Ankur Jain

Ankur Jain

Thomas D. and Virginia M. Cabot Career Development Professor; Core Member, Whitehead Institute

Ankur Jain investigates the role of RNA self-assembly in cellular organization and neurodegenerative disease.

617-452-3563

Phone

WI-561C

Office

ajain@wi.mit.edu

Email

Lab Website
Beverly Dobson

Assistant

617-258-5214

Assistant Phone

Education

  • PhD, 2013, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
  • BTech, 2007,  Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

Research Summary

We study how biomolecules in a cell self-organize. In particular, we are interested in understanding how membrane-free cellular compartments such as RNA granules form and function. Our lab develops new biochemical and biophysical techniques to investigate these compartments and to understand their dysfunction in human disease.

Awards

  • Young Alumni Achiever's Award, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, 2019
  • NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, 2017

Key Publications

  1. RNA phase transitions in repeat expansion disorders. Jain, A, Vale, RD. 2017. Nature 546, 243-247.
    doi: 10.1038/nature22386PMID:28562589
  2. Stoichiometry and assembly of mTOR complexes revealed by single-molecule pulldown. Jain, A, Arauz, E, Aggarwal, V, Ikon, N, Chen, J, Ha, T. 2014. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111, 17833-8.
    doi: 10.1073/pnas.1419425111PMID:25453101
  3. Probing cellular protein complexes using single-molecule pull-down. Jain, A, Liu, R, Ramani, B, Arauz, E, Ishitsuka, Y, Ragunathan, K, Park, J, Chen, J, Xiang, YK, Ha, T et al.. 2011. Nature 473, 484-8.
    doi: 10.1038/nature10016PMID:21614075

Recent Publications

  1. Toward Single-Cell Single-Molecule Pull-Down. Wang, X, Park, S, Zeng, L, Jain, A, Ha, T. 2018. Biophys J 115, 283-288.
    doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2018.05.013PMID:29804751
  2. Voltage-gated sodium channels assemble and gate as dimers. Clatot, J, Hoshi, M, Wan, X, Liu, H, Jain, A, Shinlapawittayatorn, K, Marionneau, C, Ficker, E, Ha, T, Deschênes, I et al.. 2017. Nat Commun 8, 2077.
    doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-02262-0PMID:29233994
  3. RNA phase transitions in repeat expansion disorders. Jain, A, Vale, RD. 2017. Nature 546, 243-247.
    doi: 10.1038/nature22386PMID:28562589
  4. Single-Molecule Analysis of Lipid-Protein Interactions in Crude Cell Lysates. Arauz, E, Aggarwal, V, Jain, A, Ha, T, Chen, J. 2016. Anal Chem 88, 4269-76.
    doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.5b04127PMID:27015152
  5. Stoichiometry and assembly of mTOR complexes revealed by single-molecule pulldown. Jain, A, Arauz, E, Aggarwal, V, Ikon, N, Chen, J, Ha, T. 2014. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111, 17833-8.
    doi: 10.1073/pnas.1419425111PMID:25453101
  6. An improved surface passivation method for single-molecule studies. Hua, B, Han, KY, Zhou, R, Kim, H, Shi, X, Abeysirigunawardena, SC, Jain, A, Singh, D, Aggarwal, V, Woodson, SA et al.. 2014. Nat Methods 11, 1233-6.
    doi: 10.1038/nmeth.3143PMID:25306544
  7. Towards a computational model of a methane producing archaeum. Peterson, JR, Labhsetwar, P, Ellermeier, JR, Kohler, PR, Jain, A, Ha, T, Metcalf, WW, Luthey-Schulten, Z. 2014. Archaea 2014, 898453.
    doi: 10.1155/2014/898453PMID:24729742
  8. ATPase-driven oligomerization of RIG-I on RNA allows optimal activation of type-I interferon. Patel, JR, Jain, A, Chou, YY, Baum, A, Ha, T, García-Sastre, A. 2013. EMBO Rep 14, 780-7.
    doi: 10.1038/embor.2013.102PMID:23846310
  9. Dynamics of major histocompatibility complex class I association with the human peptide-loading complex. Panter, MS, Jain, A, Leonhardt, RM, Ha, T, Cresswell, P. 2012. J Biol Chem 287, 31172-84.
    doi: 10.1074/jbc.M112.387704PMID:22829594
  10. Dynamic association of ORCA with prereplicative complex components regulates DNA replication initiation. Shen, Z, Chakraborty, A, Jain, A, Giri, S, Ha, T, Prasanth, KV, Prasanth, SG. 2012. Mol Cell Biol 32, 3107-20.
    doi: 10.1128/MCB.00362-12PMID:22645314

Multimedia

Photo courtesy of Ankur Jain