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Photo of  Karthickeyan Chella Krishnan, PhD

Karthickeyan Chella Krishnan, PhD

Assistant Professor

Pharmacology & Systems Physiology | College of Medicine

Education/Credentials
  • Ph.D.: University of Cincinnati (Systems Genetics)
  • B.Tech.: Anna University (Industrial Biotechnology)
Contact Information
Research Interests

Dr. Chella Krishnan's major research focus is to understand the role of sex differences and mitochondrial (dys)function in the pathophysiology of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

One of the major complications of obesity affecting the liver, in the absence of alcohol, is NAFLD. It is estimated that 20-30% of the population worldwide are affected by NAFLD and is more prevalent in men than women, with men exhibiting severe NAFLD symptoms. Work in the K Lab is focused on understa...

Peer Reviewed Publications

Chella Krishnan, Karthickeyan 2023. When diet meets genetics. eLife, 12 ,

Chella Krishnan, Karthickeyan; El Hachem, Elie-Julien; Keller, Mark P; Patel, Sanjeet G; Carroll, Luke; Vegas, Alexis Diaz; Gerdes Gyuricza, Isabela; Light, Christine; Cao, Yang; Pan, Calvin; Kaczor-Urbanowicz, Karolina Elżbieta; Shravah, Varun; Anum, Diana; Pellegrini, Matteo; Lee, Chi Fung; Seldin, Marcus M; Rosenthal, Nadia A; Churchill, Gary A; Attie, Alan D; Parker, Benjamin; James, David E; Lusis, Aldons J 2023. Genetic architecture of heart mitochondrial proteome influencing cardiac hypertrophy. eLife, 12 ,

Patel, Sanil; Sparman, Njeri Z R; Arneson, Douglas; Alvarsson, Alexandra; Santos, Luís C; Duesman, Samuel J; Centonze, Alessia; Hathaway, Ephraim; Ahn, In Sook; Diamante, Graciel; Cely, Ingrid; Cho, Chung Hwan; Talari, Noble Kumar; Rajbhandari, Abha K; Goedeke, Leigh; Wang, Peng; Butte, Atul J; Blanpain, Cédric; Chella Krishnan, Karthickeyan; Lusis, Aldons J; Stanley, Sarah A; Yang, Xia; Rajbhandari, Prashant 2023. Mammary duct luminal epithelium controls adipocyte thermogenic programme. Nature, 620 7972, 192-199

Cao, Yang; Vergnes, Laurent; Wang, Yu-Chen; Pan, Calvin; Chella Krishnan, Karthickeyan; Moore, Timothy M; Rosa-Garrido, Manuel; Kimball, Todd H; Zhou, Zhiqiang; Charugundla, Sarada; Rau, Christoph D; Seldin, Marcus M; Wang, Jessica; Wang, Yibin; Vondriska, Thomas M; Reue, Karen; Lusis, Aldons J 2022. Sex differences in heart mitochondria regulate diastolic dysfunction. Nature communications, 13 1, 3850

Acín-Perez, Rebeca; Petcherski, Anton; Veliova, Michaela; Benador, Ilan Y; Assali, Essam A; Colleluori, Georgia; Cinti, Saverio; Brownstein, Alexandra J; Baghdasarian, Siyouneh; Livhits, Masha J; Yeh, Michael W; Krishnan, Karthickeyan Chella; Vergnes, Laurent; Winn, Nathan C; Padilla, Jaume; Liesa, Marc; Sacks, Harold S; Shirihai, Orian S 2021. Recruitment and remodeling of peridroplet mitochondria in human adipose tissue. Redox biology, 46 , 102087

Chella Krishnan, Karthickeyan; Floyd, Raquel R; Sabir, Simon; Jayasekera, Dulshan W; Leon-Mimila, Paola V; Jones, Anthony E; Cortez, Angel A; Shravah, Varun; Péterfy, Miklós; Stiles, Linsey; Canizales-Quinteros, Samuel; Divakaruni, Ajit S; Huertas-Vazquez, Adriana; Lusis, Aldons J 2021. Liver Pyruvate Kinase Promotes NAFLD/NASH in Both Mice and Humans in a Sex-Specific Manner. Cellular and molecular gastroenterology and hepatology, 11 2, 389-406

Chella Krishnan, Karthickeyan; Vergnes, Laurent; Acín-Pérez, Rebeca; Stiles, Linsey; Shum, Michael; Ma, Lijiang; Mouisel, Etienne; Pan, Calvin; Moore, Timothy M; Péterfy, Miklós; Romanoski, Casey E; Reue, Karen; Björkegren, Johan L M; Laakso, Markku; Liesa, Marc; Lusis, Aldons J 2021. Sex-specific genetic regulation of adipose mitochondria and metabolic syndrome by Ndufv2. Nature metabolism, 3 11, 1552-1568

Ferrara, Patrick J; Rong, Xin; Maschek, J Alan; Verkerke, Anthony Rp; Siripoksup, Piyarat; Song, Haowei; Green, Thomas D; Krishnan, Karthickeyan C; Johnson, Jordan M; Turk, John; Houmard, Joseph A; Lusis, Aldons J; Drummond, Micah J; McClung, Joseph M; Cox, James E; Shaikh, Saame Raza; Tontonoz, Peter; Holland, William L; Funai, Katsuhiko 2021. Lysophospholipid acylation modulates plasma membrane lipid organization and insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle. The Journal of clinical investigation, 131 8,

Norheim, Frode; Chella Krishnan, Karthickeyan; Bjellaas, Thomas; Vergnes, Laurent; Pan, Calvin; Parks, Brian W; Meng, Yonghong; Lang, Jennifer; Ward, James A; Reue, Karen; Mehrabian, Margarete; Gundersen, Thomas E; Péterfy, Miklós; Dalen, Knut T; Drevon, Christian A; Hui, Simon T; Lusis, Aldons J; Seldin, Marcus M 2021. Genetic regulation of liver lipids in a mouse model of insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis. Molecular systems biology, 17 1, e9684

Shum, Michael; Shintre, Chitra A; Althoff, Thorsten; Gutierrez, Vincent; Segawa, Mayuko; Saxberg, Alexandra D; Martinez, Melissa; Adamson, Roslin; Young, Margaret R; Faust, Belinda; Gharakhanian, Raffi; Su, Shi; Chella Krishnan, Karthickeyan; Mahdaviani, Kiana; Veliova, Michaela; Wolf, Dane M; Ngo, Jennifer; Nocito, Laura; Stiles, Linsey; Abramson, Jeff; Lusis, Aldons J; Hevener, Andrea L; Zoghbi, Maria E; Carpenter, Elisabeth P; Liesa, Marc 2021. ABCB10 exports mitochondrial biliverdin, driving metabolic maladaptation in obesity. Science translational medicine, 13 594,

Acín-Pérez, Rebeca; Iborra, Salvador; Martí-Mateos, Yolanda; Cook, Emma C L; Conde-Garrosa, Ruth; Petcherski, Anton; Muñoz, Mª Del Mar; Martínez de Mena, Raquel; Krishnan, Karthickeyan Chella; Jiménez, Concepción; Bolaños, Juan Pedro; Laakso, Markku; Lusis, Aldon J; Shirihai, Orian S; Sancho, David; Enríquez, José Antonio 2020. Fgr kinase is required for proinflammatory macrophage activation during diet-induced obesity. Nature metabolism, 2 9, 974-988

Zhang, Guanglin; Byun, Hyae Ran; Ying, Zhe; Blencowe, Montgomery; Zhao, Yuqi; Hong, Jason; Shu, Le; Chella Krishnan, Karthick; Gomez-Pinilla, Fernando; Yang, Xia 2020. Differential metabolic and multi-tissue transcriptomic responses to fructose consumption among genetically diverse mice. Biochimica et biophysica acta. Molecular basis of disease, 1866 1, 165569

Chella Krishnan, Karthickeyan; Sabir, Simon; Shum, Michaël; Meng, Yonghong; Acín-Pérez, Rebeca; Lang, Jennifer M; Floyd, Raquel R; Vergnes, Laurent; Seldin, Marcus M; Fuqua, Brie K; Jayasekera, Dulshan W; Nand, Sereena K; Anum, Diana C; Pan, Calvin; Stiles, Linsey; Péterfy, Miklós; Reue, Karen; Liesa, Marc; Lusis, Aldons J 2019. Sex-specific metabolic functions of adipose Lipocalin-2. Molecular metabolism, 30 , 30-47

Norheim, Frode; Hasin-Brumshtein, Yehudit; Vergnes, Laurent; Chella Krishnan, Karthickeyan; Pan, Calvin; Seldin, Marcus M; Hui, Simon T; Mehrabian, Margarete; Zhou, Zhiqiang; Gupta, Sonul; Parks, Brian W; Walch, Axel; Reue, Karen; Hofmann, Susanna M; Arnold, Arthur P; Lusis, Aldons J 2019. Gene-by-Sex Interactions in Mitochondrial Functions and Cardio-Metabolic Traits. Cell metabolism, 29 4, 932-949.e4

Chella Krishnan, Karthickeyan; Kurt, Zeyneb; Barrere-Cain, Rio; Sabir, Simon; Das, Aditi; Floyd, Raquel; Vergnes, Laurent; Zhao, Yuqi; Che, Nam; Charugundla, Sarada; Qi, Hannah; Zhou, Zhiqiang; Meng, Yonghong; Pan, Calvin; Seldin, Marcus M; Norheim, Frode; Hui, Simon; Reue, Karen; Lusis, Aldons J; Yang, Xia 2018. Integration of Multi-omics Data from Mouse Diversity Panel Highlights Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Cell systems, 6 1, 103-115.e7

Chella Krishnan, Karthickeyan; Mehrabian, Margarete; Lusis, Aldons J 2018. Sex differences in metabolism and cardiometabolic disorders. Current opinion in lipidology, 29 5, 404-410

Hui, Simon T; Kurt, Zeyneb; Tuominen, Iina; Norheim, Frode; C Davis, Richard; Pan, Calvin; Dirks, Darwin L; Magyar, Clara E; French, Samuel W; Chella Krishnan, Karthickeyan; Sabir, Simon; Campos-Pérez, Francisco; Méndez-Sánchez, Nahum; Macías-Kauffer, Luis; León-Mimila, Paola; Canizales-Quinteros, Samuel; Yang, Xia; Beaven, Simon W; Huertas-Vazquez, Adriana; Lusis, Aldons J 2018. The Genetic Architecture of Diet-Induced Hepatic Fibrosis in Mice. Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.), 68 6, 2182-2196

Norheim, Frode; Bjellaas, Thomas; Hui, Simon T; Chella Krishnan, Karthickeyan; Lee, Jakleen; Gupta, Sonul; Pan, Calvin; Hasin-Brumshtein, Yehudit; Parks, Brian W; Li, Daniel Y; Bui, Hai H; Mosier, Marian; Wu, Yuping; Huertas-Vazquez, Adriana; Hazen, Stanley L; Gundersen, Thomas E; Mehrabian, Margarete; Tang, W H Wilson; Hevener, Andrea L; Drevon, Christian A; Lusis, Aldons J 2018. Genetic, dietary, and sex-specific regulation of hepatic ceramides and the relationship between hepatic ceramides and IR. Journal of lipid research, 59 7, 1164-1174

Seldin, Marcus M; Koplev, Simon; Rajbhandari, Prashant; Vergnes, Laurent; Rosenberg, Gregory M; Meng, Yonghong; Pan, Calvin; Phuong, Thuy M N; Gharakhanian, Raffi; Che, Nam; Mäkinen, Selina; Shih, Diana M; Civelek, Mete; Parks, Brian W; Kim, Eric D; Norheim, Frode; Chella Krishnan, Karthickeyan; Hasin-Brumshtein, Yehudit; Mehrabian, Margarete; Laakso, Markku; Drevon, Christian A; Koistinen, Heikki A; Tontonoz, Peter; Reue, Karen; Cantor, Rita M; Björkegren, Johan L M; Lusis, Aldons J 2018. A Strategy for Discovery of Endocrine Interactions with Application to Whole-Body Metabolism. Cell metabolism, 27 5, 1138-1155.e6

Seldin, Marcus M; Kim, Eric D; Romay, Milagros C; Li, Shen; Rau, Christoph D; Wang, Jessica J; Krishnan, Karthickeyan Chella; Wang, Yibin; Deb, Arjun; Lusis, Aldons J 2017. A systems genetics approach identifies Trp53inp2 as a link between cardiomyocyte glucose utilization and hypertrophic response. American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology, 312 4, H728-H741

Chella Krishnan, Karthickeyan; Mukundan, Santhosh; Alagarsamy, Jeyashree; Hur, Junguk; Nookala, Suba; Siemens, Nikolai; Svensson, Mattias; Hyldegaard, Ole; Norrby-Teglund, Anna; Kotb, Malak 2016. Genetic Architecture of Group A Streptococcal Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections in the Mouse. PLoS pathogens, 12 7, e1005732

Chella Krishnan, Karthickeyan; Mukundan, Santhosh; Alagarsamy, Jeyashree; Laturnus, Donna; Kotb, Malak 2016. Host Genetic Variations and Sex Differences Potentiate Predisposition, Severity, and Outcomes of Group A Streptococcus-Mediated Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections. Infection and immunity, 84 2, 416-24

Mairpady Shambat, Srikanth; Siemens, Nikolai; Monk, Ian R; Mohan, Disha B; Mukundan, Santhosh; Krishnan, Karthickeyan Chella; Prabhakara, Sushma; Snäll, Johanna; Kearns, Angela; Vandenesch, Francois; Svensson, Mattias; Kotb, Malak; Gopal, Balasubramanian; Arakere, Gayathri; Norrby-Teglund, Anna 2016. A point mutation in AgrC determines cytotoxic or colonizing properties associated with phenotypic variants of ST22 MRSA strains. Scientific reports, 6 , 31360

Chella Krishnan, Karthickeyan; Mukundan, Santhosh; Landero Figueroa, Julio A; Caruso, Joseph A; Kotb, Malak 2014. Metal-mediated modulation of streptococcal cysteine protease activity and its biological implications. Infection and immunity, 82 7, 2992-3001