Biochemistry researcher with PhD

NANDHINI MUTHUKRISHNAN

**, ****** ***** *** ** Mobile: (979)571-

2847

Natick, Massachusetts 01760

********.*************@*****.***

EDUCATION

Ph.D. in Biochemistry CGPA: 3.4/4.0 Sep 2009 – May

2014

Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas

Bachelor of Technology in Industrial Biotechnology CGPA: 8.7/10.0 Aug 2005 – May

2009

Anna University, Chennai, India

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Fluorescence techniques: Epifluorescence and Confocal Microscopy, Fluorescence Anisotropy (binding

studies), UV-Vis

Mammalian cell culture: Handling of cell lines HeLa, NIH 3T3, COS7, COLO316, HaCaT, HEK293, Neuro-2,

Human Dermal fibroblasts; Plasmid transfection, Cell viability assays (MTT), Red Blood Cells (erythrocytes) –

Hemolysis assays

Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis- Fmoc Chemistry: Synthesis of short fluorescently labeled peptides on solid

MHBA resin

Molecular biology/Protein purification: DNA ligation, plasmid extraction, Bacterial transfection, Agarose gel

electrophoresis, Inducible protein expression in E.Coli, His-tag purification, Chitin purification, Ion-exchange

chromatography (IEX), Size exclusion chromatography (SEC), Affinity chromatography, SDS

electrophoresis/Western Blot, HPLC, FPLC, MALDI-TOF, LC/MS/MS, Orbitrap Mass spectrometry,

Lyophilization

Liposome Preparation/ Assays/ Binding Studies: Synthesis of LUVs by extrusion, GUVs synthesis, Peptide-

lipid binding studies, Intraliposomal delivery studies

SOFTWARE SKILLS

Fluorescence Imaging and Analysis: Slidebook, Image J

Binding Studies: GraphPad Prism, Kaleidagraph

Molecular Structure Analysis: Chemdraw, Rasmol, Pymol

Data Processing and Representation: Adobe Illustrator, PowerPoint, Excel

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Texas A&M University, College Station, USA

Graduate Research Assistant, May 2010-May 2014

Mechanistic studies on photo-induced intracellular delivery using Fl-CPPs for the purpose of therapeutic drug/

nanoparticle delivery into cancer cells, development of antibacterial agents, delivery of biomarkers to cells

- Synthesized and purified fluorescently labeled cell penetrating peptides (Fl-CPPs) using Fmoc solid

phase peptide synthesis, HPLC, IEX and SEC techniques, detection of proteins/peptides by Mass

spectrometry, LC/MS

- Developed and performed photolysis experiments on Red Blood Cell model using Fl-CPPs

- Developed and performed experiments on mammalian cell lines with Fl-CPPs using epifluorescence

and confocal fluorescence microscopy

- Performed lipid- Fl-CPP binding studies on liposomes using fluorescence anisotropy

National Center for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India

Project Intern, Dec 2008-Apr 2009

Preliminary Resonance Raman Spectroscopy study on DNA repair enzyme FPG glycosylase

- Successfully purified an enzyme, Formamidopyrimidine glycosylase (FPG) using His-tag affinity

purification, HPLC, IEX and SDS electrophoresis techniques

- Generated Raman spectra for the enzyme to study conformational changes of FPG during binding

Anna University, Chennai, India

Undergraduate Research Trainee, Feb 2008-Jun 2008

Resolution of lipases using Blue Native Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (BN-PAGE)

- Applied variation of electrophoresis to overcome aggregation problems associated with lipases in native

PAGE and to obtain resolution on native gels.

Anna University, Chennai, India

Undergraduate Research Trainee, Jul 2008-Dec 2008

- Designed and manufactured an External granular sludge bed reactor to obtain granules of anaerobic

bacteria that will help degrade waste-water substrates

PUBLICATIONS

1. Muthukrishnan N., Donovan S., Pellois J.P., The photolytic activity of poly-arginine cell

penetrating peptides conjugated to carboxy-tetramethylrhodamine is modulated by arginine residue

content and fluorophore conjugation site. Photochem Photobiol 2014

2. Johnson G.A., Ellis E.A., Kim H., Muthukrishnan N., Snavely T., Pellois J.P., Photoinduced

membrane damage of E. coli and S. aureus by the photosensitizer-antimicrobial peptide conjugate

eosin-(KLAKLAK)2. PLoS ONE 2014

3. Meerovich I., Muthukrishnan N., Johnson G.A., Erazo-Oliveras A., Pellois J.P., Photodamage of

lipid bilayers by irradiation of a fluorescently labeled cell-penetrating peptide. Biochimica et Biophysica

Acta 2013

4. Johnson G.A., Muthukrishnan N., Pellois J.P., Photo-inactivation of Gram positive and Gram

negative bacteria with the antimicrobial peptide (KLAKLAK)(2) conjugated to the hydrophilic

photosensitizer eosin Y. Bioconjugate chemistry 2013, 24(1):114-123.

5. Muthukrishnan N., Johnson G.A., Erazo-Oliveras A., Pellois J.P., Synergy between cell-penetrating

peptides and singlet oxygen generators leads to efficient photolysis of membranes. Photochem

Photobiol 2013, 89(3):625-630.

6. Muthukrishnan N.*, Erazo-Oliveras A.*, Baker R.*, Wang T-Y., Pellois J.P., Improving the

Endosomal Escape of Cell-Penetrating Peptides and Their Cargos: Strategies and Challenges.

Pharmaceuticals 2012, 5(11):1177-1209.

7. Muthukrishnan N., Johnson G.A., Lim J, Simanek E.E., Pellois J.P., TAT-mediated photochemical

internalization results in cell killing by causing the release of calcium into the cytosol of cells.

Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 2012, 1820(11):1734-1743.

8. Muthukrishnan N.*, Srinivasan D.*, Johnson G.A., Erazo-Oliveras A., Lim J., Simanek E.E.,

Pellois J.P., Conjugation to the Cell-Penetrating Peptide TAT Potentiates the Photodynamic Effect of

Carboxytetramethylrhodamine. PLoS ONE 2011, 6(3):e17732.

9. Saminathan M., Muthukumaresan K.T., Rengarajan S., Muthukrishnan N., Gautam P., Blue native

electrophoresis study on lipases. Anal Biochem 2008, 377(2):270-271.

*co-first authorship

Contact this candidate