Dhanya Cheerambathur

The molecular mechanisms that build and regenerate neural circuits.

Dhanya Cheerambathur is a Wellcome Career Development Fellow at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh. Her research group investigates the molecular mechanisms that govern brain wiring, focusing on how cytoskeletal dynamics shape neuronal connectivity. The lab employs a combinatorial strategy of genetics, high time resolution microscopy, and biochemical approaches, using C. elegans as the primary model organism alongside human pluripotent stem cell–derived neurons. 

Dhanya earned her Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of California, Davis in the laboratory of Jonathan Scholey, and conducted postdoctoral research with Arshad Desai at the University of California, San Diego. She joined the University of Edinburgh in May 2018 as a Sir Henry Dale Fellow to establish her independent research program.

portrait photo of Dhanya Cheerambathur
Dhanya Cheerambathur

Henrique Alves Domingos, Mattie Green, Vasilis Ouzounidis, Beyza Özen, Ayca Solmaz, Ava Benbow, Ben Lawrence, Lucy Mucklow, Stephen Bradley, Petra zur Lage, Selin Gumusderelioglu and Maria Walker


Role of chromosome segregation machinery in building and regenerating neural circuits

We investigate the molecular pathways that build, maintain, and repair the intricate neuronal architecture of the brain. During development, neurons establish precisely wired networks by forming elaborate dendritic arbors and guiding axons through dense environments to reach target sites and create synaptic connections. These processes rely on cytoskeletal remodeling triggered by external cues, yet the molecular mechanisms that connect cytoskeletal dynamics to neuronal morphology and connectivity remain poorly defined.

A core focus of our research is to uncover the surprising, noncanonical roles of the chromosome segregation machinery—particularly the kinetochore—in shaping the nervous system. While kinetochores are well-known for their role in mediating chromosome segregation during cell division, our work and that of others have revealed that they function as critical regulators of the cytoskeleton in post-mitotic neurons. These findings point to conserved roles for kinetochore proteins in governing neuronal development and connectivity across worms, flies, and mammals.

Our current research aims to:

  • Define how kinetochore proteins promote dendrite arborization in C. elegans.
  • Elucidate the roles of kinetochore components in axon guidance and synapse formation.
  • Investigate the molecular functions of kinetochore proteins in vertebrate neurons.

Fluorescence image of neurons

Schildhauer F, Ryl PSJ, Lauer SM, Lenz S, Barlas AB, Ouzounidis VR, Jeffrey K, Marcu DC, O’Reilly FJ, Graziadei A, Stuiver M, Schmidt K, Ewers H, Spahn CMT, Karaca E, Busch KE, Cheerambathur D, Schwefel D and Rappsilber J. An NADH-controlled gatekeeper of ATP synthase. Molecular Cell 85, 2567-2580 (2025). (link)

Alves Domigos H, Green M, Ouzounidis VO, Finlayson C, Prevo B and Cheerambathur DK. The kinetochore protein KNL-1 regulates the actin cytoskeleton to control dendrite branching. Journal of Cell Biology 224, 1-21 (2025). (link)

Carvalho C, Moreira M, Barbosa DJ, Chan FY, Koehnen CB, Teixeira V, Rocha H, Green M, Carvalho AX, Cheerambathur DK, Gassmann R. ZYG-12/Hook’s dual role as dynein adaptor for early endosomes and nuclei is regulated by alternative splicing of its cargo binding domain. Molecular Biology of the Cell 36, 1-11 (2025). (link)

Blow F, Jeffrey K, Chow FW, Nikonorova IA, Barr MM, Cook AG, Prevo B, Cheerambathur DK, Buck AH. SID-2 is a conserved extracellular vesicle protein that is not associated with environmental RNAi in parasitic nematodes. Open Biology 14, 1-10 (2024). (link)

Prevo B, Cheerambathur DK, Earnshaw WC, Desai A. Kinetochore dynein is sufficient to biorient chromosomes and remodel the outer kinetochore. Nature Communications 15, 1-13 (2024). (link)

Ouzounidis VO, Green M, de Ceuninck van Capelle C, Gebhardt C, Crellin H, Finlayson C, Prevo B and Cheerambathur DK. The outer kinetochore proteins KNL-1 and Ndc80 complex are required to pattern the central nervous system. Molecular Biology of the Cell 35, 1-14 (2024). (link)

Ouzounidis VO, Prevo B and Cheerambathur DK. Sculpting the dendritic landscape: actin, microtubules, and the art of arborization. Current Opinion in Cell Biology 84, 102214 (2023). Invited Review. (link)

Bai X, Melesse M, Sorensen Turpin CG, Sloan DE, Chen CY, Wang WC, Lee PY, Simmons JR, Nebenfuehr B, Mitchell D, Klebanow LR, Mattson N, Betzig E, Chen BC, Cheerambathur D and Bembenek JN. Aurora B functions at the apical surface after specialized cytokinesis during morphogenesis in C. elegans. Development147, 1-16 (2020). (link)

Cheerambathur DK, Prevo B, Chow T, Hattersley N, Wang S, Zhao Z, Kim T, Gerson-Gurwitz A, Oegema K, Green R and Desai A. The kinetochore-microtubule coupling machinery is repurposed in sensory nervous system morphogenesis. Developmental Cell 48, 864-872 (2019). (link)


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