Research Faculty

Kuldeep obtained his B.Sc. in Biotechnology from University of Mumbai, India in 2008. Subsequently, he joined Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India for an Integrated Masters and Ph.D. program in the Division of Biological Sciences. In IISc, he worked with Prof. Dipankar Chatterji at the Molecular Biophysics Unit. During his doctoral studies, he studied the regulation of biofilm formation, antibiotic resistance, cell shape and cell division by nucleotide second messengers (p)ppGpp and c-di-GMP in Mycobacterium smegmatis. He is intrigued by the phenotypic heterogeneity exhibited by bacteria, which is an underlying cause of antibiotic resistance. In the Rego lab, he is exploring the mechanisms governing bacterial phenotypic heterogeneity, using mycobacteria as the model system.

I am very happy to join in Mothes lab. I work on projects to understand the conformational changes of HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein on the surface of virus particles by parallel cryo Electron Tomography (CryoET) and single molecule Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (smFRET).  I am also working on COVID19 research to understand the structural conformational change of spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. These projects will provide insights into not only basic science like how envelope mediates fusion of virus with host cell but also translational science aiding an vaccine and anti-retroviral therapies.

My early career at UCSF focused on advancing structured-illumination microscopy (SIM), a resolution-doubling technique in the then-nascent field of super-resolution microscopy, achieving a record-breaking level of 100-nm resolution in all dimensions. Later at Janelia, I extended 3D-SIM to live imaging and helped invent lattice light-sheet microscopy, which have enabled ultrafast 3D subcellular imaging over very long periods. I guided many biologists in the use of novel custom-built microscopes as a key expert in Janelia’s Advanced Imaging Center. Currently at YSM I custom build cutting-edge microscopes, providing expertise and guidance for imaging and image analysis, and teaching microscopy classes.

After spending much of the time studying TRIM proteins in vitro, I have shifted my research focus to visualize critical aspects of retroviral pathogenesis and the ensuing host response, such as restriction, in vivo in mouse and humanized mouse models using intravital imaging techniques.