Dr punita kumari

Assistant Professor
punita@iiserb.ac.in
Phone: +91 755 269 1451
Group Homepage

Profile Details

April 2024 - Present: Assistant Professor at Department of Biological Sciences, IISERB, Bhopal
Nov. 2019 - Mar. 2024: Postdoctoral fellow at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre, Dallas, Texas
June 2014 - July 2019 : PhD from Dept. of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur
2011 - June 2013: MSc in Biotechnology from University of Pune, Pune
2008 - July 2011 : BSc in Biotechnology from Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Applied Sciences, Rajasthan University, Rajasthan
2021 NASI- Young Scientist Platinum Jubilee Award
2020 Outstanding PhD Thesis award, IIT Kanpur
2020 INSA Medal for Young Scientists
2017 Sun Pharma Science Scholar awardee (Biomedical Sciences)
2017 Dr. J. Nagaraju memorial research award (Life Sciences, First Prize)
2017 First Prize in Young Scientist Category at the 86th Conference of Society of Biological Chemists, JNU, New Delhi
2017 Gordon Research Conference travel grant (500 USD)
2011 First Rank in B.Sc (Graduated summa cum laude)
GPCRs represents the largest class of the cell-surface receptors that are targeted by ~40% of the currently marketed drugs. Downstream signaling cascades orchestrated by GPCRs are finely tuned by three primary effectors: heterotrimeric G Proteins, which initiate signaling; G protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRKs), that phosphorylates the receptor; and arrestins, which further couples to an agonist-occupied and phosphorylated receptor to initiate a broad spectrum of cellular signaling pathways independent of the G proteins.

Our current focus lies in studying different GPCRs and how their membrane environment fine-tunes GPCR signaling downstream. Specifically, we aim to address the following questions:

1. How phospholipids, a major component of the lipid bilayer orchestrates the structure and function of GPCRs?

2. What are the structural and molecular determinants of GPCR-GRK interaction ?

To study this, we are using a combination of biophysical, biochemical, and structural biology approach.

Positions available: We are actively recruiting PhD candidates. Interested candidates with a valid fellowship (UGC/CSIR/DBT/GATE or any equivalent fellowship) can mail their complete CV at punita@iiserb.ac.in

Self-funded Postdoc candidates with experience in membrane protein purification, protein biochemistry, and structural biology can also mail their CV along with a cover letter at Punita@iiserb.ac.in

To learn more, visit : Homepage
SNo Authors Title of Article Pid Journal Year
1 Punita Kumari,Aska Inoue,Karen Chapman,Peng Lian,Daniel Rosenbaum Molecular mechanism of fatty acid activation of FFAR1 6027 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2023
2 Shubhi Pandey*,Punita Kumari*,Mithu Baidya*,R Kise,Y Cao,H Dwivedi,R Banerjee,X X Li,C S Cedric,J D Lee,K Kawakami,J Maharana,A Ranjan,M Chaturvedi,G Deep,S A Laporte,T M Woodruff,Arun Shukla Inherent bias at non-canonical ?-arrestin-coupled seven transmembrane receptors 6029 Molecular Cell 2022
3 Yin Jie,K YM Chen,M J Clark,M Hijazi,Punita Kumari,X C Bai,R K Sunahara,P Barth,Daniel Rosenbaum Structure of D2 dopamine receptor-G protein complex in lipid membrane 6031 Nature ( Through e-Shodh Sindhu) 2021
4 Y Cao,K Kawakami,T M Stepniewski,M Chaturvedi,S Sposini,B Sokrat,Shubhi Pandey,Hemlata Dwivedi*,Punita Kumari*,Mithu Baidya*,S Laporte,S A Laporte,Arun Shukla Key phosphorylation sites in GPCRs orchestrate the contribution of Beta-Arrestin 1 in ERK1/2 activation 6033 EMBO 2020
5 D Roy,A Srivastava,M Chaturvedi,S Sposini,B Sokrat,S Pandey,Hemlata Dwivedi,Punita Kumari*,Mithu Baidya*,M Bouvier,Arun Shukla Genetically Encoded Intrabody Sensors Report the Interaction and Trafficking of Beta-arrestin 1 Upon Activation of G Protein-Coupled Receptors 6037 Journal of Biological Chemistry 2020
6 Shubhi Pandey,X X Li,A Srivastava,M Baidya,Punita Kumari,H Dwivedi,M Chaturvedi,E Ghosh,T Woodruff,A K Shukla Partial ligand- receptor engagement yields functional bias at the human complement receptor, C5aR1 6039 Journal of Biological Chemistry 2019
7 Eshan Ghosh,H Dwivedi,A Srivastava,M Baidya,Punita Kumari,T Stepniewski,H R Kim,M H Lee,J Gastel,M Chaturvedi,D Roy,S Pandey,J Maharana,R G Gonzallez,L M Luttrell,Y Chung,S Dutta,J Selent,Arun Shukla Conformational Sensors and Domain Swapping Reveal Structural and Functional Differences between ?-Arrestin Isoforms 6041 Cell Reports 2019
8 Mithu Baidya,Punita Kumari,Arun Shukla Entering the pocket: Crystal structure of Prostaglandin D2 receptor 6051 Molecular Cell 2018
9 Punita Kumari,A Srivastava,E Ghosh,R Ranjan,S Dogra,P N Yadav,Arun Shukla Core engagement with ?-arrestin is dispensable for agonist-induced vasopressin receptor endocytosis and ERK activation 6043 Molecular Biology of the Cell 2017
10 Eshan Ghosh,A Srivastava,M Baidya,Punita Kumari,H Dwivedi,K Nidhi,R Ranjan,S Dogra,A Koide,P N Yadav,S S Sidhu,S Koide,Arun Shukla A synthetic intrabody-based selective and generic inhibitor of GPCR endocytosis 6047 Nature Nanotechnology 2017
11 Punita Kumari,A Srivastava,R Banerjee,E Ghosh,P Gupta,R Ranjan,X Chen,B Gupta,C Gupta,D Jaiman,Arun Shukla Functional competence of a partially-engaged GPCR-?-arrestin complex 6045 Nature Communications ( Open Access from 2016) 2016
12 Eshan Ghosh,Punita Kumari,Deepika Jaiman,Arun Shukla Methodological advances: The unsung heroes of GPCR structural revolution 6049 Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology 2015