Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
📍 3F5, Academic Block I
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Research Area
Neurobiology
Research Interests
Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Protein Trafficking in the Central Nervous System
An essential requirement for maintenance of homeostasis in any living organism is the ability of cells to sense the external environment and, in the case of multicellular organisms, for cells to communicate with each other via mediators released into the extracellular milieu. In the brain, a variety of neurotransmitters and neuromodulators act on target receptors to activate cellular signaling events which transfer information from one cell to the next. Normal signaling depends on accurate localization of such receptors in specific regions of the cell, and the process of receptor trafficking plays a critical role in controlling this localization. Despite the obvious significance of this process, we still know very little about the protein machineries that mediate trafficking of neurotransmitter receptors in the brain, the regulatory events that control these protein machineries, and the functional consequences of these regulatory events. Research in my laboratory is directed to elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate the trafficking of (a) ionotropic glutamate receptors and (b) G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) in the central nervous system. These trafficking events are thought to be critical for various physiological processes. For example, glutamate receptor trafficking is believed to be involved in virtually all forms of experience-dependent plasticity including learning and memory. On the other hand, GPCR trafficking is believed to play crucial role in various physiological processes as well as in various neuropsychiatric disorders. My laboratory would employ multi-disciplinary approaches ranging from biochemistry and molecular biology to cell biology, imaging, and mouse genetics to address these questions.
Since 2023 : Professor, IISER Mohali, India
Since 2021 : Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Neurochemistry
Since 2021 : Member of the Editorial Board of the Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience
2017 - 2023 : Associate Professor, IISER Mohali, India
2010 - 2017 : Assistant Professor, IISER Mohali, India
2005 - 2010 : Post-doctoral fellow. Stanford University, Palo Alto, USA
1999 - 2004 : PhD, National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), India
1997 - 1999 : M.Sc, Department of Biophysics, Molecular Biology and Genetics, University of Calcutta, India
1994 - 1997 : B.Sc, Honours in Physics from University of Calcutta, India
Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Neurochemistry from 2021 – present.
Member of the Editorial Board of the Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience from 2021 – present.
Served as the expert in the DBT neurobiology task force from 2012-2014.
Awarded TIFR alumni association patent award in the year 2012.
Awarded Kanwal Rekhi career development fellowships (TIFR) for years 2002- 2005.
Namrata Ramsakha, Prachi Ojha, Subhajit Pal, Sanjeev Routh, Ami Citri and Samarjit Bhattacharyya. A vital role for PICK1 in the differential regulation of metabotropic glutamate receptor internalization and synaptic AMPA receptor endocytosis. Journal of Biological Chemistry 299(6), 2023.
Prachi Ojha, Subhajit Pal and Samarjit Bhattacharyya. Regulation of metabotropic glutamate receptor internalization and synaptic AMPA receptor endocytosis by the postsynaptic protein norbin. Journal of Neuroscience 42(5):731–748, 2022.
Saurabh Pandey, Namrata Ramsakha, Rohan Sharma, Ravinder Gulia, Prachi Ojha, Wei Lu and Samarjit Bhattacharyya. The post-synaptic scaffolding protein tamalin regulates ligand-mediated trafficking of metabotropic glutamate receptors. Journal of Biological Chemistry 295(25):8575–8588, 2020.
Rohan Sharma, Ravinder Gulia and Samarjit Bhattacharyya. A critical role for sorting nexin 1 in the trafficking of metabotropic glutamate receptors. Journal of Neuroscience 38(40):8605–8620, 2018.
Ravinder Gulia, Rohan Sharma and Samarjit Bhattacharyya. A critical role for ubiquitination in the endocytosis of glutamate receptors. Journal of Biological Chemistry 292(4):1426–1437, 2017.
Prabhat Kumar Mahato, Saurabh Pandey and Samarjit Bhattacharyya. Differential effects of protein phosphatases in the recycling of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5. Neuroscience 306:138–150, 2015.
Saurabh Pandey, Prabhat Kumar Mahato and Samarjit Bhattacharyya. Metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 recycles to the cell surface in protein phosphatase 2A-dependent manner in non-neuronal and neuronal cell lines. Journal of neurochemistry 131(5):602–614, 2014.
Rishi Raj Trivedi and Samarjit Bhattacharyya. Constitutive internalization and recycling of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5). Biochemical and biophysical research communications 427(1):185–190, 2012.
Samarjit Bhattacharyya, Virginie Biou, Weifeng Xu, Oliver Schlüter and Robert C Malenka. A critical role for PSD-95/AKAP interactions in endocytosis of synaptic AMPA receptors. Nature neuroscience 12(2):172–181, 2009.
Samarjit Bhattacharyya, Sapna Puri, Ricardo Miledi and Mitradas M Panicker. Internalization and recycling of 5-HT2A receptors activated by serotonin and protein kinase C-mediated mechanisms. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99(22):14470–14475, 2002.