Anatomy & Physiology: Current Research
Open Access

Bidhan C. Bandyopadhyay

Biography

He did his B.Sc. (Honors) in 1988 and M.Sc. in 1990 both on Physiology with 1st Class from University of Calcutta, India. He received his PhD in Biochemistry from University of Calcutta, India with six 1st author and three 2nd author publications in peer-reviewed international journals. He did his postdoctoral training in Pharmacology at Georgetown University and later in Molecular Biology at University of Maryland. During his time at Maryland he successfully cloned a new TRP channel from Limulus (invertebrate) ventral photoreceptors. He continued to work on TRP channel physiology at NIDCR and characterized several multimeric TRP channels and made a number of important contributions to the areas of membrane biology, cell and tissue research. He has been working on calcium signaling for last 8 years and have excellent track record of publication (27) in top notch journals. His areas of interests are membrane transport in salivary duct and kidney proximal tubule, Calcium stone disease and Biomineralization. He is currently working as a Principle Investigator of Calcium Signaling Laboratory at Washington Veterans Affair Medical Center and as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, George Washington University School Of Medicine, Washington DC.

Research Interest

The mechanism(s) how Ca2+ reabsorption operated in absorptive epithelia like salivary gland major ducts is not known. Recently we have shown that Ca2+ channels are localized at the apical membrane of the salivary ducts. We hypothesize that Ca2+ in primary saliva (secreted from the acinar cells) activates the Ca2+-sensing receptor (CSR). Such activation of CSR further activates TRPC3 (a Ca2+ influx channel) and initiate a Ca2+ influx into the ductal cells through the luminal membrane. This would results in a transepithelial Ca2+ flux across the salivary ductal epithelia. We suggest that such regulation of saliva [Ca2+] plays an important role in calcium stone formation in salivary gland. Studies are directed towards the identification of (i) molecular components, and (ii) the mechanism of Ca2+ transport in salivary ductal cells. Presently, we are utilizing a variety of approaches (such as biochemistry and molecular biology as well as physiology) to determine whether the newly identified TRPC sub-families of ion channel proteins are involved in regulating/mediating Ca2+ transport in ductal epithelial cells. We are also studying the role of this mechanism in kidney proximal tubule to find out its implication in calcium nephrolithiasis (stone formation) during the course of change in such regulation. Recently we have received funding from NIH and NKF to continue these research projects. My long term goal is to understand the fundamental principle of calcium biomenaralization in the biological system.