Mukhopadhyay Lab
Our Research
The Mukhopadhyay Lab investigates how eukaryotic pathogens adapt conserved cellular machinery to survive, spread and interact with their hosts. Our research focuses on cilia and flagella – specialised organelles that drive movement, environmental sensing and cell–cell interactions across the eukaryotic kingdom.
We study trypanosomatid parasites, including Leishmania and Trypanosoma, which cause significant human disease worldwide. These organisms depend on a single multifunctional flagellum throughout their life cycles, using it to navigate diverse environments and respond to changing conditions within both insect and mammalian hosts.
By combining cell biology, biochemistry, advanced imaging and structural biology, we seek to understand how flagella are assembled, maintained and regulated at the molecular level. A major focus of the lab is uncovering how intraflagellar transport systems and molecular motors build and control these organelles, and how these mechanisms have evolved in different organisms.
Our work aims to reveal fundamental principles of eukaryotic cell biology while identifying parasite-specific adaptations that could provide new opportunities for the development of future treatments against infectious diseases.
Publications
Selected publications
- Mukhopadhyay AG et al. (2024). Structure and tethering mechanism of dynein-2 intermediate chains in intraflagellar transport. The EMBO Journal.
- Hesketh SJ#, Mukhopadhyay AG# et al. (2022). IFT-A Structure Reveals Carriages for Membrane Protein Transport into Cilia. Cell.
- Toropova et al, with Mukhopadhyay AG, Dey CS. Reactivation of flagellar motility in demembranated Leishmania reveals role of cAMP in flagellar wave reversal to ciliary waveform. Scientific Reports. (2016) 6:1-4
