Nithesh Chandrasekharan, an IPiB graduate student, will be defending his Ph.D. research on April 14, 2025. His research in the Coyle Lab studied how a class of calcium-binding proteins can bind to each other in the presence of calcium.
Certain single-celled organisms can move when chains of these cytoskeletal proteins contract and relax due to calcium signaling; still, little is known about how the proteins self-assemble. “No one knows how much calcium is required for the proteins to assemble or which domains are important for the assembly,” says Chandrasekharan. “This protein is very hard to study on its own in a test tube because once calcium is added, the protein immediately self-assembles and then you can’t study what’s happening.”
Chandrasekharan developed a tool to give researchers more control over the release of calcium in vitro. By shining light of specific wavelengths through a Nikon TI2E microscope onto a calcium-bound, light-activatable chelator, calcium can be released in a controlled manner. Chandrasekharan simultaneously captured and analyzed images of the protein self-assembling when the calcium was released.
“We learned a lot pretty quickly,” says Chandrasekharan. “Before, no one knew how much calcium was binding to this protein. Now we do, because of this new tool. What’s exciting is that somebody else can take this exact same tool and study a different calcium binding protein, so this work can continue to advance science.”
An ongoing interest in tool development is one reason that Chandrasekharan is planning to pursue a career in industry. To develop a deeper understanding of how scientific research is applied in industry settings, Chandrasekharan participated in the Graduate School Industry Internship Program with an internship at the Madison-based biotechnology company Aldevron, as well as the Morgridge Entrepreneurship Bootcamp. “One of the biggest reasons I wanted to do an industry internship was that I wanted to see how much bench science connects to the business and managerial side of biotech,” says Chandrasekharan. “I learned how to think about optimizing technical workflows while working toward clients’ goals.”
Chandrasekharan credits Coyle with giving him the latitude to explore his own scientific and professional interests. “Scott has helped me grow as a scientist and has helped me learn to think outside the box. He always supported me figuring out what I wanted to do for a career by letting me explore different career paths,” says Chandrasekharan.
Chandrasekharan served as Events and Management Chair and DEI Recruitment Liaison for IPiB’s Graduate Leadership and Development Committee (GLDC). He also served as one of the first peer mentors for International Student Services’ International Peer Mentor Program, which helps international undergraduate and graduate students navigate their first year on campus. He enjoyed connecting with graduate students from around the world and in a wide variety of disciplines, both through ISS and by attending the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS) and the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) conferences. Chandrasekharan’s connections with students from diverse backgrounds in IPiB and across campus helped him build a strong community during his time in Madison.
“Many of my closest friends are from diverse backgrounds and that was a strong point of connection for us, just having similar experiences and trying to figure out how to fit in, how to navigate being international,” recalls Chandrasekharan.
To learn more about Chandrasekharan’s research, attend his Ph.D. defense, “PICHU: Probing in vitro biochemical requirements for photo-actuated ultrafast calcium induced self-assembly of cytoskeletal protein fiber networks” on Monday, April 14 at 10 a.m. CT in Room 1211 of Hector F. DeLuca Biochemical Sciences Building.