Our laboratory uses the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a powerful model system to investigate how chromatin architecture shapes neural development, behavior, and disease. By integrating Drosophila genetics with modern genomic and epigenomic approaches, we examine how neuronal activity and environmental signals produce lasting changes in brain function. A central focus of our work is understanding how chromatin dynamics and transcriptional programs regulate learning, long-term memory formation, and their stability over time. We also explore how disruptions in spontaneous neuronal activity, glial function, and epigenetic regulation contribute to neurodevelopmental and neurological conditions such as autism spectrum disorder, seizure, and paralysis.

Research areas
Epigenetic framework of learning and long term memory formation and its retention
Autism Spectrum Disorder in Drosophila model
Spontaneous neuronal activity in shaping social behavior
Homeostatic role of Astrocyte glia in balancing Perception vs Habituation and Seizure vs Paralysis

All Publications

Genetics of Autism Spectrum Disorder underscores the role of altered spontaneous neuronal activity as a catalyst for the neurodevelopmental anomalies by Dey S., Das A. Brain Research 1875 1-21 (2026)
PSMC2 promotes resistance against temozolomide in glioblastoma via suppressing JNK-mediated autophagic cell death by Roy P.K., Deepak K., Das C.K., Das A., Biswas A., Jena B.C., Mandal M. Biochemical Pharmacology 233 - (2025)
Late-stage N-Me selective alkenylation and alkynylation of drugs and unactivated tertiary amines using photoredox catalysis by Paul S., Mahato S. , Mahapatra S. K., Dey S. , Paul D. , Mondal S. , Naskar A. , Srikar S. , Mohanty S. , Khatun S. , Ghosh D. , Singh A. K., Das S. , Jana N. R., Bandyopadhyay B. , Das A. , Roy L. , Panda S. Nature Communications 17 - (2026)
Paradigms for Behavioral Assessment in Drosophila Model of Autism Spectrum Disorder by Dey S., Mondal P., Mandal S., Sasmal S., Chakraborty N., Das A. Journal of visualized experiments: JoVE e66649 - (2024)
Prefoldin 5 is a microtubule-associated protein that suppresses Tau-aggregation and neurotoxicity by Bisht A., Pippadpally S. , Majumder S. , Gopi A. , Das A. , Sahi C. , Ramaswami M. , Kumar V. eLife 13 - (2024)
Drosophila olfaction as a model system for studying human neurological disorders by Sarkar S., Das A. Journal of Bioscience 48 1-19 (2023)
Epigenetic Regulation of Neurological Disorders by Mondal P., Sarkar S. , Das A. Epigenetics in Organ Specific Disorders 269-310 (2023)
Targeting of HSP27 and MMP-2/9 Crosstalk by High-Throughput Drug Repurposing Strategies Identifies Paroxetine as a Potential Candidate in Glioblastoma by Nandi S., Banerjee S. , Manna D. , Awasthi A. , Biswas A. , Das A. , Mukherjee B. , Mitra P. , Mandal M. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry epub - (2026)
Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) shields pancreatic cancer from autophagy-dependent ferroptosis by suppressing redox imbalance induced AMPK/mTOR signaling by Deepak K., Roy P. K., Das A. , Mukherjee B. , Mandal M. Free Radic. Biol. Med 237 195-209 (2025)
Probing Shear-Induced Endothelial Activation in Vascular Conditions Using On-Chip Models by Ghosh S., Mandal S. , Das A. , Shukla P. C., Das S. ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering - (2025)

Completed Projects

Principal Investigator

Deciphering the link between altered developmental Spontaneous Neuronal Activity and origin of Autism Spectrum Disorders WB-DST
Spontaneous neuronal activity induced transcriptional regulation mediated by Mef2 in the origin of Autism Spectrum Disorder DBT, NEW DELHI

Co-Principal Investigator

Catalytic and enantioselective strain release driven ring opening of azabicyclobutane ring to access diversely substituted azetidines Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF)

Alumni members