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DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MADRAS

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DR. HEMA CHANDRA KOTAMARTHI

Assistant Professor

Education


  • 2014 - Ph. D (Biophysical Chemistry): Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.
  • 2008 - M. Sc (Chemistry): University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad.
  • 2006 - B. Sc (Maths, Physics, Chemistry): A.V. College of Arts, Science & Commerce, Osmania University, Hyderabad.

Biography

Hema Chandra Kotamarthi’s research interest lies in understanding the physicochemical properties of Biomolecules, in particular proteins and enzymes. Prior to his appointment as an Assistant professor at the IIT Madras in September 2020, he was a research scientist and Howard Hughes Medical Institute research associate at the Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the labs of Profs. Tania Baker and Bob Sauer. His interest in studying the kinetic and mechanical properties of proteins and enzymes stemmed during his graduate studies in Dr. Sri Rama Koti Ainavarapu’s lab at TIFR. Apart from research and teaching activities, he is also very interested in science communication and popularization and has written science articles for “Sakshi”, a Telugu daily. In addition, he has been a lead organizer of “Young Investigator Meeting- Boston”- 2018 & 2015, a platform that brings together academicians from India and researchers of Indian origin in the USA.

Research Interests

  • Molecular Biophysics/ Biophysical Chemistry
  • Mechano Biochemistry- ATP dependent biomolecular motors
  • Application of single-molecule force spectroscopy tools, optical tweezers and single-molecule AFM to understand protein and enzyme kinetics & mechanics
  • Single-molecule Enzymology
  • Protein folding/unfolding
  • Protein remodeling (Degradation and Disaggregation)

Honors and Recognitions

  • Education committee travel award for attending 61st Biophysical society meeting, 2017, U.S.A.
  • Honorable mention for the best thesis award in Chemistry at TIFR during 2014-2015.
  • Student Research Achievement Award in the Mechanobiology subgroup at 58th Biophysical Society, USA, 2014.
  • Travel Award for attending 7th Asian Biophysics Association- IBS symposium, New Delhi, 2011.

Representative Publications

  • Hema Chandra Kotamarthi, Robert Sauer, Tania Baker. “The non-dominant AAA+ ring in the ClpAP protease functions as an anti-stalling motor to accelerate protein unfolding and translocation”, Cell Reports, 2020, Vol 30, 2644-2654.
  • Amaris Torres-Delgado, Hema Chandra Kotamarthi, Robert Sauer, Tania Baker. “The intrinsicallydisordered N-terminal extension of the ClpS adaptor reprograms its partner AAA+ ClpAP protease”, Journal of Molecular Biology, 2020, Vol 432, 4908-4921.

  •  Adrian Olivares*, Hema Chandra Kotamarthi*, Benjamin Stein, Robert Sauer, Tania Baker, “Effect of directional pulling on mechanical protein degradation by ATP-dependent proteolytic machines”, Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, USA, 2017, Vol 114, E6306-E6313. (*Equal Contribution)

     Hema Chandra Kotamarthi,Anju Yadav, and Sri Rama KotiAinavarapu. “Small peptide binding stiffens the ubiquitin-like protein SUMO1”, Biophysical Journal, 2015, Vol 108, 360-367.

     Hema Chandra Kotamarthi, Satya Narayan, Sri Rama KotiAinavarapu. “Mechanical unfolding of ribose binding protein (RBP) and its comparison with other periplasmic binding proteins (PBPs)”, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2014, Vol 39, 11449-11454.

     Venkatraman Ramanujam, Hema Chandra Kotamarthi, Sri Rama KotiAinavarapu. “Ca2+ bindingenhanced mechanical stability of an archaeal crystallin”, PLOS ONE, 2014, Vol 9, e94513.

     Hema Chandra Kotamarthi,Riddhi Sharma, Satya Narayan, Sayoni Ray, and Sri Rama KotiAinavarapu. “Multiple unfolding pathways of leucine binding protein (LBP) probed by single- moleculeforce spectroscopy (SMFS)”, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2013, Vol 135, 14768-14774.

     Hema Chandra Kotamarthi, Riddhi Sharma, Sri Rama KotiAinavarapu. “Single- Molecule Studieson PolySUMO Proteins Reveal Their Mechanical Flexibility”, Biophysical Journal, 2013, Vol 104;2273-2281.

The Department of Chemistry is one of the first Departments to function after the Indian Institute of Technology Madras was founded in 1959

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