Dr. Karthikeyani (Karthi) Chellappa is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology and the Center on the Biology of Aging at Brown University. She is a hard-core enthusiast of metabolism, which is the sum of all chemical changes that occur in a living organism. By employing rigorous integrative approaches, the Chellappa Lab seeks to understand the dynamic role of metabolism in driving complex phenotypes such as aging. Her lab also investigates the cross-kingdom chemical communications between the host and the trillions of co-existing microorganisms in mammals.
Karthi joined Brown University in May 2023. She completed her PhD work under the guidance of Frances Sladek at the University of California, Riverside, and her postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Joseph Baur at the University of Pennsylvania.
Doke T, Mukherjee S, Mukhi D, Dhillon P, Abedini A, Davis JG, Chellappa K, Chen B, Baur JA, Susztak K. "NAD(+) precursor supplementation prevents mtRNA/RIG-I-dependent inflammation during kidney injury." Nature metabolism, vol. 5, no. 3, 2023, pp. 414-430. |
Dohnalová L, Lundgren P, Carty JRE, Goldstein N, Wenski SL, Nanudorn P, Thiengmag S, Huang KP, Litichevskiy L, Descamps HC, Chellappa K, Glassman A, Kessler S, Kim J, Cox TO, Dmitrieva-Posocco O, Wong AC, Allman EL, Ghosh S, Sharma N, Sengupta K, Cornes B, Dean N, Churchill GA, Khurana TS, Sellmyer MA, FitzGerald GA, Patterson AD, Baur JA, Alhadeff AL, Helfrich EJN, Levy M, Betley JN, Thaiss CA. "A microbiome-dependent gut-brain pathway regulates motivation for exercise." J. Geophys. Res., vol. 612, no. 7941, 2022, pp. 739-747. |
Chellappa K, McReynolds MR, Lu W, Zeng X, Makarov M, Hayat F, Mukherjee S, Bhat YR, Lingala SR, Shima RT, Descamps HC, Cox T, Ji L, Jankowski C, Chu Q, Davidson SM, Thaiss CA, Migaud ME, Rabinowitz JD, Baur JA. "NAD precursors cycle between host tissues and the gut microbiome." Cell Metabolism, vol. 34, no. 12, 2022, pp. 1947-1959.e5. |
McReynolds MR, Chellappa K, Chiles E, Jankowski C, Shen Y, Chen L, Descamps HC, Mukherjee S, Bhat YR, Lingala SR, Chu Q, Botolin P, Hayat F, Doke T, Susztak K, Thaiss CA, Lu W, Migaud ME, Su X, Rabinowitz JD, Baur JA. "NAD(+) flux is maintained in aged mice despite lower tissue concentrations." Cell Systems, vol. 12, no. 12, 2021, pp. 1160-1172.e4. |
Chellappa K, Baur JA. "Reducing NAD(H) to amplify rhythms." Nature metabolism, vol. 3, no. 12, 2021, pp. 1589-1590. |
Mukherjee S, Mo J, Paolella LM, Perry CE, Toth J, Hugo MM, Chu Q, Tong Q, Chellappa K, Baur JA. "SIRT3 is required for liver regeneration but not for the beneficial effect of nicotinamide riboside." JCI insight, vol. 6, no. 7, 2021. |
McReynolds MR, Chellappa K, Baur JA. "Age-related NAD(+) decline." Experimental Gerontology, vol. 134, 2020, pp. 110888. |
Chini CCS, Peclat TR, Warner GM, Kashyap S, Espindola-Netto JM, de Oliveira GC, Gomez LS, Hogan KA, Tarragó MG, Puranik AS, Agorrody G, Thompson KL, Dang K, Clarke S, Childs BG, Kanamori KS, Witte MA, Vidal P, Kirkland AL, De Cecco M, Chellappa K, McReynolds MR, Jankowski C, Tchkonia T, Kirkland JL, Sedivy JM, van Deursen JM, Baker DJ, van Schooten W, Rabinowitz JD, Baur JA, Chini EN. "CD38 ecto-enzyme in immune cells is induced during aging and regulates NAD(+) and NMN levels." Nature metabolism, vol. 2, no. 11, 2020, pp. 1284-1304. |
Paolella LM, Mukherjee S, Tran CM, Bellaver B, Hugo M, Luongo TS, Shewale SV, Lu W, Chellappa K, Baur JA. "mTORC1 restrains adipocyte lipolysis to prevent systemic hyperlipidemia." Molecular Metabolism, vol. 32, 2020, pp. 136-147. |
Zhang Z, Xu HN, Li S, Jr AD, Chellappa K, Davis JG, Guan Y, Frederick DW, Chu W, Zhao H, Li LZ, Baur JA. "Rapamycin maintains NAD(+)/NADH redox homeostasis in muscle cells." Aging, vol. 12, no. 18, 2020, pp. 17786-17799. |
Chellappa K, Brinkman JA, Mukherjee S, Morrison M, Alotaibi MI, Carbajal KA, Alhadeff AL, Perron IJ, Yao R, Purdy CS, DeFelice DM, Wakai MH, Tomasiewicz J, Lin A, Meyer E, Peng Y, Arriola Apelo SI, Puglielli L, Betley JN, Paschos GK, Baur JA, Lamming DW. "Hypothalamic mTORC2 is essential for metabolic health and longevity." Aging Cell, vol. 18, no. 5, 2019, pp. e13014. |
Xu HN, Zhao H, Chellappa K, Davis JG, Nioka S, Baur JA, Li LZ. "Optical Redox Imaging of Fixed Unstained Muscle Slides Reveals Useful Biological Information." Molecular imaging and biology : MIB : the official publication of the Academy of Molecular Imaging, vol. 21, no. 3, 2019, pp. 417-425. |
Chellappa K, Perron IJ, Naidoo N, Baur JA. "The leptin sensitizer celastrol reduces age-associated obesity and modulates behavioral rhythms." Aging Cell, vol. 18, no. 3, 2019, pp. e12874. |
Perron IJ, Keenan BT, Chellappa K, Lahens NF, Yohn NL, Shockley KR, Pack AI, Veasey SC. "Dietary challenges differentially affect activity and sleep/wake behavior in mus musculus: Isolating independent associations with diet/energy balance and body weight." PLoS ONE, vol. 13, no. 5, 2018, pp. e0196743. |
Davila A, Liu L, Chellappa K, Redpath P, Nakamaru-Ogiso E, Paolella LM, Zhang Z, Migaud ME, Rabinowitz JD, Baur JA. "Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide is transported into mammalian mitochondria." eLife, vol. 7, 2018. |
Liu L, Su X, Quinn WJ 3rd, Hui S, Krukenberg K, Frederick DW, Redpath P, Zhan L, Chellappa K, White E, Migaud M, Mitchison TJ, Baur JA, Rabinowitz JD. "Quantitative Analysis of NAD Synthesis-Breakdown Fluxes." Cell Metabolism, vol. 27, no. 5, 2018, pp. 1067-1080.e5. |
Mukherjee S, Chellappa K, Moffitt A, Ndungu J, Dellinger RW, Davis JG, Agarwal B, Baur JA. "Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide biosynthesis promotes liver regeneration." Hepatology, vol. 65, no. 2, 2017, pp. 616-630. |
Frederick DW, Loro E, Liu L, Davila A Jr, Chellappa K, Silverman IM, Quinn WJ 3rd, Gosai SJ, Tichy ED, Davis JG, Mourkioti F, Gregory BD, Dellinger RW, Redpath P, Migaud ME, Nakamaru-Ogiso E, Rabinowitz JD, Khurana TS, Baur JA. "Loss of NAD Homeostasis Leads to Progressive and Reversible Degeneration of Skeletal Muscle." Cell Metabolism, vol. 24, no. 2, 2016, pp. 269-82. |
Chellappa K, Deol P, Evans JR, Vuong LM, Chen G, Briançon N, Bolotin E, Lytle C, Nair MG, Sladek FM. "Opposing roles of nuclear receptor HNF4α isoforms in colitis and colitis-associated colon cancer." eLife, vol. 5, 2016. |
Vuong LM, Chellappa K, Dhahbi JM, Deans JR, Fang B, Bolotin E, Titova NV, Hoverter NP, Spindler SR, Waterman ML, Sladek FM. "Differential Effects of Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4α Isoforms on Tumor Growth and T-Cell Factor 4/AP-1 Interactions in Human Colorectal Cancer Cells." Molecular and Cellular Biology, vol. 35, no. 20, 2015, pp. 3471-90. |
Deol P, Evans JR, Dhahbi J, Chellappa K, Han DS, Spindler S, Sladek FM. "Soybean Oil Is More Obesogenic and Diabetogenic than Coconut Oil and Fructose in Mouse: Potential Role for the Liver." PLoS ONE, vol. 10, no. 7, 2015, pp. e0132672. |
Chellappa K, Robertson GR, Sladek FM. "HNF4α: a new biomarker in colon cancer?." Biomarkers in medicine, vol. 6, no. 3, 2012, pp. 297-300. |
Chellappa K, Jankova L, Schnabl JM, Pan S, Brelivet Y, Fung CL, Chan C, Dent OF, Clarke SJ, Robertson GR, Sladek FM. "Src tyrosine kinase phosphorylation of nuclear receptor HNF4α correlates with isoform-specific loss of HNF4α in human colon cancer." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 109, no. 7, 2012, pp. 2302-7. |
Bolotin E, Chellappa K, Hwang-Verslues W, Schnabl JM, Yang C, Sladek FM. "Nuclear receptor HNF4α binding sequences are widespread in Alu repeats." BMC genomics, vol. 12, 2011, pp. 560. |
Sun K, Montana V, Chellappa K, Brelivet Y, Moras D, Maeda Y, Parpura V, Paschal BM, Sladek FM. "Phosphorylation of a conserved serine in the deoxyribonucleic acid binding domain of nuclear receptors alters intracellular localization." Molecular endocrinology (Baltimore, Md.), vol. 21, no. 6, 2007, pp. 1297-311. |
The Chellappa lab studies metabolism across biological scales using an integrative systems biology approach. We are particularly focused on understanding the metabolic basis of aging in the mammalian metaorganism so that we can help identify lifestyle interventions and novel drug targets.
1. Building Resilience in Aging
Aging is associated with an increase in frailty and the loss of resilience in recovering from stress and environmental exposures. We use stable-isotope tracing and metabolomics to establish a roadmap of metabolism across ages under various environmental states. We then examine the relevance of altered pathway activities in driving frailty and resilience.
2. Metabolic cross-talk between the host and microbiome in healthy and diseased states
The composition and functional capacity of the microbiome changes with age. We develop mouse models cohabited with a broad spectrum of microbial ecosystems, including gnotobiotic, specific pathogen free, and dirty mice. We use these models to study the interplay between the host and microbiome in driving host physiology during aging and with metabolic diseases.
3. NAD metabolism in gut microbiome
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is a well-studied redox cofactor and a cosubstrate for signaling enzymes in the host. We investigate NAD metabolism in the gut microbiome and address their implications to the host physiology. We recently established that NAD precursors are shared between the host and gut microbiome. To investigate the contributions of microbial NAD metabolism to metabolic and phenotypic outcomes in the host and vice versa, we manipulate gut microbiome and use transgenic mouse models.
4. Transport of small molecules
Metabolism is compartmentalized at the levels of organs, cell types, and organelles. This is partly achieved by the selective transport of metabolites into various compartments. We dissect the spatiotemporal regulation of the movement of molecules across lipid bilayers and establish their implications on cellular metabolism in health and diseases. We use combinatorial approaches including CRISPR screens, metabolic profiling, stable and radioactive tracers, and biochemical assays to understand the transport mechanisms of small molecules.
Year | Degree | Institution |
---|---|---|
2009 | PhD | University of California-Riverside |
2002 | MSc | Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University |
1999 | BSc | Tamil Nadu Agricultural University |
Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
Center on the Biology of Aging
Trainer in the Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry graduate program (MCBGP)
Trainer in the Pathobiology graduate program