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Genetics and Stem Cell Group

Molecular disturbances involving multiple genes contribute to the complexity of psychiatric disorders, requiring a focus on cellular and molecular changes. Advances in stem cell technology allow us to investigate specific molecular mechanisms underlying neuropsychiatric disorders and offer insights into genetic variations and their effects on neuronal functioning in neural cell models using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). This offers potential for improved diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

Dr Biju Viswanath

Lead Investigator, Bipolar Disorder Cohort

Dr. Meera Purushottam

Senior Scientific Officer, Molecular Genetics Lab, Department of Psychiatry

Dr. Suhas Ganesh

Clinician Scientist, MQ: Transforming Mental Health Fellow, Department of Psychiatry

Dr. Reeteka Sud

Lab Senior Scientist, Department of Psychiatry

Affiliated Labs and Centre

Molecular Genetics Laboratory (MGL)
Bhalla Lab
Padinjat Lab
ADBS Data Centre

Facilities

Sanger Sequencing

SeqStudio Flex 24-cap Genetic Analyzer

High-capacity computational cluster

Master Node:
CPU: 4x Intel Xeon Gold 6150, 144 cores
Memory: 2TB DDR4 ECC @ 2666 MT/s
Storage: 20TB SSD + auxiliary
SAN Storage:500TB via LVM
Compute Nodes (2):
CPU: Dual Intel Xeon Gold 5115, 40 cores each
Memory: 128GB DDR4 ECC @ 2666 MT/s each
Storage: 1TB SSD each
Integrated with SAN Storage for data management

Cell Culture Facility

Biosafety Level 2

Inverted Fluorescence Microscope

Sample Biorepository

Liquid Handling Robot

epMotion 5075

Genetic Analyzer

3500xl Genetic Analyzer for Human Identification

Featured Publications

Janardhanan M, Sen S, Shankarappa B, Purushottam M. Molecular genetics of neuropsychiatric illness: some musings. Front Genet. 2023;14:1203017. Published 2023 Nov 1. doi:10.3389/fgene.2023.1203017

Shankarappa B, Mahadevan J, Murthy P, et al. Hypomethylation of Long Interspersed Nucleotide Elements and Aldehyde Dehydrogenase in Patients of Alcohol Use Disorder with Cirrhosis. DNA Cell Biol. 2023;42(7):364-371. doi:10.1089/dna.2022.0669

Sukumaran SK, Paul P, Guttal V, et al. Abnormalities in the migration of neural precursor cells in familial bipolar disorder. Dis Model Mech. 2022;15(10):dmm049526. doi:10.1242/dmm.049526

Ratna N, Pasupulati SL, Nadella RK, Purushottam M, Jain S. Complexities in Genetic Counseling and Testing of Huntington's Disease: A Perspective from India. Neurol India. 2022;70(5):2141-2144. doi:10.4103/0028-3886.359184

Paul P, Iyer S, Nadella RK, et al. Lithium response in bipolar disorder correlates with improved cell viability of patient derived cell lines. Sci Rep. 2020;10(1):7428. Published 2020 May 4. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-64202-1

Timothy A, Benegal V, Shankarappa B, Saxena S, Jain S, Purushottam M. Influence of early adversity on cortisol reactivity, SLC6A4 methylation and externalizing behavior in children of alcoholics. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2019;94:109649. doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2019.109649

Viswanath B, Rao NP, Narayanaswamy JC, et al. Discovery biology of neuropsychiatric syndromes (DBNS): a center for integrating clinical medicine and basic science. BMC Psychiatry. 2018;18(1):106. Published 2018 Apr 18. doi:10.1186/s12888-018-1674-2

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