Written by Bhawik Jain, Ph.D.
I grew up in a small town in the northwestern part of India which is surrounded by beautiful hills where we speak mostly regional languages and Hindi. I still remember that during my childhood I always wondered how small living organisms evolved into complex human beings and never thought that one day I would be investigating these questions. To pursue education, I have to migrate to different parts of India which helped me to explore the diversity of the beautiful country.
For my graduate studies, I joined ACTREC, Navi Mumbai, my work focused on identifying the factors controlling the size and shape of cellular organelles. Altered organelle size and shape lead to improper cellular function. Metabolism and/or signaling likely get affected by organelle size and shape. The idea of organelle-directed medicine to cure diseased cells in which reprogramming organelle size and shape can result in reprogramming cellular state or behaviour. I was interested in studying the process that controls and maintains the size and shape of intracellular organelles, such as the Golgi apparatus and Nucleus. We found that organelle size is critical for function and alteration can lead to cancer and neurological disorders. Another aspect of my research work involves membrane trafficking which plays an essential role in the viability and growth of the cells. Our group made an interesting discovery to identify the COPI vesicle arrival sites on the ER membrane which are known as ER arrival sites. This discovery made me more interested in membrane trafficking, and I decided to continue my work in this exciting field.
My current research at Vanderbilt in Todd Graham’s lab focused on lipid flippases. The organization and composition of lipids within a cellular membrane direct their function. An important property of the plasma membrane is the asymmetric distribution of lipids on different sides of the bilayer. Flippases, translocate lipids from the exofacial- to the cytofacial side of the bilayer, and thus are the principal determinants of membrane asymmetry. Mutations within human flippases genes elicit cholestasis, metabolic disease, neurological dysfunction, and blood disorders. We discovered the Cryo-EM structure and transport mechanism of the yeast lipid flippases in collaboration with Dr.Huilin Li’s Group at Van Andel Institute. Currently, I am trying to understand the structure/function relationships for the P4 ATPase protein family. In the long term, studies like these may help us understand the mechanism of various diseases. Humans express 14 members of the P4 ATPase family, and defects in these proteins are linked to severe neurological diseases, liver disease, immune deficiency, and metabolic disease; a human flippase is specifically linked to a new and rare neurodevelopmental disorder. These structure/function studies are helping us understand the human health consequences of variants in these proteins.
I’ve been fortunate to have communities of colleagues and resources across both the university and the medical center. At the Vanderbilt Postdoctoral symposium, I got to meet with the cohort of postdocs, a multidisciplinary group of scholars from different fields. It has been super interesting to hear from fellow postdocs about their projects and ideas. The BRET office also has great resources through BRET Career Development ASPIRE Program which organizes several workshops for academic as well as industry careers for postdocs which is very useful for research, skills-building, and professional development.
The best thing about science is that it is a continuous learning curve, no matter what stage of your career you are at. I believe that science is involved in every activity of our routine life. Although it involves lots of failures and frustrations, it helps you to understand the different phases of life. My journey taught me lots of things, which helped me to evolve as a better human being. I feel a scientific career involves many small victories. We should enjoy it and look forward to another exciting day to explore.
Outside of the lab, I spend my time with my lovely family and friends exploring vibrant Nashville city. I also enjoy playing cricket and trying new recipes in the kitchen.