NIBMG

Abarna SinhaSupervisor: SHARMILA SENGUPTA

Brief Description of Project

Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer related deaths among Indian women. One of the major risk factors, which accounts for 99.7%, cases of the cervical cancer is persistent infection with a sexually transmitted, high risk Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). It has been found that E6 and E7, two oncoproteins encoded by HPV, deregulates p53 and pRb and promotes cervical cancer in the
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hosts. It is seen that non-coding RNAs (miRNA and lnc-RNAs) play differential roles in the normal cellular physiology and molecular pathogenesis of several diseases, including cancer. My aim is to explore the involvement of miRNAs in HPV16 driven cervical cancers specifically associated with viral oncoprotein E7, the interaction or the crosstalk of lncRNA with cellular miRNAs, under the influence of E7 expression and to investigate how they influence HPV16 related CaCx pathogenesis.
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Abhisikta GhoshSupervisor: SHARMILA SENGUPTA

Brief Description of Project

Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer related deaths among Indian women. Persistent infection with oncogenic Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the major etiology of the disease. Expression of the viral oncoproteins E6 and E7 are critical for malignant transformation of the host cells and is mediated through the interaction with other host encoded molecules. E6 regulates the deca
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y of tumor suppressor p53, while E7 interacts with pRb leading to cellular transformation and neoplastic progression of the cervical epithelial cells. My aim is to identify the intrinsic HPV 16 E7 mediated pathways relevant for cervical cancer pathogenesis, focusing majorly on the immune pathway molecules and correlate such intrinsic host molecular factors with some of the extrinsic phenomena of tumor immune microenvironment in cervical cancer pathogenesis.
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Ankita MaddheshiyaSupervisor: SOUVIK MUKHERJEE

Brief Description of Project

Globally, 25% of children < 5years suffer from growth restriction and impairment of overall development. India represents one-third of the global burden (38.4% born annually). Despite its high prevalence, biological and other associated factors that can lead to this condition are poorly understood. My research interest is focused on studying the impact of breastfeeding practices in the change i
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n composition and diversity of the infant gut microbiome within the first 1 year of life and identifying the dysbiotic taxa along with their differentially enriched biosynthetic pathways that are associated with impaired child growth and development. The host-microbiome crosstalk will be investigated by a multi-omics approach and the contribution of both infant and maternal factors will be evaluated for their role in child growth impairment. Read less
Anuradha GautamSupervisor: BHASWATI PANDIT

Brief Description of Project

Tuberculosis (TB) is primarily an infection of the lungs caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). This complex comprises of upto seven Mycobacterium species including but not limited to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) and M. bovis. This disease is a major public health burden for the country with India accounting for 27% of the world TB cases. This strain on the health
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care system is further compounded by the emergence of drug resistance. Multi-drug resistant (MDR)-TB is the resistance against at least two first line drugs: Isoniazid (INH) and Rifampicin (RIF). Resistance to standard antibiotic therapy allows for the drug-resistant M.tb to linger longer in the host and induce immunopathological changes which may differ from those caused by its drug-susceptible counterparts. The common determinants for developing drug resistant TB have been identified to include non-adherence to therapy, inadequate drug regimens, drug metabolism and immunological state of the host. Host genetic factors have been known to modulate drug metabolism genes. This has been exemplified in the studies regarding the NAT2 genotypes which are associated with the rates of acetylation of isoniazid. This clearly indicates at the involvement of host genetic factors in susceptibility to MDR-TB. The primary objective of my research is to explore the host genomics and functional genomics to dissect TB susceptibility and to determine host genetic basis of emergence of drug resistance. In doing so, I am studying the involvement of host genetic variants in susceptibility to drug resistant and drug sensitive TB cases through genome wide genotyping followed by identification of associated variants including variants in drug metabolism genes and validating these via targeted re-sequencing. Simultaneously in the functional genomics aspect, I am looking into the whole transcriptome to identify a gene signature which discriminates drug resistant and drug sensitive TB cases.
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Arghya DeySupervisor: Analabha Basu

Brief Description of Project

The overarching goal of my research is to study the ancestry of Indian populations, mainly the Ancestral South Indians (ASI) and the admixture of ASI with other populations. The early migration and ancestries of Indian populations are hugely debated and there is a lack of consensus on important issues. I will use advanced statistical methods, simulation studies and genomic data to gain furt
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her insight into the peopling of India. I will also look at the ancient gene flow from East and Southeast Asia into South Asia and ideally connect that to the ‘Out-of-Africa’ migration of anatomically modern humans. I want to create new statistical methods for this purpose, as required, to supplement the existing methodology.
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Aritra GuptaSupervisor: Kartiki V. Desai

Brief Description of Project

JMJD6 has diverse enzymatic activities including histone arginine demethylation, lysyl hydroxylation, and is recently shown to phosphorylate proteins. It’s high expression is robustly associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer. JMJD6 binds RNA but lacks a DNA binding domain. However, by interacting with other transcription factors like BRD4, it was recently shown to regulate the anti
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-pause release of RNA pol-II on poised sites. To determine its complete function in tumorigenesis, we have haveperformed mass spectrometric analysis of proteins immunoprecipitated using JMJD6 specific antibodies. Many transcription and DNA binding factors were found and one such protein was Y-box interacting protein 1 (Ybox-1), a transcription factor that has both DNA and RNA binding activities. This protein is also associated with poor prognosis and metastasis in breast cancer. We hypothesize that JMJD6 and Ybox1 may physically interact and influence gene expression to promote breast cancer progression leading to poor patient survival. Exploring these molecular mechanisms forms the basis of my thesis. In the long run, this may steer us towards developing effective drugs against advance breast cancer.
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Barsha SahaSupervisor: SRIKANTA GOSWAMI

Brief Description of Project

Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is an irreversible disease characterized by progressive inflammation, fibrosis of pancreas, and loss of pancreatic functions. Epidemiological studies have identified CP to be a major risk factor for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). PDAC is one of the most lethal diseases with an incidence rate almost equal to the rate of mortality. Elucidation of the molecul
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ar mechanism driving the development of the diseases will not only help us understanding the disease biology but also help us identifying key molecules which could be used as potential biomarkers for early detection of the malignant disease. Regulation of gene expression by epigenetic mechanisms has gained much importance due to their important role in disease pathophysiology and my work revolves around delineating the role of key epigenetic factors in the development of chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
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Bishnupriya ChhatriyaSupervisor: SRIKANTA GOSWAMI

Brief Description of Project

Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is a condition characterized by progressive and irreversible damage to both exocrine and endocrine components of the pancreas, eventually resulting in significant exocrine insufficiency and diabetes. In the recent years, several genetic risk factors for chronic pancreatitis have been identified in genes like PRSS1, PRSS2, SPINK1, CFTR, CTRC etc. In view of these fin
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dings, my proposed work aim to find out the prevalence of these common genetic changes causative to CP in the population of North-Eastern Region (NER) of India where CP and CP related death are of high incidence. Such population specific variations have significant contribution towards the formulation of diagnostic and therapeutic strategies specific for those individuals. The outcome of the study is also believed to add substantial information to the existing knowledge of the molecular mechanism of the development of CP. Furthermore, chronic pancreatitis (CP) is a progressive benign fibro-inflammatory disease of the pancreas and is one of the risk factors of pancreatic cancer. The development of pancreatic cancer in CP is a classic example of chronic inflammation progressing to cancer that is also found in other organs of the body. Pancreatic Cancer (CAPan) is one of the most aggressive forms of cancers, with only 4-5% 5-year survival. Not much is known about the molecular changes that lead to the development of CAPan in CP patients. Therefore, another important aspect of my research objective is to delineate that process and to find out whether these changes can be used for development of biomarkers for early detection of pancreatic cancer in CP patients, as well.
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Debashree TagoreSupervisor: Analabha Basu

Brief Description of Project

Modern human originated in Africa nearly 150K YBP (Years Before Present) from where they spread to different parts of the world. This “out-of-Africa” migration took place nearly 60-75K YBP. The migrating population carried with them the genetic variants inherited from their parents but simultaneously, with the passage of time, accumulated mutations which gave rise to new variants. This m
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igrating population entered into India through different corridors and created a rich pool of variants. My research objective is to study these variants to unravel finer intricacies of population migration in the Indian sub-continent. The Indian population harbors common and unique variations which have serious implications on human health and diseases. I, therefore, intend to study the genomic variations in detail and use this knowledge in deciphering association of genomic variants with diseases.
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Debopriyo GangulySupervisor: Priyadarshi Basu

Brief Description of Project

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a complex disorder. Both genetic and environmental factors affect disease pathogenesis. NAFLD begins with aberrant accumulation of triglycerides in the liver which is called hepatic steatosis. In some individuals it can lead to inflammatory responses and causes progression to Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis to cirrhosis, and subsequently hepatocellula
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r carcinoma. The pathogenicity of the disease is poorly understood and therapeutic options are very limited. My work emphasizes on understanding the molecular mechanisms and the role of related pathways involved in disease progression from mild to advanced stages and validation of the role of some specific genes associated with NAFLD in the Indian population in in vitro and in vivo models.
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