PI: Dr. Soumya De, School of Bio Science, IIT Kharagpur.
Brief CV: Integrated BSc-MSc from IIT Kharagpur; PhD from Cornell University, USA; Postdoc from University of British Columbia, Canada
Office: 2nd Floor, Life Sciences Building
Phone: 03222-284552
Research interests: Biophysics, Biochemistry; Enzymology; Signal Transduction and Gene Expression; Protein engineering; Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy
The overarching research goal of Dr. Soumya De's laboratory is to decipher the structural and dynamic principles that govern protein functions and their regulation. This is achieved using solution NMR spectroscopy and other biophysical methods.
Regulation of HOX transcription Factors: Transcription factors play central role in many biological processes that range from cell cycle progression to cell differentiation and organism development. Hence, it is not surprising that the functions of these proteins are under tight regulation and their disruption lead to several diseases raging from developmental disorders to cancer. Regulatory mechanisms of these proteins include post-translational modifications, protein partnerships and DNA-binding autoinhibition.
We are investigating the molecular basis of function, regulation and specificity of HOX transcription factors. We are focussing on Drosophila and Human HOX factors. The Drosophila HOX factors have well-defined biological roles and are ideal systems to explore the molecular basis of their function and regulation. The Human HOX factors, on the other hand, are important therapeutic targets for cancer treatment.
Protein Engineering: Protein splicing involves the excision of an intervening sequence (intein) from a precursor protein, resulting in the ligation of the flanking sequences (exteins) into a single polypeptide chain. The overall goal of this project is to utilize thestructural and dynamic studies to engineer intein proteins for novel applications:
1) design of split inteins
2) design of highly specific proteases
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Extein residues regulate the catalytic function of Spl DnaX intein enzyme by restricting the near attack conformations of the active site residues Boral S., Sen S. , Kushwaha T. , Inampudi K. K., De S. By Protein Science - (Accepted/In-Press)
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Autoinhibition of ETV6 DNA-binding is established by the stability of its inhibitory helix De S., Okon M. , Graves B. , Mcintosh L. By Journal of molecular biology 428 1515-1530 (2016)
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Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy to Analyse Protein Folding and Dynamics Saibo N., Boral S. , Saha R. , Das A. K., De S. By Protein Folding Dynamics and Stability 61-81 (2023)
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Identification of potential short linear motifs (SLiMs) in intrinsically disordered sequences of proteins by fast time-scale backbone dynamics Maiti S., De S. By Journal of Magnetic Resonance Open - (2021)
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Analysis of structure and dynamics of intrinsically disordered regions in proteins using solution NMR methods Saibo N.V., Maiti S., Acharya B., De S. By Advances in Protein Molecular and Structural Biology Methods 535-550 (2022)
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Structural and dynamic studies of the human RNA binding protein RBM3 reveals the molecular basis of its oligomerization and RNA recognition Roy S., Boral S. , Maiti S. , Kushwaha T. , Basak A. J., Lee W. , Basak A. , Gholap S. L., Inampudi K. K., De S. By The FEBS journal - (2021)
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Lineshape Analysis as a Tool for Probing Functional Motions at Biological Interfaces De S., Greenwood A. I., Acevedo L. A., Korson N. E., Nicholson L. K. By NMR Spectroscopy for Probing Functional Dynamics at Biological Interfaces 82-121 (2022)
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Structural, Dynamic, and Functional Characterization of a DnaX Mini-intein Derived from Spirulina platensis Provides Important Insights into Intein-Mediated Catalysis of Protein Splicing Boral S., Maiti S. , Basak A. J., Lee W. , De S. By Biochemistry 59 4711-4724 (2020)
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Dynamic Studies on Intrinsically Disordered Regions of Two Paralogous Transcription Factors Reveal Rigid Segments with Important Biological Functions Maiti S., Acharya B. , Sheersh Boorla V. , Manna B. , Ghosh A. , De S. By Journal of Molecular Biology 431 1353-1369 (2019)
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Cyclic cis-Locked Phospho-Dipeptides Reduce Entry of AbetaPP into Amyloidogenic Processing Pathway Fisher C. L., Resnick R. J., De S. , Acevedo L. A., Lu K. P., Schroeder F. C., Nicholson L. K. By Journal of Alzheimer's Disease 55 391-410 (2017)
Principal Investigator
- In vitro and in Vivo Investigation of the Role of Intrinsically Disordered Regions in the Regulation of HOX Transcription Factor Function
- Structural and Functional Studies of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Peptidyl-tRNA Hydrolase: A Novel Drug Target of Multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis
Co-Principal Investigator
- Elucidating Ca2+/CaM-master regulator(s) and their potential target proteins in rice aiming at abiotic stress mitigation Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB)
- Structural and Functional Characterization of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Beta-hydroxyacyl-ACP Dehydrataes and Monooxygenases for Understanding its Thiourea Mediated Mode of Inhibition DBT, NEW DELHI
Ph. D. Students
Aakanksha
Area of Research: Structural Biology
Beas Mukherjee
Area of Research: Protein engineering
Nikita Veronica Saibo
Area of Research:
Puja Banerjee
Area of Research: Transcriptional regulation
Rituparna Saha
Area of Research: Structural Biochemistry
Soumya Sarathi Ganguly
Area of Research: Biochemistry
Srijon Sen
Area of Research: Protein engineering