Harsha Bajaj
NIIST, Thiruvananthapuram
Harsha Bajaj earned her Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from Jacobs University Bremen, Germany, under the mentorship of Prof. Mathias Winterhalter, followed by a postdoctoral tenure in collaboration with University of Cambridge. She began her independent career at CSIR–NIIST, Thiruvananthapuram, as a DBT BioCARe Fellow and DBT Har-Govind Khorana Innovative Biotechnologist Awardee, before joining as a Scientist. At NIIST, she leads a vibrant research group specializing in membrane and synthetic biology, with core expertise in condensate biology, antimicrobial resistance, and membrane biophysics. Her research advances understanding of how condensates and membranes influence cellular organization and function, with implications for both fundamental biology and therapeutic strategies. She is the recipient of several prestigious recognitions, including the Merck Young Scientist Award and the CSIR Young Scientist Award.
Session 1F: Lectures by Fellows/Associates
Chairperson: Anirban Basu, NBRC, Manesar
When liquid droplets meet lipid membranes: A dynamic partnership
Biomolecular condensates interfacing with lipid membranes is crucial for several key cellular functions. However, the role of lipid membranes in regulating condensates in cells remains obscure. Here, in-depth interactions between condensates and lipid membranes are probed and unraveled by employing cell-mimetic systems like Giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs). An unprecedented influence of the coacervate size and their electrostatic interaction with lipid membranes is revealed on the membrane properties and deformation. Importantly, these findings demonstrate that the large relative size of coacervates and minimal electrostatic interaction strength with membranes allow for budding transitions at the interface. Membranes act as nucleation site for coacervates when the charge-charge interaction is high, giving a wrinkled vesicle surface appearance. Molecular diffusion property of lipids, quantified using Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), is modulated at the coacervate-membrane interaction site restricting the coarsening of coacervates. Notably, these results reveal coacervate droplets are intertwined in between membrane folds and invaginations discerned using Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution imaging, which further controls the dimension of droplets resembling size distributions observed in cells. Finally, these findings provide mechanistic insights of lipid bilayers controlling condensate sizes that play a prominent role in comprehending nucleation and localization of cellular condensates.