Faculty

Dr. Navin Varadarajan
M.D. Anderson Professor
Office Location S228
Phone 713-743-1691
Fax 713-743-4323
Email nvaradarajan [at] uh.edu
Website http://singlecell.chee.uh.edu
Education
Ph.D. Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin (2006)
M.S. Organic Chemistry, India Institute of Science (2001)
B.S. Chemistry, University of Madras (1998)
Courses
Biological and Physical Chemistry (CHEE 3466)
Biomolecular Engineering Fundamentals (CHEE 4366/6360)
Select Topics (CHEE 6397)
Research Interests
Our lab is developing high-throughput screens designed to characterize a wide range of biological functions ranging from the properties of proteins in single cells to antigen mediated cellular cytotoxicity. The development of these assays should serve as versatile platforms for the systemic investigation of B cells and antibodies in autoimmune diseases; characterizing T cell responses in cancer and engineering therapeutic enzymes/antibodies.
Awards & Honors
2017 CDMRP Peer-reviewed Cancer Career Award
2017 MRA Established Investigator Award
2009-Present Member, American Institute of Chemical Engineers
2006-Present Member, American Chemical Society
1998-2001 Indian Institute of Science, Integrated PhD Fellowship
Selected Publications
- An, X. Y., et al., "Single-cell deconvolution identifies T-cell correlates of response to PD-1 blockade treatment in AML." Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer 7., 2019
- Bandey, I., et al., "Designed improvement to T-cell immunotherapy by integrated single cell profiling." Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer 7., 2019
- Aquino-Lopez, A., Senyukov, V., Romain, G., Varadarajan, N., & Lee, D. A., IFN gamma has variable effects on expression of MHC Class I and ICAM-1 in pediatric cancers which alter sensitivity to NK cell mediated lysis, Journal of Immunology, 196, 2016
- Krogsgaard, M., Moogk, D., Zhong, S., Rittase, W., Fang, V., Dougherty, J., Frey, A. B., Constitutive LcK activity drives sensitivity differences between CD8+memory T cell subsets, Journal of Immunology, 196., 2016
- Mahendra, A., Peyron, I., Thaunat, O., Dollinger, C., Gilardin, L., Sharma, M., Lacroix-Desmazes, S, Generation of catalytic antibodies is an intrinsic property of an individual's immune system: a study on a large cohort of renal transplant patients, Journal of Immunology, 196, 2016
- Mahendra, A., Peyron, I., Thaunat, O., Dollinger, C., Gilardin, L., Sharma, M., Lacroix-Desmazes, S., Generation of Catalytic Antibodies Is an Intrinsic Property of an Individual's Immune System: A Study on a Large Cohort of Renal Transplant Patients, Journal of Immunology, 196(10), 4075-4081, DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1403005, 2016
- Mahendra, A., Yang, X. Y., Qiu, P., Park, D., Coarfa, C., Agrwal, S. K., & Varadarajan, N., New insights into rheumatoid arthritis by whole transcriptome profiling of autoreactive B cells, Journal of Immunology, 196., 2016
- Moogk, D., Zhong, S., Yu, Z. Y., Liadi, I., Rittase, W., Fang, V., Krogsgaard, M., Constitutive Lck Activity Drives Sensitivity Differences between CD8(+) Memory T Cell Subsets, Journal of Immunology, 197(2), 644-654, DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1600178, 2016
- Singh, H., Huls, M. H., Figliola, M. J., Zhang, L., Mi, T. J., Maiti, S., Kebriaei, P., Next-Generation Non-Viral Gene Transfer to Redirect T-Cell Specificity, Molecular Therapy, 24, S110-S111., 2016
- Liadi I; Singh H; Romain G; Rey-Villamizar N; Merouane A; Adolacion JR; Kebriaei P; Huls H; Qiu P; Roysam B; Cooper LJ; Varadarajan N., Individual motile CD4+ T cells can participate in efficient multi-killing through conjugation to multiple tumor cells Cancer Immunol Res doi: doi:10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-14-0195, 2015
- Merouane A; Villamizar NR; Liu Y; Liadi I; Romain G; Singh H; Lu J; Cooper LJN; Varadarajan N; Roysam B, Automated and Quantitative Profiling of Individual Cell-Cell Interactions from High-throughput Time-lapse Imaging Microscopy in Nanowell Grids (TIMING) Bioinformatics doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btv355, 2015
- Romain G; Senyukov V; Rey-Villamizar N; Merouane A; Kelton W; Liadi I; Mahendra A; Charab W; Georgiou G; Roysam B; Lee DA; Varadarajan N, Antibody Fc engineering improves frequency and promotes kinetic boosting of serial killing mediated by NK cells Blood Nov 20;124(22):3241-9., 2014
- Dekosky BJ, Ippolito GC, Deschner RP, Lavinder JJ, Wine Y, Rawlings BM, Varadarajan N, Giesecke C, Dörner T, Andrews SF, Wilson PC, Hunicke-Smith SP, Willson CG, Ellington AD, Georgiou G, "High-throughput sequencing of the paired human immunoglobulin heavy and light chain repertoire," Nat Biotech Jan 20; 31(2):166-. doi: 10.1038/nbt.2492, 2013
- Liadi I, Roszik J, Romain G, Cooper LJN, Varadarajan N, "Quantitative High-Throughput Single-Cell Cytotoxicity Assay for T cells," J Vis. Exp. (72) doi: 10.3791/50058, 2013
- Sendra VG, Lie A, Romain G, Agarwal SK, Varadarajan N, "Detection and isolation of auto-reactive human antibodies from primary B cells," Methods 10.1016/j.ymeth.2013.06.018, 2013
- Ramesh B, Sendra VG, Cirino PC, Varadarajan N, "Single-cell characterization of autotransporter mediated Escherichia coli surface display of disulfide-bond containing proteins," J Biol Chem Nov 9;287(46):38580-9. doi: 10.1074/jbcc, 2012
- Varadarajan N, Julg B, Yamanaka YJ, Chen H, Ogunniyi AO, McAndrew E, Porter LC, Piechocka-Trocha A, Hill BJ, Douek DC, Pereyra F, Walker BD, Love JC, “A high-throughput single-cell analysis of human CD8+ T cell functions reveals discordance for cytokine secretion and cytolysis,” J Clin Invest, 121(11):4322-31, 2011
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
- Varadarajan N, Cantor J, Georgiou G and Iverson BL, “Construction and flow-cytometric screening of targeted enzyme libraries,” Nature Protocols, 4(6):893-901, 2009
- Varadarajan N, Pogson M, Georgiou G and Iverson BL, “A three color multi-substrate flow-cytometric assay to engineer protease specificity for nitro-tyrosine,” J. Am. Chem. Soc.,131(50):18186-18190. DOI: 10.1021/ja907803k, 2009
- Varadarajan N, Georgiou G, Iverson BL, “Engineered Proteases that Cleave Specifically after Sulfalted Tyrosine for the Detection of Post-Translationally Modified Peptides,” Angew Chem Intl Ed, 47(41):7861, 2008
- Varadarajan N, Rodriguez S, Hwang BY, Georgiou G, Iverson BL, “Engineering a Family of Highly Active and Selective Endopeptidases with Programmed Substrate Specificities,”Nature Chemical Biology, 4(5):290-4, 2008
- Hwang BY, Varadarajan N, Li H, Rodriguez S, Iverson BL, Georgiou G, “Substrate Specificity of the Escherichia coli Outer Membrane Protease OmpP,” J. Bacteriology, 189: 522-30, 2007
- Varadarajan N, Gam J, Olsen MJ, Georgiou G, Iverson BL, “Engineering of protease variants exhibiting high catalytic activity and exquisite substrate selectivity,” Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 102:6855-60, 2005