Profile
Umasankar K. Perunthottathu is a cell biologist, and heads the Intracellular Trafficking Lab at the National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, India. After completing PhD in Biotechnology from the National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, Umasankar did his postdoctoral research with (Late) Prof. Linton Traub at the Department of Cell Biology, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA where he discovered novel initiation mechanisms of clathrin-mediated endocytosis, a fundamental cellular internalization pathway. His research focuses on understanding the regulatory mechanisms of CME in development and disease. Using cultured cells and zebrafish model, his lab investigates how CME operates in healthy individuals, how it goes awry in individuals with certain congenital anomalies and how it is hijacked by viruses for entry and dissemination. The research findings from his lab may be useful in developing novel biomarkers for early prediction of congenital disorders as well as in identifying novel viral entry inhibitors.
Current Focus Areas
Elucidate initiation mechanisms of CME: role of intrinsically disordered regions and post translational modifications
Understand role of CME in BMP signal gradient interpretation during vertebrate development
Dysregulation of CME in congenital cholesterol biosynthesis /trafficking disorders
CME and Zika virus entry mechanisms
Selected Publications
Navyasree KV, Ramesh ST, Umasankar PK. Cholesterol regulates insulin-induced mTORC1 signaling. Journal of Cell Science, 2023, 136(22)
Shikha RT, Navyasree KV, Sah S, Anjitha AB, Qathoon N, Mohanty S, Swain RK, Umasankar PK. BMP2K phosphorylates AP-2 and regulates clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Traffic. 2021, 22(11):377-396
Umasankar PK, Sanker S, Thieman JR, Chakraborty S, Wendland B, Tsang M, Traub LM. Distinct and separable activities of the endocytic clathrin-coat components Fcho1/2 and AP-2 in developmental patterning. Nature Cell Biology. 2012, 14:488-501
Ma L*, Umasankar PK*, Wrobel AG*, Lymar A, McCoy AJ, Holkar SS, Jha A, Pradhan-Sundd T, Watkins SC, Owen DJ, Traub LM. Transient Fcho1/2.Eps15/R.AP-2 Nanoclusters Prime the AP-2 Clathrin Adaptor for Cargo Binding. Developmental Cell. 2016, 37(5):428-443
Umasankar PK, Ma L, Thieman JR, Jha A, Doray B, Watkins SC, Traub LM. A clathrin coat assembly role for the muniscin protein central linker revealed by TALEN- mediated gene editing. eLife. 2014, 10.7554/eLife.04137.