Nirupama Sumangala

Education

2018 - Present - Ph.D. Candidate, Biophysics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

2014 - Integrated B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Systems Biology

Research Project

Cytochrome P450s comprise a superfamily of membrane-bound heme monooxygenases responsible for the metabolism of ~75% of drugs in the current market. Electron transfer from Cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) is a key step to the enzyme catalysis, and there exists an equilibrium between high-spin and low-spin ferric iron that determines the enzymatic function of P450. My research focuses on studying the spin state of P450’s heme in the presence of lipid membrane, redox partner, and substrate using biophysical experiments and peptide-based lipid nanodiscs.

Publications

(2) 2018 - Sumangala N., Mahajan M., Ravula T., Ramamoorthy A., Cytochrome-P450's Spin State Influences its Binding Affinity to its Redox Partner, Biophysical Journal 114 (3), 425a

(1) 2017 - Barnaba C., Gentry K., Sumangala N., Ramamoorthy A., The catalytic function of cytochrome P450 is entwined with its membrane-bound nature, F1000Research 6.

Oral Presentation and Posters

2018 - Biophysical Society Conference, San Francisco, CA.