Olfaction, the sense of smell, endows organisms an ability to detect and distinguish a multitude of molecules.
All this is achieved by the presence of Olfactory receptors, a specialized class of GPCRs, which primarily resides
on the epithelium. In addition to their expression in the organ, these olfactory receptors are known to express in
the non-olfactory tissues and contribute to specialized functions ranging from wound healing, tissue regeneration,
inhibition of the cancer cells, sperm chemotaxis, etc.
The Ahuja Lab at IIIT Delhi investigates:
To achieve this, The Ahuja Lab effectively takes advantage of effectively takes advantage of both chemoinformatics, molecular biology, and genomics techniques.
Anku Gupta, Mohit Choudhary, Sanjay Kumar Mohanty, Aayushi Mittal, Krishan Gupta, Aditya Arya, Suvendu Kumar, Nikhil Katyayan, Nilesh Kumar Dixit, Siddhant Kalra, Manshi Goel, Megha Sahni, Vrinda Singhal, Tripti Mishra, Debarka Sengupta*, and Gaurav Ahuja*. 2020. “Machine-OlF-Action: A unified framework for developing and interpreting machine-learning models for chemosensory research” Bioinformatics. DOI:10.1093/bioinformatics/btaa1104.*co-corressponding authors.
Gerkin et al.....GCCR Group Author. 2020. “Recent smell loss is the best predictor of COVID-19 among individuals with recent respiratory symptoms” Chemical Senses. DOI:10.1093/chemse/bjaa081.
Chitrita Goswami, Smriti Chawla, Deepshi Thakral, Himanshu Pant, Pramod Verma, Prabhat Singh Malik, Jayadeva, Ritu Gupta*, Gaurav Ahuja* and Debarka Sengupta. 2020. “Molecular signature comprising 11 platelet-genes enables accurate blood-based diagnosis of NSCLC” BMC Genomics. DOI:10.1186/s12864-020-07147-z.*co-corressponding authors.
Siddhant Kalra*, Aayushi Mittal*, Manisha Bajoria, Tripti Mishra, Sidrah Maryam, Debarka Sengupta, and Gaurav Ahuja. 2020. “Challenges and possible solutions for decoding extranasal olfactory receptors” The FEBS Journal. DOI:10.1111/febs.15606.*shared first authors.
Siddhant Kalra*, Aayushi Mittal*, Krishan Gupta, Vrinda Singhal, Anku Gupta, Tripti Mishra, Srivatsava Naidu, Debarka Sengupta, and Gaurav Ahuja. 2020. “Analysis of single-cell transcriptomes links enrichment of olfactory receptors with cancer cell differentiation status and prognosis” Communications Biology. DOI: 10.1038/s42003-020-01232-5.*shared first authors.
Gupta, Krishan*, Sanjay K. Mohanty*, Siddhant Kalra*, Aayushi Mittal*, Tripti Mishra, Jatin Ahuja, Debarka Sengupta, Gaurav Ahuja. 2020. “The Cellular Basis of Loss of Smell in 2019-nCoV Infected Individuals.” Briefings in Bioinformatics. DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbaa168. *shared first authors
Ahuja G., Bartsch D., Yao W., Dodzian J, Frank S., Messling J., Russ N., Muck J., Vargas N., Lehmann K., Brodesser S., Sachinidis A., Hescheler J., Aguirre A., Dieterich C., Papantonis A., Petrascheck M., Jain M., Valenzano D., Kurian L. Loss of genomic integrity induced by lysosphingolipid imbalance drives ageing in the heart. EMBO Reports DOI 10.15252/embr.201847407 (Impact Factor: 8.6)
Kuo JC., Hänzelmann S., Sentürk N., Frank S., Zajzon B., Derks JP, Akhade VS., Ahuja G., Kanduri C., Grummt I., Kurian K., and Costa I.G. Detection of RNA-DNA binding sites in long noncoding RNAs. Nucleic Acids Research DOI:10.1093/nar/gkz037 (5 years Impact Factor: 10.2)
Frank S*., Ahuja G*., Bartsch D*., Russ N., Yao W, Kuo JC., Derks JP., Akhade V., Kargapolova Y., Georgomanolis T., Messling JM., Gramm M., Brant L., Rehimi R., Kuroczik A†., Vargas N†., Yang T.P., Sahito RG., Franzen JF., Hescheler J., Sachinidis A., PeiferM., Rada-Iglesias A., Kanduri M., Costa I., Kanduri C., Papantonis A., Kurian L (2018). yylncT Defines a Class of Divergently Transcribed lncRNAs and Safeguards the T-mediated Mesodermal Commitment of Human PSCs. Cell Stem Cell * shared first author DOI:10.1016/j.stem.2018.11.005 (5 years Impact Factor: 23.8)
Ahuja, G#, Reichel, V., Kowatschew, D., Syed, A.S., Kotagiri, A.K., Oka, Y., Weth, F., and Korsching, S.I#. (2018). Overlapping but distinct topology for zebrafish V2R-like olfactory receptors reminiscent of odorant receptor spatial expression zones BMC Genomics 19, 383. # co-corresponding author DOI: 10.1186/s12864-018-4740-8 (5 years Impact Factor: 4.6)
Ju Lee, H., Bartsch, D., Xiao, C., Guerrero, S., Ahuja, G., Schindler, C., Moresco, J.J., Yates, J.R. 3rd, Gebauer, F., Bazzi, H., et al. (2017). A post-transcriptional program coordinated by CSDE1 prevents intrinsic neural differentiation of human embryonic stem cells. Nature Communications 8, 1456. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01744-5 (5 years Impact Factor: 13.7)
Dieris, M., Ahuja, G. A, Krishna, V., and Korsching, S.I. (2017). A single identified glomerulus in the zebrafish olfactory bulb carries the high-affinity response to death-associated odor cadaverine. Scientific Reports 7, 40892. DOI:10.1038/srep40892 (5 years Impact Factor: 4.6)
Sharma, K., Ahuja, G., Hussain, A., Balfanz, S., Baumann, A., and Korsching, S.I. (2016). Elimination of a ligand gating site generates a supersensitive olfactory receptor. Scientific Reports 6, 28359. DOI: 10.1038/srep28359 (5 years Impact Factor: 4.6)
Saraiva, L.R*., Ahuja, G*., Ivandic, I., Syed, A.S., Marioni, J.C., Korsching, S.I., and Logan, D.W. (2015). Molecular and neuronal homology between the olfactory systems of zebrafish and mouse. Scientific Reports 5, 11487–11487. * shared first author DOI:10.1038/srep11487 (5 years Impact Factor: 4.6)
Ahuja, G., Nia, S.B., Zapilko, V., Shiriagin, V., Kowatschew, D., Oka, Y., and Korsching, S.I. (2014). Kappe neurons, a novel population of olfactory sensory neurons. Scientific Reports 4, 4037–4037. DOI:10.1038/srep04037 (5 years Impact Factor: 4.6)
Ahuja, G#., and Korsching, S#. (2014). Zebrafish olfactory receptor ORA1 recognizes a putative reproductive pheromone. Communicative & Integrative Biology 7. # co-corresponding author DOI:10.4161/19420889.2014.970501 (5 years Impact Factor: NA)
Behrens, M., Frank, O*., Rawel, H*., Ahuja, G*., Potting, C., Hofmann, T., Meyerhof, W., and Korsching, S. (2014). ORA1, a Zebrafish Olfactory Receptor Ancestral to All Mammalian V1R Genes, Recognizes 4-Hydroxyphenylacetic Acid, a Putative Reproductive Pheromone. Journal of Biological Chemistry 289, 19778–19788. * shared co-author DOI:10.1074/jbc.M114.573162 (5 years Impact Factor: 4.4)
Hussain, A*., Saraiva, L.R*., Ferrero, D.M*., Ahuja, G*., Krishna, V.S., Liberles, S.D., and Korsching, S.I. (2013). High-affinity olfactory receptor for the death-associated odor cadaverine. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 110, 19579–19584. * shared first author DOI:10.1073/pnas.1318596110 (5 years Impact Factor: 10.4)
Ahuja, G., Ivandic, I., Saltürk, M., Oka, Y., Nadler, W., and Korsching, S.I. (2013). Zebrafish crypt neurons project to a single, identified mediodorsal glomerulus. Scientific Reports 3, 2063–2063. DOI:10.1038/srep02063 (5 years Impact Factor: 4.6)
Current Students
Alumni
The Ahuja lab is supported by the Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellowship, a re-entry scheme of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt. of India, and an Intramural Start-up grant from Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology-Delhi (IIIT-Delhi).