Associate Professor Ajay Mathuru received his Bachelor’ degree in Science (Genetics, Microbiology and Chemistry) from Osmania University in Hyderabad, India in 1996. In 1998, he was awarded the university gold medal and a Master’s degree in Life Sciences (Plant Sciences) at the University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India.
During his Master’s programme, Assoc Prof Mathuru spent a summer studying olfactory conditioning and odour-evoked behaviours in Drosophila melanogaster larvae in the late Professor Obaid Siddiqi’s laboratory in Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India which culminated in a lifelong interest in neuroscience. During his PhD in neuroscience at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India, he studied the coupling of biophysical and biochemical agents at the hippocampal synapses with Upi Bhalla.
He developed an interest in addressing neuroethological questions using zebrafish and moved to Singapore in 2006, to work with Suresh Jesuthasan, first at Temasek Lifesciences Labs, then at Duke-NUS/A*STAR as a Research Fellow. Prior to joining Yale-NUS, he worked as a Senior Research Fellow at IMCB, A*STAR, where he continued to study neural mechanisms underlying natural behaviour.
Assoc Prof Mathuru is interested in understanding the neural, genetic, and molecular mechanisms underlying animal behaviour. Using a small, translucent vertebrate (zebrafish) that allows one to perform precise genetic manipulations and optical imaging of neural activity at a high resolution, his laboratory develops new tools to study and analyse natural behaviours motivated by rewards and risks – such as social behaviours, predator avoidance, and behaviours triggered by appetitive, or aversive, or olfactory cues.
They then apply their findings to understand the neurogenetics of human disorders of the brain. Current studies examine genes implicated in addiction, anxiety disorders, depression, epilepsy, and neurodegeneration in humans.
#Co-first, *Corresponding, ** Undergraduate authors
S Xue*, TTN Ly, RS Vijayakar, J Chen, J Ng, AS Mathuru, F Magdinier & B Reversade* HOX epimutations driven by maternal SMCHD1/LRIF1 haploinsufficiency trigger homeotic transformations in genetically wildtype offspring. Nature Communications 13, (2022) 3583. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31185-8 News Highlight
AS Mathuru*, A Vyas. Social plasticity and decision making. Brain Res. 2022 Jun 15;1785:147890. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2022.147890
A Gemmer, K Mirkes, L Anneser, T Eilers, C Kibat, AS Mathuru, S Ryu, E Schuman Oxytocin receptors influence the development and maintenance of social behavior in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Scientific Reports 12, 4322. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-07990-y
FM Nathan, C Kibat, T Goel, J Stewart, A Claridge-Chang, AS Mathuru* Contingent stimulus delivery assay for zebrafish reveals a role for CCSER1 in alcohol preference Addiction Biology DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.13126 News Highlight
SH Tay, E Elliyana, Y Le, S Menachem, J Ohmer, AS Mathuru, U Fischer, and C Winkler* A novel zebrafish model for intermediate type spinal muscular atrophy demonstrates the importance of Smn for maintenance of mature motor neurons. Human Molecular Genetics DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/hmg/ddab212 (2021)
PV AshaRani, S Amron, NAB Zainuldin, S Tohari, AYJ Ng, G Song, B Venkatesh*, and AS Mathuru*. Whole-Exome Sequencing to Identify Potential Genetic Risk in Substance Use Disorders: A Pilot Feasibility Study. Journal of Clinical Medicine DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10132810 (2021)
WK Lim**, P Kaur, H Huang**, RS Jo**, A Ramamoorthy**, LF Ng, J Suresh, FL MaishaI, AS Mathuru, NS Tolwinski* Optogenetic approaches for understanding homeostatic and degenerative processes in Drosophila. Cellular Molecular Life Science DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-021-03836-4 (2021)
HH Wong,…[43 authors]…, AS Mathuru, L Ho, F Bard, and B Reversade Loss of C2orf69 defines a fatal autoinflammatory syndrome in humans and zebrafish that evokes a glycogen storage-associated mitochondriopathy, The American Journal of Human Genetics, Available online 25 May 2021 https://www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(21)00187-7
Angela Koh, Shijie Tao, Goh Yun Jing, Vindhya Chaganty, Kelvin See, Kathiresan Purushothaman, László Orbán, Ajay S Mathuru, Thorsten Wohland, Christoph Winkler, A Neurexin2aa deficiency results in axon pathfinding defects and increased anxiety in zebrafish, Human Molecular Genetics, ddaa260, 2020 https://doi.org/10.1093/hmg/ddaa260
Kaur, P., Kibat, C., Teo, E., Gruber, J., Mathuru, A. and Tolwinski, N. Use of Optogenetic Amyloid-β to Monitor Protein Aggregation in Drosophila melanogaster, Danio rerio and Caenorhabditis elegans. Bio-protocol 10(23): e3856. 2020, DOI: 10.21769/BioProtoc.3856.
SJ Jesuthasan, S Krishnan, RK Cheng, AS Mathuru. Neural correlates of state transitions elicited by a chemosensory danger cue. Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 2020 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2020.110110
M Vitkauskas and AS Mathuru. Total Recall: Lateral habenula and psychedelics in the study of depression and comorbid brain disorders. International Journal of Molecular Science, 2020, 21(18), 6525; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21186525
AS Mathuru, F Libersat, A Vyas, S Teseo. Why behavioral neuroscience still needs diversity?: A curious case of a persistent need. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 2020 https://doi.org/10.1016a/j.neubiorev.2020.06.021
CH Lim, P Kaur, E Teo, VY Man Lam, F Zhu, C Kibat, J Gruber, AS Mathuru & N Tolwinski. Application of Optogenetic Amyloid-β Distinguishes Between Metabolic and Physical Damage in Neurodegeneration. eLife, 2020, https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.52589
Wen Kin Lim and AS Mathuru. Design, challenges, and the potential of transcriptomics to understand social behavior. Current Zoology, 2020 zoaa007. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoaa007
H Hengel and C Bosso-Lefèvre et al. Loss-of-function mutations in UDP-Glucose 6-Dehydrogenase cause recessive developmental epileptic encephalopathy. Nature Communications, 11, 595, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14360-7
MT Stamps, S Go and AS Mathuru. Computational geometric tools for quantitative comparison of locomotory behavior. Scientific Reports, 2019 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-52300-8
S Haghani, M Karia, RK Cheng & AS Mathuru. An automated assay system to study novel tank induced anxiety Front. Behav. Neurosci., 2019 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00180
C Lim and AS Mathuru. Modeling Alzheimer’s and Other Age Related Human Diseases in Embryonic Systems. J. Dev. Biol. 2018, 6(1), 1, 2018 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/jdb6010001
C Xu , LN Govindarajan et al. Lie-X: Depth Image Based Articulated Object Pose Estimation, Tracking, and Action Recognition on Lie Groups Int J Computer Vision,126: 897, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11263-018-1069-3
AS Mathuru. A little rein on addiction Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology, Volume 78, June 2018, Pages 120-129 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semcdb.2017.09.030
AS Mathuru. Conspecific injury raises an alarm in medaka. Scientific Reports, Volume 6, Article number: 36615 (2016) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep36615
S Krishnan, AS Mathuru et al. The right dorsal habenula limits attraction to specific odors. Current Biology 2014,DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.073 (# equal contribution)
SJ Tan, M Kee, AS Mathuru et al. A microfluidic device to sort cells based on dynamic response to a stimulus, PLOS One, 2013, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0078261
A Schirmer, S Jesuthasan and AS Mathuru. Tactile stimuli reduce fear in fish, Front. of Behav. Neurosci., 2013, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00167
AS Mathuru and S Jesuthasan. The medial habenula as a regulator of anxiety in adult zebrafish. Front. Neural Circuits 2013, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2013.00099
AS Mathuru et. al. Chondroitin Fragments Are Odorants that trigger fear behavior in fish. Current Biology, 2012 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2012.01.061
A Lee, AS Mathuru et. al. The habenula prevents helpless behavior in larval zebrafish. Current Biology, 2010 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2010.11.025
AS Mathuru and S Jesuthasan. Alarm Response in Zebrafish: Innate Fear in a Vertebrate Genetic Model. Journal of Neurogenetics, 2008 DOI: 10.1080/01677060802298475
M Hendricks, AS Mathuru et al. Disruption of Esrom and Ryk identifies the roof plate boundary as an intermediate target for commissure formation. Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, 2008, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mcn.2007.10.002
AS Mathuru and US Bhalla. A propagating ERKII switch forms zones of elevated dendritic activation correlated with plasticity. HFSP J, 2006, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2976/1.2721383
AS Mathuru and US Bhalla. Synaptic plasticity – in vitro and in silico : Insights into an intracellular signaling maze. Physiology, 2006 DOI: 10.1152/physiol.00009.2006
AS Mathuru and US Bhalla. A role for ERKII in synaptic pattern selectivity on the time-scale of minutes. E. J. Neurosci., 2004 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-9568.2004.03725.x
SJ Vayttaden, Mathuru AS and US Bhalla. A spectrum of models of signaling pathways. Chembiochem, 2004, DOI: 10.1002/cbic.2004001
- Science of Life
- Advanced topics in Neuroscience
- Molecular Neuroscience
- Foundations of Neuroscience
- Scientific Inquiry 1
