Keynote Address by Prof
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Keynote address by Prof. Amitabha Chattopadhyay Prof. Amitabha Chattopadhyay received B.Sc. with Honors in Chemistry from St. Xavier’s College (Calcutta) and M.Sc. from IIT Kanpur. He obtained his Ph.D. from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Davis. He subsequently joined the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad and now is an Outstanding Scientist (Director Level) there. Prof. Chattopadhyay’s work is focused on monitoring organization, dynamics and function of biological membranes in healthy and diseased conditions. His group has developed and applied novel, innovative and sensitive techniques (such as the wavelength-selective fluorescence approach) using fluorescence spectroscopy for monitoring solvent relaxation in membranes, membrane-mimetic media, and proteins. These pioneering studies have led to a better understanding of the dynamics of hydration of membranes and proteins. Another seminal contribution of Prof. Chattopadhyay’s group focuses on the role of membrane cholesterol in regulating the organization, dynamics and function of G protein-coupled receptors such as the serotonin1A receptor. His work showed, for the first time, that membrane cholesterol is necessary for the function of G protein-coupled receptors such as the serotonin1A receptor. His work has also provided novel insight in the role of membrane cholesterol in the entry of pathogens into host cells. Prof. Chattopadhyay has used fluorescence-based microscopic approaches such as Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching (FRAP), Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS), and Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) to provide novel insight into organization, dynamics and function of membrane-bound receptors. Overall, his work has contributed significantly to the understanding of membrane organization and dynamics, and the interplay between membrane lipids and proteins, especially in neuronal membranes. Prof. Chattopadhyay was awarded the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award, Ranbaxy Research Award, Prof. G.N. Ramachandran 60th Birthday Medal from the Indian National Science academy, and is a J.C. Bose Fellow of the Dept. of Science and Technology, Govt. of India. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and all the Indian Academies of Science, the Telangana Academy of Sciences, and West Bengal Academy of Science and Technology. Prof. Chattopadhyay has served on the editorial boards of a large number of reputed international journals that include Biophysical Journal, The Journal of Physical Chemistry, Journal of Neurochemistry, BBA-Biomembranes, Journal of Membrane Biology, FEBS Letters, IUBMB Life and ACS Chemical Neuroscience. He has mentored a number of students for Ph.D. Prof. Chattopadhyay has authored more than 200 research publications (mostly as first or senior/corresponding author; total citations > 8500, h-index 48, i-10 index 161), a monograph, and national and international patents. He has delivered more than 500 invited lectures all over the world including keynote, plenary, and colloquium lectures. Prof. Chattopadhyay has organized a number of international conferences on the broad theme of biological membranes including a thematic meeting of the Biophysical Society. Prof. Chattopadhyay has been instrumental in designing and teaching courses related to biomembranes and fluorescence spectroscopy for Ph.D. students in India and other parts of the world. In recent years, Prof. Chattopadhyay has been involved with science awareness programs among high school and college students. Prof. Chattopadhyay is an Adjunct Professor at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Mumbai), Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur), Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (Mohali), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (Australia), Swinburne University of Technology (Australia), and Honorary Faculty at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (Bangalore). He serves as the first Dean of Biological Sciences of the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research. Session – I Talk: 1 Name of the Speaker: Dr. Anand Ballal, SO/G, Molecular Biology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai. Time: 10:00 – 10:30am Life Amidst Oxidative Stress: Role of Catalases in Photosynthetic Bacteria Anand Ballal1*, Dhiman Chakravarty1, Manisha Banerjee1 and Subhash C Bihani2 The photosynthetic, filamentous, N2-fixing bacterium, Anabaena, is one of the few species in the world that uses solar energy (i.e. photosynthesis) to convert the inert atmospheric N2 into bio- + utilizable NH4 . For this reason, Anabaena is widely used as an eco-friendly biofertilizer in the paddy fields of Asia. Photosynthesis and nitrogen-fixation are both sensitive to oxidative stress, which is mediated by the toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS). Our research has focused on the role played by the anti-oxidant enzymes, catalases and peroxidases, in overcoming oxidative stress in Anabaena. Recent advances from our laboratory that highlight (1) the physiological role of catalase under conditions of H2O2/salinity stress and (2) the novel molecular structure of catalase will be discussed. Talk: 2 Name of the Speaker: Dr. Sanjeev Srivastava, Associate Professor, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay. Time: 10:30 – 11:00am Basics of Proteomics: A case study on Malaria for Identification of Potential Prognostic Serum Biomarkers and understanding pathobiology of disease Plasmodium vivax malaria is no longer benign due to the parasite’s ability to elicit severe symptoms even at very low parasitic biomass and the frequent occurrence of relapses, months after the clearance of primary infection. However, the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of vivax malaria still remain obscure with limited knowledge on its biology. In our study, serum samples from patients across different endemic regions of India were comprehensively investigated using a multiomics approach including quantitative proteomics platforms like DIGE and iTRAQ and a metabolomics approach using LCMS to identify markers of disease severity. Functional pathway analysis of the differentially expressed proteins revealed modulation of several vital physiological pathways, including anti-oxidative stress pathways, lipid metabolism, complement cascades and blood coagulation in vivax malaria. Proteins such as Carbonic anhydrase, Superoxide dismutase 1, Fatty acid-binding protein, nebulin, profilin, Serum amyloid A, Haptoglobin, Apo A-I and Apo E exhibited sequential alterations in their expression levels in different severity levels of malaria. The results were validated using ELISA and SPR-based measurements. An MRM-based methodology using LCMS-8050 was optimized for proteins such as Ceruloplasmin, Alpha 1-acid glycoprotein and Alpha 1-antichymotrypsin using samples from both falciparum and vivax malaria patients. This approach will be further explored for the validation of other interesting targets of vivax malaria. Furthermore, the first ever comparative metabolomic analysis of severe and non-severe vivax malaria was performed to gain a deeper insight into disease pathogenesis. Using LC-MS coupled with multivariate statistical data analysis approaches over 3000 serum metabolites were screened. Metabolites involved in oxidative stress such as nitrotyrosine, tyrosine etc. were found to be upregulated in vivax malaria patients in accordance with the proteomics data for oxidative protein markers which were further validated using kit-based assays. We conclude that the multiple serum proteins, antioxidative enzymes and oxidation protein products cumulatively represent the oxidative stress and antioxidative status of the patients with malaria and reflecting the level of disease severity. Talk: 3 Name of the Speaker: Dr. Raghavendra Patvardhan, Scientific Officer D, Free Radical Biology Section, Radiation Biology & Health Science Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai. Time: 11:00 – 11:20am Mitigation of radiation induced hematopoietic injury via regulation of cellular MAPK/phosphatase levels and increasing hematopoietic stem cells Here we describe a novel strategy for mitigation of ionizing radiation (IR) induced hematopoietic syndrome by suppressing the activity of MKP3 resulting in ERK activation and enhanced abundance of hematopoietic stem cells using an antioxidant flavonoid baicalein (5,6,7trihydroxyflavone). It offered complete protection to mouse splenic lymphocytes against radiation induced cell death. Inhibitors of ERK and Nrf-2 could significantly abrogate baicalein mediated radioprotection in lymphocytes. Baicalein inhibited phosphatase MKP3 and thereby enhanced phosphorylation of ERK and its downstream proteins like Elk and Nrf-2. It also increased the nuclear levels of Nrf-2 and mRNA levels of its dependent genes. Importantly, baicalein administration to mice prior to radiation exposure led to significant recovery in loss of bone marrow cellularity and also inhibited cell death. Administration of baicalein increased the hematopoietic stem cell frequency as measured by side population assay and also by antibody staining. Further, baicalein offered significant protection against whole body irradiation (7.5 Gy) induced mortality in mice. Interestingly, we found that baicalein works by activating same target molecules ERK and Nrf-2 both in vitro and in vivo. Finally,