RESEARCH

Extracellular vesicles including exosomes and microvesicles offer great opportunities for understanding biological mechanisms and diagnostic prospects for various disorders. Our laboratory explores the potential of extracellular vesicles from multiple sources for therapeutic applications including drug delivery to various neurological disorders.. The laboratory has well established facility for generation, isolation and characterization of extracellular vesicles and aims to bring these EVs for clinical applications. 

The pathological alterations that manifest during the early embryonic development due to inherited and acquired factors trigger various neurodevelopmental disorders including epilepsy, neuronal migration disorders and neurocognitive dysfunctions.. We are also focused on the potential use of stem cells and rodent models for elucidating neurodevelopmental disorders related to GABAergic interneuron development and dysfunction.  The laboratory has a well-established facility for stem cell  research and utilizes established directed differentiation protocols for the generation of multiple types of human neurons and 3D organoids from pluripotent stem cells..  

We utilize fluorescence microscopy, dual and triple immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, western blot, qPCR, ELISA, and other biochemical and cell-based assays, etc., in the facility and utilizes CRISPR/cas9 mediated gene editing, RNA sequencing, proteomic and lipidomic studies through collaborative research.   The laboratory depends on Kasturba Hospital Manipal for the patient population and clinical samples. and central animal facility for animal studies.