Bhanu Pratap Jena (born November 1, 1955) is an American cell biologist and the George E. Palade University Professor and Distinguished Professor of Physiology at the

Wayne State University School of Medicine The Wayne State University School of Medicine (WSUSOM) is the medical school of Wayne State University, a public university, public research university in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. It enrolls more than 1,500 students in undergraduate medical ed ...

, who discovered porosome in the mid-1990s and demonstrated it to be the universal secretory machinery in

plasma membrane The cell membrane (also known as the plasma membrane or cytoplasmic membrane, and historically referred to as the plasmalemma) is a biological membrane that separates and protects the interior of a cell from the outside environment (the extr ...

Biography

Jena was born in Jajpur, Odisha, India on November 1, 1955, to Manju and Prafulla Jena. He majored in Chemistry, Zoology and Botany at BJB College (B.Sc.,1975) and studied Zoology (Endocrinology) at

Utkal University Utkal University (UU) is a public university in Bhubaneswar, Khordha, Odisha, and is the oldest university in the state, and the 17th-oldest university in India. The university was established in 1943 and was operating from Ravenshaw College ...

(M.Sc.,1978). Following four years of lectureship at various colleges in Utkal University (1978–82), he received a teaching and research fellowship from

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

in 1982 to pursue studies leading to a doctorate degree. In December 1988, he received his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Zoology (Molecular Endocrinology) from Iowa State. Following postdoctoral studies at Iowa State and Yale (1988–1994), he joined

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

as an assistant professor, and in 2000, joined as professor in the Department of Physiology at

Scientific career

Using an

atomic force microscope Atomic force microscopy (AFM) or scanning force microscopy (SFM) is a very-high-resolution type of scanning probe microscopy (SPM), with demonstrated resolution on the order of fractions of a nanometer, more than 1000 times better than the diffr ...

on live cells, Jena was the first to report the discovery of a new cellular structure the porosome in the mid-1990s. The porosomes are permanent supramolecular structures at the

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life * Cellphone, a phone connected to a cellular network * Clandestine cell, a penetration-resistant form of a secret or outlawed organization * Electrochemical cell, a de ...

, where secretory

vesicles Vesicle may refer to: ; In cellular biology or chemistry * Vesicle (biology and chemistry), a supramolecular assembly of lipid molecules, like a cell membrane * Synaptic vesicle In a neuron, synaptic vesicles (or neurotransmitter vesicles) s ...

dock and fuse to release intravesicular contents to the outside of the cell. This was a major breakthrough in our understanding of cell secretion. The porosome has been determined as the universal secretory machinery in cells, from

exocrine Exocrine glands are glands that secrete substances onto an epithelial surface by way of a duct. Examples of exocrine glands include sweat, salivary, mammary, ceruminous, lacrimal, sebaceous, prostate and mucous. Exocrine glands are one of t ...

cells of the

pancreas The pancreas (plural pancreases, or pancreata) is an Organ (anatomy), organ of the Digestion, digestive system and endocrine system of vertebrates. In humans, it is located in the abdominal cavity, abdomen behind the stomach and functions as a ...

, to

neuroendocrine cells Neuroendocrine cells are cells that receive neuronal input (through neurotransmitters released by nerve cells or neurosecretory cells) and, as a consequence of this input, release messenger molecules (hormones) into the blood. In this way they bri ...

and

neuron A neuron (American English), neurone (British English), or nerve cell, is an membrane potential#Cell excitability, excitable cell (biology), cell that fires electric signals called action potentials across a neural network (biology), neural net ...

s. Jena and his research team have determined the structure and dynamics of the porosome in live cells, at nm resolution and in real time. The structure of the porosome was further confirmed by electron microscopy in whole cells, and in isolated porosome preparations. The isolated porosome has been both structurally and functionally reconstituted in

lipid membrane The lipid bilayer (or phospholipid bilayer) is a thin polar membrane made of two layers of lipid molecules. These membranes form a continuous barrier around all cells. The cell membranes of almost all organisms and many viruses are made of a l ...

and live cells, and its composition determined. The discovery of the porosome, and an understanding of its structure, function, composition, and reconstitution, has opened a new field in

cell biology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living an ...

: nano cell biology.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jena, Bhanu Pratap 1955 births Living people Indian emigrants to the United States Iowa State University people Wayne State University faculty 21st-century American biologists