Research interest of our group at JNCASR
The main focus of our research is towards the development of chemical and nanotechnology based innovative strategies to prevent the spread of infections and the development of new antimicrobial agents for the treatment of infectious diseases. By understanding the basic mechanism of drug resistance, mode of transmission of infections and difficulties associated with systemic delivery of drugs, we have taken the following approaches:
A. Antimicrobial Therapeutics
The retreat from new antibiotic development by the pharmaceutical companies has exacerbated the challenge of widespread drug resistance. This growing public health problem has spurred renewed efforts in academia to develop novel types of antibacterial agents with mechanisms radically different from existing drugs, or to develop novel strategies for broadening the spectrum of activity of available drugs. Towards these goals we have following specific aims:
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Chemical strategy to develop next-generation of antibiotics
Synthetic mimics of antimicrobial peptides
Anti-influenza therapy
Our lab is focused on developing new-generation of antibiotics through rational design with the help of theoretical models. We are working towards the chemical modification of antibiotics such as penicillin, vancomycin, and aminoglycosides to overcome the inherent resistance of the parent drugs and achieve enhanced efficacy against drug resistant bacteria.
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are present in all organisms and function in the killing of bacteria, viruses, eukaryotic parasites, and fungi. However, there are several problems associated with AMPs such as toxicity, location specific delivery, in-vivo activity, and most importantly the cost of production that limit the systemic use of these compounds. Our group is actively involved in developing synthetic peptidomimetics as therapeutics and addressing the issues associated with natural antimicrobial peptides.
Viral resistance to available influenza drugs such as adamantanes or neuraminidase inhibitors has created a need for new antiviral targets and new drugs for influenza virus infections. We are exploring multivalent sialyloligosaccharides-based hemagglutin inhibition and sialylmimetics-based neuraminidase inhibition as therapeutic strategies for the development of selective and efficient anti-influenza drugs.
B. Antimicrobial and Antifouling Materials
Antimicrobial and antifouling materials have various applications, including but not limited to surgical equipment and protective apparel in hospitals, medical implants, biosensors, textiles, food packaging and food storage, water purification systems, and marine and industrial equipments. There is an urgent need to develop smart materials incorporating both antimicrobial and antifouling capabilities. The focus of the project is two-fold:
Antimicrobial coatings
Antifouling surfaces
Strategies to develop antimicrobial materials involve either release based or contact-active based mechanisms. The disadvantage of release based antimicrobial materials is the loss of antimicrobial activity over time due to the depletion of biocidal agents (silver, quaternary ammonium ion, nitric oxide etc) as well as the release of toxic materials into the environment. The main drawback of contact active antimicrobial materials is the accumulation of dead bacteria onto the surface of the material. Our lab is working to develop antimicrobial materials with long lasting antibacterial activity and overcome the drawbacks of the known techniques in various biomedical and water treatment applications.
The nonspecific absorption of proteins and bacterial contamination on the surface of medical implants and devices, and the subsequent formation of biofilms, poses an enormous problem to the healthcare sector. We are pursuing various nanotechnology-based approaches to create effective antifouling surface. Our ultimate goal is to develop biodegradable polymeric nanomaterials with both antifouling and antimicrobial activity for biomedical applications.
C. Smart Drug Delivery System
Drug delivery technology represents one of the frontier areas of medicinal research, which involves multidisciplinary scientific approach to combat many deadly diseases including cancer. A large majority of patients die not from the disease but from the side effects of conventional chemotherapy, caused mainly due to non-specific drug distribution in the body. Thus delivery of drugs to specific disease sites is of paramount importance. Our focus is to develop liposomal, polymeric, and dendrimer based nano-vehicles to achieve prolonged, localized and targeted drug interaction with the diseased tissues.
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New Chemistry Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Jakkur, Bangalore 560064, Indiajayanta@jncasr.ac.in ; +91-80-2208-2565 (Office) |
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