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An Autonomous Institute of Dept. of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India

अर्नब मुखोपाध्याय

Research Interest:

Longevity, dietary restriction, diet-gene interactions, Insulin-IGF-1 signalling pathway, metabolism, stress response, germline development, reproductive aging, cell signaling, cross-tissue communications.

Summary of Research:

The primary focus of my lab is to understand the molecular mechanisms that determine the longevity of an organism. The main interests of the lab are:

  1. Diet-gene interactions that regulate longevity
  2. Regulation of the Insulin-IGF-1 signaling pathway
  3. Regulation of oogenesis and reproductive aging by nutrient-sensing pathways
  4. The biology of Dietary restriction
  5. Cancer metabolism
  6. Understanding the molecular link between aging and innate immune pathways
  7. Screening for novel compounds that extend longevity

We study signaling events that induce changes in gene expression during aging. Specifically, we examine the interactions of kinases, transcription factors, and co-regulators downstream of nutrient-sensing pathways that govern longevity, metabolism, stress response, and pathogen resistance. Additionally, we analyze the impact of micronutrients on life history traits and the evolution of regulatory mechanisms to counteract these effects. Our interests also extend to understanding how organisms detect cellular damage and regulate germline development and reproductive aging, collaborating with nutrient-sensing pathways. We are also exploring the conservation of metabolic rewiring defects during aging and cancer, using this knowledge to propose novel cancer therapies.  Furthermore, we explore phytochemicals in treating complications related to infection, metabolic disorders, and aging.

Group Members:
Simran Motwani, Rashi Mittal, Jasleen Kaur, Prerona Ghosh, Rajni Bala, Isha Rathore, Jyoti, Shreya Bhattacharjee, Somya Bhandari, Abinaya PSonu Gupta, Pankaj Mahto
Visiting students : Nafees Ansari, Trishna Pani, Somesh Kumar

Awards:
• JC Bose Fellowship (2023)
• Elected Fellow, Indian National Science Academy (INSA), 2021.
• SERB-Science Technology Award for Research (STAR) award, 2019
• Elected Fellow, The National Academy of Sciences (NASI), India, 2019
• Elected Member of Guha Research Conference (GRC) (2017)
• National Bioscience Award for Career Development (2016), Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India
• Ramalingaswami Fellowship (2009-2014), Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India

Publications:

 

  1. Motwani S, Bhandari S, Ujjainiya R, Chitkara S, Ghosh P, Sengupta S, Mukhopadhyay A^ (2026) RICTOR regulates an interspecies crosstalk that influences longevity through a methionine cycle-mitophagy axis.  Nature Communications (in press)
  2. Mittal R, P. Abinaya, Gokhale RS, Mukhopadhyay A (2026) Adaptive discrimination between non-tuberculous mycobacteria by Caenorhabditis elegans. microPublication Biology 10.17912/micropub.biology.002170.
  3. Ansari MN*, Kaur J*, Khan K, Kar A, Tripathi R, Jain D, Aggarwal B, Bajaj A, Mukhopadhyay A^, Dasgupta U (2025) A Localized Hydrogel-mediated Docetaxel-Carboplatin Combination Chemotherapy Targets Ganglioside Metabolism to Mitigate Tumour Progression. ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science 8(11): 3910-3922. (DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.5c00203) 
  4. Ansari MN*, Jha SK*, Khan A*, Rajput K, Pandey N, Jain D, Tripathi R, Medatwal N, Sharma P, Datta S, Kar A, Pani T, Ali S, Cholke K, Rana K, Snijesh VP, Mukherjee G, Deo SVS, Basak S, Ashutosh Mishra, Prabhu JS, Mukhopadhyay A, Bajaj A^, Dasgupta U^ (2025) The mTORC2 subunit RICTOR drives breast cancer progression by promoting ganglioside biosynthesis through transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms. PLoS Biology 23(9): e3003362. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003362
  5. Motwani S, Bhandari S, Mukhopadhyay A^ (2025) mTORC2 disruption reprograms nutrient-driven behavioral adaptations in C. elegans. microPublication Biology 10.17912/micropub.biology.00179
  6. Rahman SS, Bhattacharjee S, Motwani S, Prakash G, Ujjainiya R, Chitkara S, Nair T, Sai Keerthana R, Sengupta S, Mukhopadhyay A^ (2025) Methionine cycle in a pair of serotonergic neurons regulates diet-dependent behavior and longevity through a neuron-gut signaling. Nature Communications 16:5118. (DOI:10.1038/s41467-025-60475-0)
  7. Chamoli M^, Foulger A, Singh P, Lithgow G, Mukhopadhyay A^ (2025) Kinome-wide RNAi screening in Caenorhabditis elegans reveals new modulators of insulin signaling and longevity. Journal of Biosciences 50: 20. (DOI:10.1007/s12038-025-00512-8)
  8. Rautela U*^, Sarkar GC*, Chaudhary A, Chatterjee D, Rosh M, Arimbasseri AG, Mukhopadhyay A^ (2024) A non-canonical role of somatic CYCLIN D/CYD-1 in oogenesis and reproductive aging, dependent on the FOXO/DAF-16 activation state. PLoS Genetics 20(11):e1011453. (DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1011453)
  9. Garg A^, Shukla R, Kumar A, Aggarwal C, Mukhopadhyay A and Khanna N^ (2024) Differential Transcriptional Landscape of Vero Cells During Dengue Virus 2 Infection in the Presence of Sinococuline. Microorganisms 12(12): 2529. (DOI/10.3390/microorganisms12122529)
  10. Sarkar GC*^, Rautela U*, Goyala G*, Datta S, Anand N, Singh A, Singh P, Chamoli M, Mukhopadhyay A^ (2023) A cell non-autonomous FOXO/DAF-16-mediated germline quality assurance program that responds to somatic DNA damage. Development 150 (17): dev201472. (DOI:10.1242/dev.201472)
  11. Singh P*, Gollapalli K*……....Nair T……….. Kennedy BK, Andersen JK, Lithgow GJ, Ali AM,  Mukhopadhyay A, Palotie A, Kastenmüller G, Kaeberlein M, Wackerhage H, Pal B, Yadav VK^ (2023) Taurine deficiency as a driver of aging. Science 280 (6649):1-11. (DOI:10.1126/science.abn9257)
  12. Kar A*, Jain D*, Kumar S, Rajput K, Pal S, Rana K, Kar K, Jha SK, Medatwal N, Yavvari PS, Pandey N, Mehta D, Sharma H, Bhattacharya D, Pradhan MK, Datta Sharma R, Srivastava A, Agarwal U, Mukhopadhyay A, Sengupta S, Patil VS, Bajaj A^, Dasgupta U^ (2023) A Localized Hydrogel-mediated Chemotherapy Causes Immunogenic Cell Death via Activation of Ceramide-mediated Unfolded Protein Response. Science Advances 9: eadf2746. (DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adf2746)
  13. Nair T and Mukhopadhyay A^ (2023) Diet-gene interactions ensure optimal life span and health. J Bioscience 48 (42):1-3. (DOI:10.1007/s12038-023-00377-9) 
  14. Garg A, Alam M, Bai S, Dandawate M, Kumari N, Gupta S, Agrawal U, Nagarajan P, Reddy DS, Kulkarni MJ, and Mukhopadhyay A^ (2023) Protective Effects of Rifampicin and Its Analog Rifampicin Quinone in a Mouse Model of Obesity-Induced Type 2 Diabetes. ACS Pharmacology and Translational Science 6(2): 253–269. [http://doi.org/10.1021/acsptsci.2c00082] 
  15. Nair T, Chakraborty R, Singh P, Rahman SS, Bhaskar AK, Sengupta S and Mukhopadhyay A^ (2022) Adaptive capacity to dietary Vitamin B12 levels is maintained by a gene-diet interaction that ensures optimal life span. Aging Cell 21(1):e13518. (https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.13518).
  16. Kaushik N, Rastogi S, Verma S, Pandey D, Halder A, Mukhopadhyay A and Kumar N^ (2021) Transcriptome Analysis of Insulin Signaling-Associated Tran-scription Factors in C. elegans Reveal Their Genome-wide Target Gene Specificity and Complexity. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 22, 12462. (https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms222212462)
  17. Swati Priya, Kaur E, Kulshrestha S, Pandit A, Gross I, Kumar N, Agarwal H, Khan A, Shyam S, Bhagat P, Prabhu JS, Nagarajan P, Deo SVS, Bajaj A, Freund J-N, Mukhopadhyay A, Sengupta S^ (2021) CDX2 inducible microRNAs sustain colon cancer by targeting multiple DNA damage response pathway factors. Journal of Cell Science 134(15):jcs258601. (https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.258601)
  18. Pani T*, Rajput K*, Kar A*, Sharma H, Basak R, Medatwal N, Saha S, Dev G, Kumar S, Gupta S, Mukhopadhyay A, Malakar D, Maiti T, Arimbasseri AG, Deo SVS, Datta Sharma R, Bajaj A^, and Dasgupta U^ (2021) Alternative Splicing of Ceramide Synthase 2 Alters Levels of Specific Ceramides and Modulates Cancer Cell Proliferation and Migration in Luminal B Breast Cancer Subtype. Cell Death and Disease 12(2):171.
  19. Sreekanth V*, Kar A*, Kumar S, Pal S, Yadav P, Sharma Y, Komalla V, Sharma H, Shyam R, Sharma RD, Mukhopadhyay A, Sengupta S, Dasgupta U^, and Bajaj A^ (2020) Bile Acid Tethered Docetaxel‐based Nanomicelles Mitigate Tumor Progression through Epigenetic Changes. Angewandte Chemie International Edition (doi.org/10.1002/anie.202015173) 
  20. Goyala A, Baruah A and Mukhopadhyay A^ (2020) The genetic paradigms of dietary restriction fail to extend life span in cep-1(gk138) mutant of C. elegans p53 due to possible background mutations. PLoS One 15(11):e0241478. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0241478
  21. Chamoli M*, Goyala A*, Tabrez SS*, Siddiqui AA, Singh A, Antebi A, Lithgow GJ, Watts JL and Mukhopadhyay A^ (2020) Polyunsaturated fatty acids and p38 MAPK pathway link metabolic reprogramming to cytoprotective gene expression during Dietary Restriction. Nature Communications 11:4865 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18690-4) 
  22. Matai L*, Sarkar GC*, Chamoli M, Malik Y, Kumar SS, Rautela U, Jana NR, Chakraborty K#, Mukhopadhyay A#^ (2019) Dietary restriction improves proteostasis and increases life span through Endoplasmic Reticulum hormesis. Proceedings National Academy of Sciences USA 116 (35) 17383-17392. (https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1900055116)
  23. Verma S, Jagtap U, Goyala A and Mukhopadhyay A^ (2018) A novel gene-diet pair modulates C. elegans aging. PLOS Genetics 14(8): e1007608. (doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1007608) 
  24. Tabrez SS, Datta Sharma R, Jain V, Siddiqui AA and Mukhopadhyay A (2017) Differential alternative splicing coupled to nonsense-mediated decay of mRNA ensures dietary restriction-induced longevity. Nature Communications 8:306. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00370-5.
  25. Shariq M, Dhamgaye S, Nair R, Goyal N, Jain V, Mukhopadhyay A, Mondal AK, Mukhopadhyay G and Prasad R (2017) The global regulator Ncb2 escapes from the core promoter and impacts transcription in response to drug stress in Candida albicans cells. Scientific Reports 7:46084 | DOI: 10.1038/srep46084.
  26. Maity S*, Rajkumar A*, Matai L*, Bhat A, Ghosh A, Agam G, Kaur S, Bhatt NR, Mukhopadhyay A#, Sengupta S#, Chakraborty K#^ (2016) Oxidative homeostasis regulates response to reductive Endoplasmic Reticulum stress through translation control. Cell Reports 16, 851–865. 
  27. Singh A, Kumar N, Matai L, Jain V, Garg A and Mukhopadhyay A^ (2016) A chromatin modifier integrates insulin/IGF-1 signalling and dietary restriction to regulate longevity. Aging Cell 15, pp694–705. 
  28. Kumar N^, Jain V, Singh A, Jagtap U, Verma S and Mukhopadhyay A^ (2015) Genome-wide endogenous DAF-16/FOXO recruitment dynamics during lowered insulin signalling in C. elegans. Oncotarget 6(39):41418-33. 
  29. Golegaonkar S*, Tabrez SS*, Pandit A, Shalini S, JagadeeshaPrasad MG, Bansode S, Sampathkumar SG, Kulkarni MJ^ and Mukhopadhyay A^ (2015) Rifampicin reduces Advanced Glycation End products and activates DAF-16 to increase life span in Caenorhabditis elegans. Aging Cell 14(3):463-73. 
  30. Pandit A, Jain V, Kumar N, Mukhopadhyay A^ (2014) PHA-4/FOXA-regulated microRNA feed forward loops during Caenorhabditis elegans dietary restriction. Aging (Albany NY) 6(10): 835-55.
  31. Chamoli M, Singh A, Malik Y, Mukhopadhyay A^ (2014) A novel kinase regulates Dietary Restriction-mediated longevity in C. elegans. Aging Cell 13(4):641-55.
  32. Ritter AD, Shen Y, Fuxman Bass J, Jeyaraj S, Deplancke B, Mukhopadhyay A, Xu J, Driscoll M, Tissenbaum HA, Walhout AJ. (2013) Complex expression dynamics and robustness in C. elegans insulin networks. Genome Res. 23(6):954-65. 
  33. Khurana R, Kathuria H, Mukhopadhyay A, Kapoor S, Tyagi AK (2013) A 286 bp upstream regulatory region of a rice anther-specific gene, OSIPP3, confers pollen-specific expression in Arabidopsis. Biotechnol Lett. 35(3):455-62. 
  34. Parker JA, Vazquez-Manrique RP, Tourette C, Farina F, Offner N, Mukhopadhyay A, Orfila AM, Darbois A, Menet S, Tissenbaum HA, Neri C. (2012) Integration of β-catenin, sirtuin, and FOXO signaling protects from mutant huntingtin toxicity. J Neurosci. 32(36):12630-40. 
  35. Narasimhan S, Mukhopadhyay A, Tissenbaum HA (2009) InAKTivation of insulin/IGF-1 signaling by dephophorylation. Cell Cycle 8(23): 3878-3884. 
  36. Padmanabhan S*, Mukhopadhyay A*, Narasimhan S*, Tesz G, Czech MP, Tissenbaum HA (2009) A PP2A regulatory subunit, PPTR-1, regulates C. elegans insulin signaling by modulating AKT-1 phosphorylation. Cell 136:939-951. 
  37. Mukhopadhyay A*, Deplancke B*, Walhout AJM, Tissenbaum HA (2008) Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) coupled to detection by quantitative real-time PCR to study transcription factor binding to DNA in Caenorhabditis elegans. Nature Protocols 3(4):698-709. 
  38. Mukhopadhyay A, Pan X, Lambright D, Tissenbaum HA (2007) An endocytic pathway as a target of tubby for regulation of fat storage. EMBO Reports 8(10):931-938.
  39. Mukhopadhyay A and Tissenbaum HA (2007) Reproduction and longevity: secrets revealed by C. elegans. Trends in Cell Biology 17(2): 65-70.
  40. Mukhopadhyay A, Oh SW, Tissenbaum HA (2006) Worming pathways to and from DAF-16/FOXO. Experimental Gerontology 41:928-934.
  41. Deplancke B, Mukhopadhyay A, Ao W, Elewa AM, Grove CA, Martinez NJ, Sequerra R, Doucette-Stamm L, Tissenbaum HA, Mango SE, Walhout AJM (2006) A gene-centered C. elegans protein-DNA interaction network. Cell 125(6):1193-205.
  42. Oh SW*, Mukhopadhyay A*, Dixit BL, Raha T, Green MR, Tissenbaum HA (2006) Identification of direct DAF-16 targets controlling longevity, metabolism and diapause by chromatin immunoprecipitation. Nature Genetics 38(2):251-257. 
  43. Mukhopadhyay A, Deplancke B, Walhout AJM, Tissenbaum HA (2005) C. elegans tubby regulates life span and fat storage by two independent mechanisms. Cell Metabolism 2:35-41.
  44. Oh SW, Mukhopadhyay A, Svrzikapa N, Jiang F, Davis RJ, Tissenbaum HA (2005) JNK regulates life span in C. elegans by modulating nuclear translocation of FOXO/DAF-16. Proceedings National Academy of Sciences USA 102(12):4494-4499.

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Faculties

Dr. Anil Kumar
अनिल कुमार
anilk[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in
Dr. Ankita Varshney
अंकिता वार्ष्णेय
ankitavarshney[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in
Dr. Apurba Kumar Sau
अपूर्ब कुमार साउ
apurba[at]nii[dot]res[dot]in, apurba[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in
Dr. Bichitra K. Biswal
बिचित्र क. बिस्वाल
bbiswal[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in
Dr. Devinder Sehgal
डॉ. देविंदर सहगल
devinder[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in
Dr. Agam P. Singh
अगम पी. सिंह
singhap[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in
Dr. Nimesh Gupta
निमेश गुप्ता
nimesh[dot]gupta[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in
Dr. Prafullakumar B. Tailor
प्रफुल्लकुमार बी. टेलर
tailorp[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in
Dr. Soumen Basak.jpeg
सौमेन बसक
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Dr. Santiswarup Singha
शांतिस्वरूप सिंघा
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Dr. Tanmay Majumdar
तन्मय मजूमदार
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Dr. Veena S. Patil
वीना शिवगौड़ा पाटिल
veena[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in
Dr. Aneeshkumar A.G
अनीशकुमार ए.जी.
aneesh[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in
Dr. Devram Ghorpade
देवराम एस. घोरपड़े
dev[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in
Dr. Pushkar Sharma
पुष्कर शर्मा
pushkar[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in
Dr. Sagar Sengupta
सागर सेनगुप्ता
sagar[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in
Dr. Sanjeev Das
संजीव दास
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Dr. Vinay K. Nandicoori
विनय के. नंदिकूरी
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Dr. Debasisa Mohanty
देबाशिष महान्ति
deb[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in
Dr. G. Senthil Kumar
जी. सेंथिल कुमार
gskumar[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in
Dr. Monica Sundd
मोनिका सुंद
monicasundd[at]nii[dot]res[dot]in
Dr. S. Gopalan Sampathkumar
एस. गोपालन संपतकुमार
gopalan[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in
Dr. Sarika Gupta
सारिका गुप्ता
sarika[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in
Dr. P. Nagarajan
पी. नागराजन
nagarajan[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in
Dr. Chhuttan Lal Meena
छुट्टन लाल मीणा
cl[dot]meena[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in
rkyadav
राजेश कुमार यादव
rkyadav[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in
Dr. Narendra Kumar
नरेंद्र कुमार
narendra[at]nii[dot]ac[dot]in