Prof. Arindam Mukherjee
Group Leader
Professor, Department of Chemical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata.
Contact the laboratory
IISER Kolkata
Small Molecule Therapeutics Laboratory
Programming metal complexes and molecular scaffolds to interrogate and control cancer biology through coordination chemistry, chemical biology and mechanism-driven molecular design.
Our Scientific Mission
Mechanism-driven molecular design to reveal and control biological function
The Small Molecule Therapeutics Laboratory develops molecular systems in which coordination chemistry is used as a platform for programming biological activity .
Our research integrates synthetic inorganic chemistry with spectroscopy, photochemistry, chemical biology, molecular pharmacology, proteomics and advanced cellular models. We seek to understand not only whether a compound is biologically active, but also how its molecular architecture produces that activity .
Medicinal Inorganic Chemistry
Chemical Biology
Cancer Therapeutics
Photochemistry
Targeted Protein Modulation
Molecular Imaging
From Rational Design to Mechanistic Insight
Select a research programme to open its detailed description on the Research page.
01
Medicinal Inorganic Chemistry
Functionally programmed Ru, Pt, Ir and related coordination compounds in which the metal centre, ligand and transformed species contribute complementary biological functions.
Explore programme →02
Photochemical Therapeutics
ES-PCET, Type-I photochemistry, fluorogenic activation and light-triggered therapeutic release with spatial and temporal control.
Explore programme →03
Targeted Molecular Platforms
Protein-directed, metabolism-guided and disease-responsive molecular systems for selective engagement of signalling pathways and therapy-resistant cell populations.
Explore programme →04
Mechanistic Chemical Biology
Biochemical, cellular and proteomic studies that connect molecular structure and reactivity with signalling, replication responses, stemness, cell death and immune activation.
Explore programme →A mechanism-guided research workflow
Each project is developed as a connected sequence from chemical hypothesis to experimentally validated biological mechanism.
Define the problem
Identify a disease-relevant molecular pathway, vulnerability or unresolved mechanistic question.
Program the molecule
Integrate targeting, activation, sensing and therapeutic functions into a rational molecular architecture.
Establish reactivity
Characterize structure, stability, photochemical behaviour, biomolecular interactions and functional outputs.
Resolve mechanism
Validate cellular pathways using biochemical assays, imaging, omics and disease-relevant biological models.
Multifunctional chemistry with mechanistic depth
Our work moves beyond conventional cytotoxic metal complexes by engineering molecular systems with identifiable and experimentally testable functions.
Functionally programmed coordination compounds
The coordinated ligand, metal centre and released molecular species are selected to engage complementary biological pathways.
Triggered and fluorogenic molecular systems
Molecular transformations are coupled to light activation, therapeutic release or fluorescence generation for real-time functional analysis.
Biology used to test chemical hypotheses
Cellular and proteomic methods are used to determine whether the proposed molecular design operates through its intended mechanism.
Meet the people behind the science
Explore our current researchers, graduate students, project students and alumni who have contributed to the growth of the Small Molecule Therapeutics Laboratory.
Small Molecule Therapeutics Laboratory
Department of Chemical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Mohanpur, West Bengal, India.