Padmanabhan Pattabiraman, PhD

Dr. Padmanabhan Pattabiraman obtained his Bachelors and Masters majoring in Biochemistry from Tamil Nadu, India and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Trieste, Italy. He studied the role of neurotrophic factors - brain derived neurotrophic factor and neurotrophin 4/5 - in visual cortical plasticity.

For more information, visit: https://ppattabi.wixsite.com/padhulab 

During the post-doctoral training at Duke University in the lab of Dr. Vasanth Rao, he demonstrated the significance of molecular interactions between actomyosin-based contractile activity and extracellular matrix on IOP regulation. His studies provided evidence for the effects of Rho GTPase on mechanotransduction in TM via regulation of ECM synthesis and contractile activity within the AH drainage pathway. He showed this is important in IOP regulation. He generated a rodent model of ocular hypertension by overexpressing constitutively active RhoA. This model provided the proof of concept that constitutively active RhoA induces fibrogenic activity leading to ocular hypertension in a Rho kinase-dependent manner. Inhibition of Rho signaling by Rho kinase inhibitor decreased the IOP via decreasing the ECM deposition. Further, he was involved in the preclinical testing of the RhopressaTM (Netarsudil), currently the first FDA-approved ROCK inhibitor that improves trabecular meshwork outflow from Aerie Pharmaceuticals.

After a brief stint at Case Western Reserve University as a Research Track Investigator, Dr. Pattabiraman joined Glick Eye Institute in Aug 2019 and has a secondary appointment in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
His lab focuses on the following three lines of research:

• Study intraocular pressure regulation in physiological systems (PMID: 34831087) 
• Regulation of cytoskeleton and extracellular matrix interactions by proteins and lipids  
• Role of extracellular matrix interactions with actin cytoskeleton in intraocular pressure regulation (PMID: 35567755) 
• Novel drug discovery and preclinical development of pharmacological as well as molecular therapeutics for lowering intraocular pressure.  (PMID: 28609185) 
• Preclinical testing of surgical devices for their efficacies in IOP lowering (PMID: 32673594)

Additionally, his lab studies the structural and functional differences in trabecular outflow tissues between people of African (AD) and European Descent (ED). Little knowledge exists of differences in the ECM architecture and compaction in normal and POAG eyes in AD and ED. Dr. Pattabiraman believes that studying the structure of the TM (molecular and cellular) with its function (outflow facility) in non-glaucomatous and glaucomatous donor eyes can identify differences in ocular physiology among AD and ED.

Lab Members:
Dr. Avinash Soundararajan - Postdoctoral Fellow - Graduated from Deakin University, Australia in June 2019. 2019 - Present. avisound@iu.edu
Ting Wang - Graduate Student (MED NEURO) - 2020 - Present. twa3@iu.edu
Anoop Magesh - Research Analyst - 2022 - Present. amagesh@iu.edu
Lulya Fecadu - LHSI Undergrad Studentship - 2022- Present. lfecadu@iu.edu
Shivendra (Chevy) Singh - Medical Student, IUSM (Former IMPRS student 2020) - 2020- Present - singshiv@iu.edu

Funding source:
NIH/NEI - R01 EY029320;
Departmental RPB Pilot Funding 2022-2023;
Cohen AMD Research Pilot Grant 2021-2022;
CTSI IUSM Core Facility Pilot Grant 2022-2023;
From former Institution:
2018 Frank Stein and Paul S May Grant for Innovative Glaucoma Research from The Glaucoma Research Foundation (Shaffer Grant);
Eversight Vision Research Grant;
CTSC grant from Case Western Reserve University.

Soundararajan A, Wang T, Sundararajan R, Wijeratne A, Mosley A, Harvey FC, Bhattacharya S, Pattabiraman PP. Multiomics analysis reveals the mechanical stress-dependent changes in trabecular meshwork cytoskeletal-extracellular matrix interactions. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2022 Sep 13;10:874828. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2022.874828. PMID: 36176278; PMCID: PMC9513235.

Soundararajan A, Wang T, Ghag SA, Kang MH, Pattabiraman PP. Novel insight into the role of clusterin on intraocular pressure regulation by modifying actin polymerization and extracellular matrix remodeling in the trabecular meshwork. J Cell Physiol. 2022 May 14. doi: 10.1002/jcp.30769. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35567755.

Soundararajan A*, Ghag SA*, Vuda SS, Wang T, Pattabiraman PP. Cathepsin K Regulates Intraocular Pressure by Modulating Extracellular Matrix Remodeling and Actin-Bundling in the Trabecular Meshwork Outflow Pathway. Cells. 2021 Oct 24;10(11). doi: 10.3390/cells10112864. PMID: 34831087. *equal contribution

Toris CB, Pattabiraman PP, Tye G, Samuelson TW, Rhee DJ. Outflow Facility Effects of Three Schlemm Canal MIGS. Ophthalmology Glaucoma, 2020 3(2) 114-121.