Skip to Main Content
Shukti Chakravarti

Shukti Chakravarti, PhD

Professor, Department of Ophthalmology

Professor, Department of Pathology

Keywords
inflammation, innate immunity, cornea, corneal disease, keratoconus genetics, extracellular matrix
Summary

SUMMARY

We are interested in understanding how the extracellular matrix (ECM) regulates cellular functions and tissue homeostasis. The ECM is a network of collagens, proteoglycans, and glycoproteins that facilitates cell communication and function in multicellular organisms. The macromolecular composition and the structure of the ECM change with the needs of the particular tissue. Importantly, in an ECM that is remodeling, the components are more readily available to interact with cells to provide instructive signals during repair and regeneration. We strive to understand dysregulations in these cell-ECM interactions that form the basis of many pathological conditions. Our work on lumican and other members of the small leucine-rich repeat proteoglycan (SLRP) family of the ECM show that in addition to regulating collagen fibril assembly, SLRPs interact with immune cells to regulate chemotaxis, phagocytosis, and toll-like receptor mediated innate immune responses in a remodeling ECM. Our ongoing work on SLRPs uses mouse models to elucidate the role of SLRPs in neutrophil, macrophage and dendritic cell functions in bacterial and viral infections.

 

A second research area in our laboratory focuses on the ECM changes and the underlying genetic causes in a corneal disease called keratoconus where there is a gradual loss in corneal cells and ECM. With progressive loss of vision and a poorly understood etiology, keratoconus is the second most common cause for corneal transplants worldwide. We are sequencing keratoconus patient DNA to identify causal genetic variants, and use cell culture and cornea organoid culture models for functional characterizations of these novel genetic variants.

Lab members

Masters Student

Tansol Choi, BS

Postdoctoral Fellows

George Maiti, PhD 2016-

Maithe Rocha Monteiro, de Barros  PhD 2021-

Sean Ashworth, PhD, 2022-

Research Technicians

Nan Hu, MS, 2017-

Mackenzie Charter, MS,, 2020-

Phone

646-501-8464

Academic office

435 E30th street

Science Building, 507

New York, NY 10016

Is this your profile?
These focus areas and their associated publications are derived from medical subject headings from PubMed.
represents one publication
Loading...
*Due to PubMed processing times, the most recent publications may not be reflected in the timeline.

Interim Vice Chair for Research, Department of Ophthalmology

PhD from University of Pittsburgh

Case Western Reserve University, Genetics

Maiti, George; Frikeche, Jihane; Lam, Carly Yuen-Man; Biswas, Asim; Shinde, Vishal; Samanovic, Marie; Kagan, Jonathan C; Mulligan, Mark J; Chakravarti, Shukti

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). 2021 Jul 06; 118(27):

Choi, Tansol; Maiti, George; Chakravarti, Shukti

International journal of molecular sciences. 2023 Oct 08; 24(19):

Maiti, George; Monteiro de Barros, Maithê Rocha; Hu, Nan; Dolgalev, Igor; Roshan, Mona; Foster, James W; Tsirigos, Aristotelis; Wahlin, Karl J; Chakravarti, Shukti

PNAS nexus. 2022 Nov; 1(5):pgac246

Chakravarti, Shukti; Enzo, Elena; de Barros, Maithê Rocha Monteiro; Maffezzoni, Maria Benedetta Rizzarda; Pellegrini, Graziella

Annual review of genomics & human genetics. 2022 Aug 31; 23:193-222

Monteiro de Barros, Maithê Rocha; Chakravarti, Shukti

Experimental eye research. 2022 Apr 03; 219:109062

Shinde, Vishal; Sobreira, Nara; Wohler, Elizabeth S; Maiti, George; Hu, Nan; Silvestri, Giuliana; George, Sonia; Jackson, Jonathan; Chakravarti, Aravinda; Willoughby, Colin E; Chakravarti, Shukti

Human molecular genetics. 2021 May 17; 30(8):658-671

Foster, James W; Parikh, Rupin N; Wang, Jiangxia; Bower, Kraig S; Matthaei, Mario; Chakravarti, Shukti; Jun, Albert S; Eberhart, Charles G; Soiberman, Uri S

Investigative ophthalmology & visual science. IOVS. 2021 May 03; 62(6):16