The research program deals with the evolution of vertebrate striated muscle genes, the regulation of gene expression in muscle cell during development, structure of human muscle genes and their expression in normal and pathological conditions, and mechanism of Ca++-regulated muscle contraction by using mutant muscle proteins. A common theme of various projects in our research is understanding the molecular and genetic basis of contractility of muscle cell and how this process is regulated and altered in normal and pathological states. We use a multidisciplinary approach of biochemistry, cell, and molecular biology to understand how the physiology of muscle cell is correlated with the isoform diversity of muscle proteins encoded by members of multigene family.