Thesis Title: Investigations of the structural changes in proapoptotic peroxidase- active cardiolipin-bound cytochrome c and liquid-gel phase transitions in liposomes using solid state NMR spectroscopy 

Graduation Date: November 30, 2016

Research Interests: 

Abhishek performed structural and dynamical measurements on cytochrome c (cyt-c) in its lipid-bound state. Cyt-c is primarily known for its role in the electron transfer pathway but it also plays an important role in intrinsic apoptosis. A required step in this process is the peroxidation of mitochondrial lipid cardiolipin (CL). A crucial open question is regarding the structural changes in the bound protein that allow its covalently bound heme to catalyze the peroxidation of CL acyl chains in the membrane core. He used solid-state NMR methodology to study the structure and dynamics of both the CL bound cyt-c as well as the vesicles themselves using samples mimicking the proapoptotic conditions that trigger cyt-c’s peroxidase activity.  These methods were complemented with various spectroscopic methods, including fluorescence based peroxidase assays, to correlate the function and structure of the bound cyt-c.

Education: 

Bachelor’s of Science in Biochemistry, Temple University, Philadelphia, 2011

PhD Advisor: Dr. Patrick CA van der Wel

Current Location:  Analyst with Highmark Inc., Pittsburgh, PA

 Publications:

• Mandal, A., Hoop, C.L., DeLucia, M., Kodali, R., Kagan, V.E., Ahn, J., & van der Wel, P.C.A. (2015) Structural changes and pro-apoptotic peroxidase activity of cardiolipin-bound mitochondrial cytochrome c. Biophys J. 109(9):1873-84
• Hoop CL, Lin HK, Kar K, Magyarfalvi G, Lamley JM, Boatz JC, Mandal A, Lewandowski JR, Wetzel R, van der Wel PC. Huntingtin exon 1 fibrils feature an interdigitated β-hairpin-based polyglutamine core. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016;113(6):1546-51
• Merg AD, Boatz JC, Mandal A, Zhao G, Mokashi-Punekar S, Liu C, Wang X, Zhang P, van der Wel PC, Rosi NL. Peptide-Directed Assembly of Single-Helical Gold Nanoparticle Superstructures Exhibiting Intense Chiroptical Activity. J Am Chem Soc. 2016 in press
• Mandal A, van der Wel PC. MAS ¹H NMR Probes Freezing Point Depression of Water and Liquid-Gel Phase Transitions in Liposomes. Biophys J. 2016; 111(9):1965-1973
• Mandal A, Boatz JC, Wheeler T, Van der Wel PC On the use of ultracentrifugal devices for routine sample preparation in biomolecular magic-angle-spinning NMR J. Biomol. NMR 2017 in press