
Saradha VENKATACHALAPATHY
PhD Student, Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore
E0018317@u.nus.edu
Level 10 T-Lab
National University of Singapore
5A Engineering Drive 1
Singapore 117411
The Nano-Heartbuilder: BNIP-2 Influences Mechanosensing in Cardiomyoblast Differentiation
Researchers from the Low Lab at MBI discover a crucial role for the scaffold protein BNIP-2 in orchestrating focal adhesion dynamics during early heart development, offering new insights into heart regeneration strategies.
Shedding Light on Local Microtubule Regulation of Focal Adhesions
Researchers from the Bershadsky Lab at MBI utilized optogenetics to unlock the role of microtubules in regulating focal adhesion disassembly, an important step in cell migration. http://www.mbi.nus.edu.sg/featured-research/microtubules-and-cell-movement-a-closer-look-at-focal-adhesion-disassembly
A Warm Welcome to the 2025 Ph.D Cohort!
MBI is delighted to welcome the 2025 cohort of Ph.D students. Coming from a rich tapestry of countries – China, Vietnam, Singapore, India and the Philippines – these eleven outstanding individuals bring with them interdisciplinary expertise and fresh perspectives that will enrich MBI’s vibrant research community.
Neha Paddillaya
Research Fellow, Chan Group
Privita Edwina
Research Fellow, Holle Group
ZHUANG Zirui
PhD Student, Class of August 2025, Li Group
Saradha Venkatachalapathy
PhD Student
Recent Publications
- Venkatachalapathy S, Sreekumar D, Ratna P, and Shivashankar GV. Actomyosin contractility as a mechanical checkpoint for cell state transitions. Sci Rep 2022; 12(1):16063. [PMID: 36163393]
- Venkatachalapathy S, Jokhun DS, Andhari M, and Shivashankar GV. Single cell imaging-based chromatin biomarkers for tumor progression. Sci Rep 2021; 11(1):23041. [PMID: 34845273]
- Yang KD, Belyaeva A, Venkatachalapathy S, Damodaran K, Katcoff A, Radhakrishnan A, Shivashankar GV, and Uhler C. Multi-domain translation between single-cell imaging and sequencing data using autoencoders. Nat Commun 2021; 12(1):31. [PMID: 33397893]
- Yang KD, Damodaran K, Venkatachalapathy S, Soylemezoglu AC, Shivashankar GV, and Uhler C. Predicting cell lineages using autoencoders and optimal transport. PLoS Comput. Biol. 2020; 16(4):e1007828. [PMID: 32343706]
- Venkatachalapathy S, Jokhun DS, and Shivashankar GV. Multivariate analysis reveals activation-primed fibroblast geometric states in engineered 3D tumor microenvironments. Mol. Biol. Cell 2020;:mbcE19080420. [PMID: 32023167]
- Damodaran K, Venkatachalapathy S, Alisafaei F, Radhakrishnan AV, Sharma Jokhun D, Shenoy VB, and Shivashankar GV. Compressive force induces reversible chromatin condensation and cell geometry dependent transcriptional response. Mol. Biol. Cell 2018;:mbcE18040256. [PMID: 30256731]
- Roy B, Venkatachalapathy S, Ratna P, Wang Y, Jokhun DS, Nagarajan M, and Shivashankar GV. Laterally confined growth of cells induces nuclear reprogramming in the absence of exogenous biochemical factors. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2018;. [PMID: 29735717]
- Belyaeva A, Venkatachalapathy S, Nagarajan M, Shivashankar GV, and Uhler C. Network analysis identifies chromosome intermingling regions as regulatory hotspots for transcription. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2017;. [PMID: 29229825]
- Radhakrishnan AV, Jokhun DS, Venkatachalapathy S, and Shivashankar GV. Nuclear Positioning and Its Translational Dynamics Are Regulated by Cell Geometry. Biophys. J. 2017; 112(9):1920-1928. [PMID: 28494962]
- Mitra A, Venkatachalapathy S, Ratna P, Wang Y, Jokhun DS, and Shivashankar GV. Cell geometry dictates TNFα-induced genome response. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2017;. [PMID: 28461498]

