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 self-cleaving solubility tag for recombinant proteins
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Dynamic Studies on Intrinsically Disordered Regions of Two Paralogous Transcription Factors Reveal Rigid Segments with Important Biological Functions by Maiti S., Acharya B. , Sheersh Boorla V. , Manna B. , Ghosh A. , De S. Journal of Molecular Biology 431 1353-1369 (2019)
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Experimental methods to study the structure and dynamics of intrinsically disordered regions in proteins by Maiti S., Singh A., Maji T., Saibo N.V., De S. Current Research in Structural Biology 7 100138- (2024)
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Stability and dynamics of extradenticle modulates its function by Singh A., Acharya B. , Mukherjee B. , Boorla V. S., Boral S. , Maiti S. , De S. Current Research in Structural Biology 7 100150- (2024)
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Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy to Analyse Protein Folding and Dynamics by Saibo N., Boral S. , Saha R. , Das A. K., De S. Protein Folding Dynamics and Stability 61-81 (2023)
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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 by Boral S., Sen S. , Kushwaha T. , Inampudi K. K., De S. Protein Science - (2023)
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Identification of potential short linear motifs (SLiMs) in intrinsically disordered sequences of proteins by fast time-scale backbone dynamics by Maiti S., De S. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Open - (2021)
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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 by Roy S., Boral S. , Maiti S. , Kushwaha T. , Basak A. J., Lee W. , Basak A. , Gholap S. L., Inampudi K. K., De S. The FEBS journal - (2021)
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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 by Boral S., Maiti S. , Basak A. J., Lee W. , De S. Biochemistry 59 4711-4724 (2020)
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Structural Insights into N-terminal IgV Domain of BTNL2, a T Cell Inhibitory Molecule, Suggests a Non-canonical Binding Interface for Its Putative Receptors by Basak A. J., Maiti S. , Hansda A. , Mahata D. , Duraivelan K. , Kundapura . V., Lee . , Mukherjee G. , De S. , Samanta D. Journal of Molecular Biology 432 5938-5950 (2020)
Principal Investigator
- Engineering allosteric regulation in an intein enzyme and its application for the synthesis and purification of linear and cyclic therapeutic peptides from bacteria DBT, NEW DELHI
- In Vitro And In Vivo Investigation Of Biomolecular Condensate Formation By HOX And TALE Transcription Factors And Their Role In Leukemia Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB)
- In Vitro And In Vivo Investigation Of Biomolecular CondensateFormation By HOX And TALE Transcription Factors And TheirRole In Leukemia Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF)
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)
- Elucidating Ca2+/CaM-master regulator(s) and their potential target proteins in rice aiming at abiotic stress mitigation Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF)
Ph. D. Students
Aakanksha
Area of Research: Structural Biology
Aitijhya Kar
Area of Research: Engineering xylanase enzyme
Beas Mukherjee
Area of Research: Protein engineering
Jagadish Bar
Area of Research: Protein splicing
Jayashis Dasgupta
Area of Research: Transcription Regulation
Kajal Mondal
Area of Research: Molecular Cell Biology
Pratyusha Adak
Area of Research: Directed evolution of intein enzyme
Puja Banerjee
Area of Research: Transcriptional regulation
Soumya Sarathi Ganguly
Area of Research: Biochemistry
Srijon Sen
Area of Research: Protein engineering