Background
Jena was born in a small town in Orissa, India, on November 1, 1955, to Manju and Prafulla Jena.
university professor cell biologist
Jena was born in a small town in Orissa, India, on November 1, 1955, to Manju and Prafulla Jena.
He majored in Chemistry, Zoology and Botany from BJB College in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India (Bachelor of Science, 1975) and studied Zoology (Endocrinology) at Utkal University, Orissa, (Master of Science , 1978). In December 1988, he received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Zoology (Molecular Endocrinology), Following postdoctoral studies at Iowa State and Yale Universities (1988–1994), Jena joined Yale University as an Assistant Professor, and in 2000, joined as Professor in the Department of Physiology, at Wayne State University School of Medicine.
Following four years of lectureship at various colleges in Utkal University (1978-1982), in 1982 Jena received a teaching and research fellowship from Iowa State University, to pursue studies leading to a doctorate degree. Using Atomic force microscope on live cells, Jena was the first to report the discovery of a new cellular structure the Porosome in the mid 1990’son The Porosome are permanent supramolecular structures at the cell Plasma membrane, where secretory Vesicle (biology and chemistry) dock and fuse to release intravesicular contents to the outside of the cell.
This discovery was a major breakthrough in our understanding of cell secretion.
The Porosome, hasbeen determined as the universal secretory machinery in cells, from exocrine cells of the pancreas, to neuroendocrine cells, and neurons. Jena and his research team has 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, 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.
Nano cell biology.