Profile
Our group is interested in understanding fatty acid metabolism at the molecular level using a biochemistry and structural biology approach. We are working on the synthesis, dispersal, and modification of fatty acids in microorganisms like Leishmania, Saccharomyces, E. coli, etc. We are also looking into the mechanism of fatty acid synthesis in the human host and exploit the differences to design inhibitors exclusively against one organism.
Current Focus Areas
1) Fatty acid biosynthesis and dispersal by various lipid carrier proteins
2) Fatty acid modifications resulting in the formation of lipoic acid and biotin
3) Mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis and its association with various genetic disorders, cancer, NAFD etc.
Selected Publications
1. Dhembla C, Kumar A, Arya R, Kundu S, Sundd M. (2023) Mitochondrial Acyl Carrier Protein of Leishmania major Displays Features Distinct from the Canonical Type II ACP. Biochemistry 62(23) 3347-3359. doi: 10.1021/acs.biochem.3c00455
1. Worthmann et al. (2024) Fatty acid synthesis suppresses dietary polyunsaturated fatty acid use. Nat. Commun. 15(1):45. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-44364-y
3. Dhembla C, Yadav U, Kundu S, Sundd M. (2022) Lipoate protein ligase B primarily recognizes the C8-phosphopantetheine arm of its donor substrate and weakly binds the acyl carrier protein. J Biol Chem, 298(8):102203. doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102203.
4. Garima, Prem R, Yadav U, Sundd M. (2021) A GX2GX3G motif facilitates acyl chain sequestration by Saccharomyces cerevisiae acyl carrier protein. J Biol Chem. 297(6):101394. doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2021.101394.
5. Rajak MK, Bhatnagar S, Pandey S, Kumar S, Verma S, Patel AK, Sundd M. Leishmania major biotin protein ligase forms a unique cross-handshake dimer. Acta Crystallogr D Struct Biol. 2021 Apr 1;77(Pt 4):510-521.