wang Y, Day S, Cong Y, Kleifeld O*, Brik A*, Glickman M.H*. The 20S as a stand-alone proteasome in cells can degrade the ubiquitin tag. Nature Communications 2021, 12, 6173. See publication. Featured article on Editors’ Highlights webpage https://www.nature.com/collections/hhfigaahch
7. Sahu I* and Glickman M.H*. “Proteasome in action” – Substrate degradation by the 26S proteasome. Biochemical Society Transactions 2021, 49 (2): 629–644. [* Corresponding Author]. See publication
8. Sahu I* and Glickman, M.H*. Structural insights into substrate recognition and processing by the 20S Proteasome. Biomolecules 2021, 11(2), 148. [* Corresponding Author]. See publication
9. Tiwari R, Ganguli N, Alam H, Sahu I, Vadivel C, Sinha S, Patel S, Jamghare S, Bane S, Thorat R, Manjumdar, Vaidya M.M*. Generation of tissue specific transgenic model for K8 phosphomutants: A tool to investigate the role of K8 phosphorylation during skin carcinogenesis in vivo. Cell Biol Int. 2021, 45 (8), 1720-1732. See publication
10. Sahu I, Nanaware Padma, Mane M, Mulla W.S, Roy S, and Venkatraman P*. Role of a 19S Proteasome Subunit- PSMD10/Gankyrin in Neurogenesis of human Neural Progenitor Cells. International Journal of Stem cells. (2019) Vol. 12, (3), 463-473. See publication
11. Ding Z, Xu C, Sahu I, Wang Y, Fu Z, Huang M, Wong C. C. L, Glickman M.H*, Cong Y*. Structural snapshots of 26S proteasome reveal tetraubiquitin-induced conformations. Molecular Cell. (2019) Vol. 73 (6), 1150-1161. See publication
12. Tiwari R, Sahu I, Soni B, Sathe G.J, Thapa P, Patel P, Sinha S, Vadivel C.K, Patel S, Oak S, Thorat R, Gowda H, and Vaidya M.M*. Depletion of Keratin 8/18 modulate oncogenic potential of A431 cells by governing multiple signaling pathways. FEBS J. (2018) Vol. 285(7):1251-1276. See publication
13. Tiwari R, Sahu I, Soni B, Sathe G.J, Datta K.K, Thapa P, Dhaka B, Sinha S, Gowda H, and Vaidya M.M*. Quantitative phosphoproteomic analysis reveals system-wide signaling pathways regulated by site-specific phosphorylation on Keratin-8 in skin squamous cell carcinoma derived cell line. Proteomics. (2017) Vol. 17, Issue 7. See publication. [Inside Front Cover: See front cover]
14. Sahu I#, Singh S.K#, Mali S.M, Hemantha H.P, Kleifeld O, Glickman M.H*, and Brik A*. Synthetic uncleavable ubiquitinated proteins dissect proteasome deubiquitination and degradation and highlight distinctive fate of tetraubiquitin. J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2016) Vol. 138, 16004−16015. [# Equal Contribution]. See publication
15. Hjerpe R, Bett J.S, Keuss M.J, Solovyova A, McWilliams T.G, Johnson C, Sahu I, Varghese J, Wood N, Wightman M, Osbourne G, Bates G.P, Glickman M.H, Trost M, Knebel A, Marchesi F, and Kurz T*. UBQLN2 connects the proteasome with the HSP70 system to promote autophagy-independent protein aggregate clearance. Cell. (2016) Vol. 166 (4), 935-949. See publication
16. Sahu I, Sangith N, Ramteke M, Gadre R, Venkatrama P*. A novel role for the proteasomal chaperone PSMD9 and hnRNPA1 in enhancing IκBα degradation and NF-κB activation – functional relevance of predicted PDZ domain–motif interaction. FEBS J. (2014) Vol. 281 (11), 2688-2709. See publication
17. Sangith N, Srinivasaraghavan K, Sahu I, Desai A, Medipally S, Somavarappu A.K, Verma C, Venkatraman P*. Discovery of novel interacting partners of PSMD9, a proteasomal chaperone: Role of an Atypical and versatile PDZ-domain motif interaction and identification of putative functional modules. FEBS Openbio. (2014) Vol. 4, 571–583. See publication

AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

1. Marie-Curie Individual Fellowship and Grant, H2020-MSCA-IF, European Commission for Post-Doctoral research, and career development. At Prof Michael Glickman’s Lab in the Faculty of Biology at Technion, Israel; from Nov 2017 to Oct 2019. (Grant amount: €182,500.00).
2. Daniel Turnberg Travel Fellowship Award, The Academy of Medical Sciences, Wellcome Trust, UK. The grant is for a 1-month research project in Prof Helen Walden’s Lab at the University of Glasgow, Scotland during the month of Jan-Feb 2020. (Fellowship amount: £3,500.00).
3. FEBS – Short-Term Fellowship Award, Europe. The grant is for a short-term (45 days) research project in Prof Helen Walden’s Lab at the University of Glasgow, Scotland from Jun-Jul 2019. (Fellowship amount: €3,672.00).
4. General Travel Grant – 2022, Biochemical society, UK for presenting data in an International Conference “XI-ZOMES Meeting” – at Magdeburg, during 1-3 September 2022, organized by the University of Magdeburg, Germany
5. FEBS- Young Scientist Forum (YSF) Award – 2020/2021 and International Sponsored Travel grant, Biochemical Society, UK for FEBS-Congress meeting in Slovenia during 1-9 Jul 2021.
6. Early Career Bursaries, Biochemical Society, UK for presenting research data as a Poster presentation in a Meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland organized by Biochemical Society, UK during 17-19 Jun 2019.
7. Marie Curie Alumni association (MCAA) Micro One-World Grant, for attending European Research Day-2018 in Bangalore, India organized by MCAA Indian-Chapter and EURAXESS-India on 26th Sept 2018.
8. FEBS- Young Scientist Forum (YSF) Award for attending FEBS young scientist meeting and presenting a short talk at FEBS Congress during 7-14-Sept 2017.
9. Early Career Bursaries, Biochemical Society, UK for presenting research data as a Poster presentation in a Meeting at Oxford organized by Biochemical Society, UK during 26-28 Jun 2017.
10. Sam Mistry Travel Award, Tata Memorial Centre, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India for presenting research data at an international conference in Philadelphia, US organized by ASCB during 6-10 Dec 2014.
11. Senior Research Fellowship – SRF (Sept 2012 – July 2015) and Junior Research Fellowship – JRF (Aug 2010 – Aug 2012). At ACTREC-Tata Memorial Cancer Research Centre, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai-410210, India for PhD research.
12. National Eligibility Test (NET) for Junior Research Fellowship and Lectureship – 2009 (AIR 330). Human Resource Development Group, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)/ University Grant Commission (UGC), India.
13. GATE-2010 in Life Science (Score 459, AIR 387). National Coordination Board – GATE, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), Government of India.
14. Senior Research Fellowship – SRF (2009), National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), India at CIFA, Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

MEMBERSHIPS

• 2022: Topical advisory panel member (Proteomics section) for the journal “MDPI – Biology”.
• 2017: Marie-Curie Alumni Association (MCAA), Europe. MCAA-India Chapter.
• 2017: Biochemical Society, UK
• 2016: Israel Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ISBMB), Israel

INVITED TALKS

• Young Scientist speaker, NRSM-Meeting, ACTREC-TMC, Navi Mumbai, on 06-08 December 2023.
• At the Department of Biotechnology, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha on 25 Apr 2022.
• At the Department of Biotechnology, Ramadevi University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha on 25 Apr 2022.
• On Zoom for Aurigene Discovery Technologies, Bangalore on 13 Jan 2022.
• At National Centre for Cell Sciences (NCCS), Pune on 27 Feb 2020.
• At ACTREC, Tata Memorial Centre, Navi Mumbai, India on 24 Feb 2020.
• For a Seminar series at Institute of Mol Cell & Systems Biology, University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK on 31 Jan 2020.
• At MRC-PPU, School of Life Sciences University of Dundee on 16 Jul 2019.
• At the Department of Microbiology, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, Odisha on 29 Sept 2018.
• A TED Talk at Technion, Haifa, Israel on 1Jan 2018, organized by Technion-International, Israel.

WEBINAR TALKS

• Webinar on “How to apply for Europe’s most prestigious postdoctoral fellowships (MSCA-PF)” organized by Euraxess-India on 16^th May 2023.
• Webinar on “How to write a successful MSCA-PF proposal” organized by Euraxess-India on 5^th July 2023.
• Webinar on “How to apply for Europe’s most prestigious postdoctoral fellowships (MSCA-PF)” organized by Euraxess-India on 22^nd April 2024.
• Webinar on “How to write a successful MSCA-PF proposal” organized by Euraxess-India on 6^th June 2024

PRESENTATIONS

• Presented a talk at an international conference “10^th Proteasome & Autophagy Congress” at Clermont-Ferrand, France during 13-15 November 2024 organised by Team Proteostasis-Europe, Human Nutrition Unit, France & INRAE, France.
• Presented a Poster at an international meeting “YIM-2020” at Bhopal, India, on 11-13 March 2024 organized by IndiaBioscience and DBT-India.
• Presented a talk at an international conference “2^nd International Neurology Symposium” at SRM-Medical College & Hospital, Chennai, India on 12 February 2024 organized by SRMIST MCH, Chennai India, King’s College, London & Parkinson’s Research Alliance India.
• Presented a Talk at an international conference “Deubiquitylases and Ubl-proteases: from fundamental principles to therapeutic opportunities” at Edinburgh, Scotland, UK during 19-21 June 2023, organized by Biochemical Society, UK.
• Presented a short Talk at an international conference “XI-ZOMES Meeting” – in Magdeburg, during 1-3 September 2022, organized by University of Magdeburg, Germany.
• Presented a talk (on Zoom) at an international meeting “9^th Proteasome & Autophagy Congress” in Clermont-Ferrand, France during 13-15 October 2021.
• Presented short talk (on Zoom) at international meeting “Sci-ROI 2021 virtual Annual Event” during September 25 – October 3, 2021, organized by Sci-ROI@India. Won the Scientific-Art context.
• Presented e-Poster and Speed-talk (on Zoom) for an international meeting “20th Young Scientists’ Forum (YSF)” originally planned for Lovran, Croatia, June 15th to June 18th, 2021, organized by FEBS, Europe.
• Presented a Talk (on Zoom) at an international conference “45^th FEBS Congress” – originally planned for Ljubljana, Slovenia, during July 3rd to July 8th, 2021, organized by FEBS, Europe.
• Presented Poster and short talk at an international meeting “YIM-2020” at Mahablipuram, India, on 14-18 February 2020 organized by IndiaBioscience and DBT-India.
• Presented Poster at an international conference “Deubiquitylases: from mechanism to physiology”, in Edinburgh, Scotland, 17-19 June 2019 organized by Biochemical Society, UK. (Best Poster Award).
• Presented a Digital Poster at “6^th MCAA General Assembly & Conference” in Vienna, Austria, during 24-25 February 2019 organized by MCAA.
• Presented a Talk at an international conference “X-ZOMES Meeting” – in Akko, Israel, during 4-7 February 2019, organized by Technion, Haifa, Israel.
• Presented a Poster at an international conference “The Proteasome Hub” – in Munich, Germany during 12-14 February 2018, organized by PROTEOSTASIS, Europe.
• Presented a Talk at an international conference “42^nd FEBS Congress” – in Jerusalem, Israel, during 10-14 September 2017, organized by FEBS, Europe.
• Presented Poster at an international meeting “17th Young Scientists’ Forum (YSF)” in Jerusalem, Israel, 7-10 September 2017 organized by FEBS, Europe.
• Presented Poster at an international meeting “Deubiquitylases: from structure to physiology”, in Oxford, UK, 26-28 June 2017 organized by Biochemical Society, UK.
• Presented a Short-Talk & Poster at an international meeting “3rd PROTEOSTASIS Action Meeting” – in Lisbon, Portugal during 2-5 Nov 2016, organized by COST Action BM1307 Proteostasis, EU. (Best Poster Award).
• Presented Talk at an international meeting organized by “Ubiquitin-Proteasome System-Israel Club (UPSIC)” at Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, held on 29^th September 2016.
• Presented Poster at an international conference “Carcinogenesis-2015”, organized by Carcinogenesis Foundation, USA and ACTREC-TMC, India on 11-13 February 2015 at Advanced Centre for Treatment Research and Education in Cancer, Navi Mumbai, India.
• Presented Poster at an international conference “American Society of Cell Biology (ASCB)/ International Federation for Cell Biology (IFCB) Meeting-2014” held on 06-10 December 2014 in Philadelphia, PA, USA.
• Presented Poster at an international conference “The XXXVII All India Cell Biology Conference on Cell Dynamics and Cell Fate (AICBC-2013)”, conducted by Indian Society for Cell Biology on 22-24 December 2013 at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.
• Presented Poster at an international conference “32^nd Annual Convention of Indian Association for Cancer Research (IACR-2013)” on 13-16 February 2013 at Delhi University, New Delhi, India. (Best Poster Award).

CONFERENCE/ WORKSHOP ORGANISED

• Organising secretary for the International Conference – “Proteostasis & Ubiquitin Proteasome System (ProUPS-25)” during 3-5 February 2025 at SRM-IST University, Kattankulathur campus, Chennai, India.
• Organising committee member for the International Conference – “53^rd Annual meeting IPSCON-2023” during 14-16 December 2023 at SRM-IST University, Kattankulathur campus, Chennai, India.
• Organising secretary for the “Info-Session on European Fellowships for students and researchers” on 29^th September 2023 at SRM-IST University, Kattankulathur campus, Chennai, India.
• Organising committee member for the workshop on faculty development program “Overview of Systematic Review and Meta-analysis” on 27^th June 2023 at SRM-IST University, Kattankulathur campus, Chennai, India.
• Conducted Scientific Workshops: I have conducted three Scientific Workshops (7-10 days each) at Technion during Feb-2018, June-2018 and Oct-2018 to teach technique for “Eukaryotic Proteasome purification” from different sources. PhD and Postdoc researchers from various Institutes of Europe has participated.

OPPORTUNITIES

Our lab is looking for highly motivated researchers  for postdoctoral positions to explore national programs like SERB-NPDF, WISE, DBT RA, and MK Bhan Fellowships.

We are offering opportunities for PhD candidates in our research group. We are open to collaborations, inviting you to join us as we can collectively strive for exploration and innovation.