Education:

• Ph.D.: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (2007)
• M.Sc. St. Berchmans’ College, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala (2000)
• B.Sc.: St. Berchmans’ College, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala (1998)

Positions:

• Faculty, UM-DAE Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences, Mumbai (2013 –)
• Associate Specialist, University Of California, Santa Barbara (2011 – 2013)
• Post-doctoral Fellow, University of California, Santa Barbara (2007 – 2011)

Research:

• Non-apoptotic cell death mechanisms
• Mechanistic studies of drug action in cancer cells
• Green nanotechnology-based drug formulations and drug delivery systems
• Nanoparticles-mediated radiosensitization of cancer cells

Peer-reviewed Publications

• Meher K, Radha G, and Lopus M* (2024) Induction of autophagy-dependent, caspase-, and microtubule-acetylation-independent cell death by phytochemicals-stabilized gold nano polygons in colorectal adenocarcinoma cells. Nanoscale (accepted; 6.7)
• Radha G, Pragyandipta P, Naik PK, and Lopus M* (2024) Biochemical and in silico analysis of the binding mode of erastin with tubulin, J Biomol Struct Dyn (accepted; 4.4)
• Sharma M, Parodi A, Sanith C and Lopus M* (2024) Therapeutic and diagnostic applications of carbon nanotubes in cancer. J Drug Target 32, 287-299 
• Pandey P, Pradhan S, Meher K, Lopus M, and Sirisha VL (2024) Exploring the efficacy of tryptone-stabilized silver nanoparticles against respiratory tract infection-causing bacteria: a study on planktonic and biofilm forms. Biomed Mat, 19, 025047 
• Meher K, Garg Y, Parodi A, and Lopus M* (2024) Antiproliferative efficacy and mechanism of action of aggregation-resistant, polymorphous nanosilver functionalized with asparagus phytochemical (Ar-AgNPs) in the breast adenocarcinoma MDA-MB-231 cells. Inorg Chim Acta,  564, 121960 
• Egorova VS, Kolesova EP, Lopus M*, Yan, N, Parodi A, Zamyatnin Jr AA (2023) Smart delivery systems responsive to cathepsin B activity for cancer treatment. Pharmaceutics, 15, 1848 
• Pandey P, Meher K,  Falcao B, Lopus M and Sirisha VL (2023) Tryptone-stabilized silver nanoparticles’ potential to mitigate planktonic and biofilm growth forms of Serratia marcescens. J Biol Inorg Chem, 28, 139–152
• Lopus M* (2022) Nano-Ayurvedic Medicine: Promises and potential as tunable cancer therapeutics. J Integr Med,  21, 117-119
• Lopus M*, D'Souza JS, and Aneja R (2022) Editorial: Non-apoptotic cell death mechanisms and their therapeutic significance. Front Cell Dev Biol, 10, 990285
  
• Radha G, Naik PK, and Lopus M* (2022) In vitro characterization and molecular dynamic simulation of shikonin as a tubulin-targeted anticancer agent. Comput Biol Med, 147, 105789
  
• Lopus M* (2022) Shooting Cancer with Magic Bullets: Promises and Challenges of Antibody-drug Conjugates. Resonance - Journal of Science Education, Indian Academy of Sciences, 7, 1127-1130
  
• Meher K, Paithankar H, Hosur RV, and Lopus M* (2022) Ashwagandha-polyphenols-functionalized gold nanoparticles facilitate apoptosis by perturbing microtubule assembly dynamics in breast cancer cells. J Drug Deliv Sci Technol, 70, 103225
• Grace Nirmala J, Meher K, and Lopus M* (2022) Proteomic and metabolomic profiling combined with in vitro studies reveal antiproliferative mechanism of silver nanoparticles in MDA-MB-231 breast carcinoma cells. J Mat Chem B, 10, 2148-2159
• Choudhary S, Lopus M, and Hosur RV (2022) Targeting disorders in unstructured and structured proteins in various diseases. Biophys Chem, 281, 106742
• Judy E, Lopus M, and Kishore N (2021) Mechanistic insights into encapsulation and release of drugs in colloidal niosomal systems: Biophysical aspects. RSC Adv, 11, 35110-35126  
• Radha G and Lopus M* (2021) The spontaneous remission of cancer: Current insights and therapeutic significance. Transl Oncol, 14, 101166
• Verma P, Manchukona NK, Kantevari S, and Lopus M* (2021) Induction of microtubule hyper stabilization and robust G2/M arrest by N-4-CN in human breast carcinoma MDA-MB-231 cells. Fund Clin Pharmacol, 35, 955-967
• Grace Nirmala J, Rachineni K, Choudhary S, Hosur RV, and Lopus M* (2021) Triphala polyphenols-functionalized gold nanoparticles impair cancer cell survival through induction of tubulin dysfunction. J Drug Deliv Sci Technol, 61, 102167 
• Nambiar N, Nagireddy PKR, Pedapati R, Kantevari S, and Lopus M* (2020) Tubulin- and ROS-dependent antiproliferative mechanism of a potent analogue of noscapine, N-propargyl noscapine. Life Sci, 258, 118238
• Grace Nirmala J and Lopus M* (2020) Cell death mechanisms in eukaryotes. Cell Biol Toxicol, 36, 145–164 
• Grace Nirmala J and Lopus M* (2019) Tryptone-stabilized gold nanoparticles induce unipolar clustering of supernumerary centrosomes and G1 arrest in triple-negative breast cancer cells. Sci Rep, 9, 19126 
• Grace Nirmala J, Beck A, Mehta S, and Lopus M* (2019) Perturbation of tubulin structure by stellate gold nanoparticles retards MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell viability. J Biol Inorg Chem, 24, 999–1007
• Cheriyamundath S, Mahaddalkar T, Nagireddy PKR, Sridhar B, Kantevari S, and Lopus M* (2019) Insights into the structure and tubulin-targeted anticancer potential of N-(3-bromobenzyl) noscapine. Pharmacol Rep, 71, 48-–53
• Cheriyamundath S, Choudhary S, and Lopus M*(2018) Safranal inhibits HeLa cell viability by perturbing the reassembly potential of microtubules. Phytother Res, 32, 170–173
• Pradhan M, Suri C, Choudhary C, Naik PK, and Lopus M* (2018) Elucidation of the anticancer potential and tubulin isotype-specific interactions of β-sitosterol. J Biomol Strcut Dyn, 36, 195–208
• Cheriyamundath S, Mahaddalkar T, Save SN, Choudhary S, Hosur RV, and Lopus M* (2018) Aqueous extract of Triphala inhibits cancer cell proliferation through perturbation of microtubule assembly dynamics. Biomed Pharmacother, 98, 76–81
• Cheriyamundath S, Mahaddalkar T, Kantevari S, and Lopus M* (2017) Induction of acetylation and bundling of cellular microtubules by 9-(4-vinylphenyl) noscapine elicits S-phase arrest in MDA-MB-231 cells. Biomed Pharmacother, 86, 74-80
• Mahaddalkar T, Mehta S, Muthurajan H, and Lopus M* (2017) Tryptone-stabilized gold nanoparticles target tubulin and inhibit cell viability by inducing an unusual form of cell cycle arrest. Exp Cell Res, 360, 163–170
• Pradhan S, Mahaddalkar T, Choudhary S, Manchukonda N, Nagireddy PR, Kantevari S, and Lopus M* (2017) Elucidation of the tubulin-targeted mechanism of action of 9-(3-pyridyl) noscapine. Curr Top Med Chem, 17, 2569-2574
• Mahaddalkar T, and Lopus M* (2017) From Natural Products to Designer Drugs: Development and Molecular Mechanisms Action of Novel Anti-Microtubule Breast Cancer Therapeutics. Curr Top Med Chem 17, 2559-2568
• Mahaddalkar T, Naik PK, Choudhary S, Manchukonda N, Kantevari S, Sanith C, and Lopus M* (2016) Structural investigations into the binding mode of a novel noscapine analogue, 9-(4-vinylphenyl) noscapine, by biochemical analyses and molecular dynamic simulations. J Biomol Struct Dyn, 35, 2475–2484
• Mahaddalkar T, Manchukonda N, Choudhary S, Cheriyamundath S, Mohanpuria N, Kantevari S, and Lopus M* (2016) Subtle alterations in microtubule assembly dynamics by Br-TMB-noscapine strongly suppress triple-negative breast cancer cell viability without mitotic arrest. ChemistrySelect, 1, 4313–4319
• Maninder M, Singh D, Mahaddalkar T, Lopus M, et al. (2016) Chemical synthesis, pharmacological evaluation and in silico analysis of new 2,3,3a,4,5,6-hexahydrocyclopenta[c]pyrazole derivatives as potential anti-mitotic agents. Bioorg Med Chem Lett, 26, 3855-3861
• Lopus M, Smiyun G, Miller HP, Oroudjev E, Wilson L, and Jordan MA (2015). Mechanism of action of ixabepilone and its interactions with the βIII- tubulin isotype. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol, 76, 1013–1024
• Wilson L, Lopus M, Miller H, Azarenko O, Riffle S, Smith J, Jordan MA (2015) The effects of eribulin on microtubule binding and dynamic instability are strengthened in the absence of the βIII tubulin isotype. Biochemistry, 54, 6482–6489
• Mahaddalkar T, Suri C, Naik PK, and Lopus M* (2015) Biochemical characterization and molecular dynamic simulation of β-sitosterol as a tubulin-binding anticancer agent. Eur J Pharmacol, 760, 154-162
• Mishra RC, Gundala SR, Karna P, Lopus M, Gupta KK, Nagaraju M, Hamelberg D, Tandon V, Panda D, Reid MD, and Aneja R (2015) Synthesis and biological evaluation of di-substituted noscapine analogs as potent and microtubule-targeted anticancer agents. Bioorg Med Chem Lett, 25, 2133-2140
• Santoshi S, Manchukonda NK, Suri C, Das SK, Hota SK, Joseph S, Lopus M, Kantevari S, and Naik PK (2014) Rational design of biphenyl pharmacophore substituted noscapine derivatives as potent tubulin binding anticancer compounds. J Comput Aided Mol Des, 29, 249-70.
• Lopus M* and Naik PK (2014) Taking aim at a dynamic target: Noscapinoids as microtubule-targeted cancer therapeutics. Pharmacol Rep, 67, 56-62.
• Risinger AL, Riffle SM, Lopus M, Jordan MA, Wilson L, Mooberry, SL (2014) The taccalonolides and paclitaxel cause distinct effects on microtubule dynamics and aster formation. Mol Cancer  13 (1): 41
• Manchukonda NK, Naik PK, Santoshi S, Lopus M, Joseph S, Sridhar B, and Kantevari  S (2013) Rational Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Third Generation α-Noscapine Analogues as Potent Tubulin Binding Anti-cancer Agents. PLoS One, 8(10):e77970
• Lopus M (2013) Mechanism of mitotic arrest induced by dolastatin 15 involves loss of tension across kinetochore pairs. Mol Cell Biochem, 382, 93-102
• Lopus M, Manatschal C, Martinez R, Bjelic S, Steinmetz MO, Miller HP, and Wilson L (2012) Cooperative stabilization of microtubule dynamics by EB1 and CLIP-170 involves displacement of stably-bound Pi at microtubule ends. Biochemistry, 51, 3021-30
• Pannu V, Rida PCG, Ogden A, Cheng A, Clewley R, Cheng A, Lopus M, Mishra RC, Zhou J, and Aneja R (2012) Induction of robust de novo centrosome amplification, high-grade spindle multipolarity and metaphase catastrophe: A novel chemotherapeutic approach. Cell Death Dis, 3:e346
• Naik PK, Lopus M, Aneja R, Vangapandu SN, and Joshi HC (2012) In silico inspired design and synthesis of a novel tubulin-binding anti-cancer drug: folate conjugated noscapine (Targetin). J Comput Aided Mol Des, 26, 233-47
• Hinow P, Rasania V, Lopus M, Jordan MA, and Tuszynski J (2011) Modeling the effects of drug binding on dynamic instability of microtubules. Phys Biol, 8, 056004
• Lopus M (2011) Antibody-DM1 conjugates as cancer therapeutics. Cancer Lett, 307, 113-8 (Journal cover article)
• Mishra RC, Karna P, Gundala SR, Stanton RA, Robinson M, Pannu V, Gupta KK, Lopus M, Henary M, Wilson L, and Aneja R (2011) Synthesis and biological evaluation of benzofuranone ring substituted analogs of noscapine. Biochem Pharmacol, 82, 110-21
• Davé RH, Saengsawang W, Lopus M, Davé S, Sharma A, Wilson L, and Rasenick MM (2011) A molecular and structural mechanism for G-protein mediated microtubule destabilization. J Biol Chem, 286, 4319-28
• Lopus M, Oroudjev E, Wilson L, Wilhelm S, Widdison W, Chari R, and Jordan, MA (2010) Maytansine and cellular metabolites of antibody-maytansinoid conjugates strongly suppress microtubule dynamics by binding to microtubules. Mol Cancer Ther, 9, 2689-99
• Oroudjev E, Lopus M, Wilson L, Audette C, Provenzano C, Erickson H, Kovtun Y, Chari R, and Jordan MA (2010) Maytansinoid-antibody conjugates induce mitotic arrest by suppressing microtubule dynamic instability. Mol Cancer Ther, 9, 2700-13 (Journal cover image)
• Yenjerla M, Lopus M, and Wilson L (2010) Analysis of dynamic instability of steady state microtubules in vitro by video-enhanced differential interference contrast microscopy. Method Cell Biol, 95, 185-206
• Yenjerla M, LaPointe NE, Lopus M, Cox C, Jordan MA, Feinstein SC, and Wilson L (2009) The neuroprotective peptide NAP does not directly affect polymerization or dynamics of reconstituted neural microtubules. J Alzheimer’s Dis, 19, 1377-86
• Kotha S, Kashinath D, Lopus M, and Panda, D (2009) Synthesis of nano-sized C3-symmetric 2,4,6-triphenyl-1,3,5-s-triazene and 1,3,5-triphenyl benzene derivatives via the trimerization followed by Suzuki-Miyaura crosscoupling or O-alkylation reaction and their biological evaluation. Indian J Chem B: Org Chem Incl Med Chem, 12, 1766-70
• Lopus M, Yenjerla M, and Wilson L (2009) Microtubule dynamics. In Wiley Encyclopedia of Chemical Biology, Begley TP, Ed. Wiley, NJ. 3, 153-60
• Lopus M and Panda D (2006) The benzophenanthridine alkaloid sanguinarine perturbs microtubule assembly dynamics through tubulin binding: a possible mechanism for its antiproliferative activity. FEBS J, 273, 2139-50
• Aneja R, Lopus M, Zhou J, Vangapandu SN, Ghaleb A, Yao J, Nettles JH, Zhou B, Gupta M, Panda D, Chandra R, and Joshi HC (2006) Rational design of a microtubule targeting anti-breast cancer drug, EM015. Cancer Res, 66, 3782-91
• Aneja R, Vangapandu SN, Lopus M, Panda D, and Joshi HC (2006) Development of a novel nitro-derivative of noscapine for the potential treatment of drug-resistant ovarian cancer and T-cell lymphoma. Mol Pharmacol, 69, 1801-09
• Aneja R, Vangapandu SN, Lopus M, Viswesarappa VG, Verma A, Chandra R, Panda D, and Joshi HC (2006) Synthesis of microtubule-interfering halogenated noscapine analogs that perturb mitosis in cancer cells followed by cell death. Biochem Pharmacol, 72, 415-26
• My personal webpage :-  https://www.lopuslab.net/