The Shukti Chakravarti Lab
Cell-Extracellular matrix (ECM) biology Lab
What we study
- ECM communications with immune cells in infection and inflammation
- Cells and the ECM of the cornea, a refractive and transparent layer of the eye essential for vision
- Keratoconus, where ECM loss and cell death weakens the cornea and disrupts vision
We study how the extracellular matrix (ECM) supports tissue structure and controls cell behavior in both health and disease. The ECM is a spatially organized network of collagens, proteoglycans, and glycoproteins that tightly controls cellular behavior. The ECM changes its composition and architecture to adapt to tissue needs. During active remodeling, through coordinated degradation and de novo synthesis, ECM components become more accessible to cells and provide instructive signals that guide repair and regeneration. Our goal is to define how disruptions in these cell–ECM interactions contribute to pathogenesis.
Shukti Chakravarti, Ph.D.
Research Images
Opportunities
Below are some research topics that may be of interest to potential students.
- Genetic studies of keratoconus on familial and isolated cases using whole genome and exome sequencing approaches.
- Gene editing in induced pluripotent stem cells and development of cornea organoids for functional studies of novel keratoconus variants. These studies will establish functions of novel genes in the cornea and their relevance to corneal diseases.
- ECM-immune cell interactions and their implications in infections and autoimmunity. Lumican, decorin, biglycan and fibromodulin are proteoglycans of the ECM that collagen fibril architecture and interact with immune cells. We have several projects that are ready to address how these proteoglycans interact with immune cells and their consequences on innate and adaptive immunity.