Students

Students

Shobith Suresh pursuing Ph.D.

Educational Background :

Msc in Virology from Amity Institute Of Virology & Immunology, Amity University, Uttar Pradesh. 

BSc in Microbiology from Kannur University, Kerala.

Email : shobith@jncasr.ac.in

Research : 

My work is to decipher the role of Tat-PTM and the RBEIII motif on HIV-1 latency. To evaluate the influence of Tat-PTM on HIV-1 latency, I will generate subsets of cells representing different stages of latency and simultaneously raise Tat-PTM-specific polyclonal antibodies in rabbits. Diverse experimental strategies, including flow cytometry, mass spectrometry, CUT&Tag, Immunoprecipitation, Proximity ligation assay etc., will be used to understand how Tat-PTM might influence HIV-1 latency. I also aim to decipher the influence of the RBEIII motif and its duplication on HIV-1 transcription. To achieve this, I will characterize the functioning of the RBEIII motif of HIV-1C and the nature of the TF profile recruited under various experimental conditions.

Chhavi Saini pursuing Integrated Ph.D. in Biological Science

Function of Tat is very well established for active viral transcription, by recruiting components of host transcriptional machinery. Recent findings from our laboratory demonstrating a positive correlation between the transcriptional strength of the viral promoter and the rate of latency establishment in HIV-1 allude to a direct role for Tat in latency establishment. In other words, Tat may demonstrate context-dependent and diametrically opposite effects on viral transcription, activating, or suppressing viral gene expression. My work is to find post-translational modifications of Tat at different phases of viral gene expression which could determine the positive or negative influence on viral transcription.

 

Email - chhavi@jncasr.ac.in

Buch Hrimkar Bhargav pursuing Ph.D.

Academic Background:

Bsc. in Biochemistry from St. Xavier's College, Ahmedabad, Gujarat

MSc. in Biochemistry from Institute of Science, Nirma University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Project

HIV-1C contains an additional genetically distinct NF-ĸB binding site, labelled as the C-κB motif, that is absent in all other families of HIV-1. Evidence from our laboratory demonstrated the synergistic functioning of this unique κB-motif with the proximal Sp1III site, which also contains subtype-specific genetic variations essential for viral proliferation. The C-ĸB motif contains an A to G and a T to G transition at positions 4 and 6 of the motif, respectively. Several publications reported the profound impact of sequence variations in NF-κB motifs on the transcriptional activity of cellular promoters by recruiting different members of the Rel family of transcription factors. Based on preliminary leads from our laboratory and other groups, we propose that the presence of additional and genetically diverse copies of the NF-κB motif in the HIV-1C LTR can make the viral promoter receptive to differential and synergistic cellular signalling pathways. Thus, the primary objective of my work will be the characterization of the effect of these variations on transcriptional activation and silencing of the HIV-1C LTR. I plan to study the effect of sequence variation in HIV-1C LTR and specific NF-κB TF dimer recruited in different cell lineages under specific activation conditions. Preliminary data shows that HIV-1C LTR is more responsive to non-canonical NF-κB signalling than HIV-1B LTR. This result is consistent with our presumption that the mixed NF-κB motif profile of C-LTR (HHC, two H-κB, and one C-κB sites) may collectively provide a broader signal reception aiding viral transcription under diverse cellular activation environments. Additional experiments to confirm and extend these observations are presently in progress.

 

Email - hrimkarbuch@jncasr.ac.in

Swarnima Mishra pursuing Ph.D.

I work on understanding the correlation of HIV promoter (LTR) variants with viral reservoir characteristics and its modulation in context of disease progression.

Email - swarnima@jncasr.ac.in

Riya Manna pursuing Ph.D.

Educational Background-

MSc in Biomedical Science from Dr B. R. Ambedkar Center for Biomedical Research, University of Delhi.

BSc in Life Science from Gargi College, University of Delhi.

Email : riyamanna@jncasr.ac.in

Manisha Sharma pursuing Ph.D.

Academic Background

Bachelor's - Govt. G.D. Girls College, (RRBMU), Alwar, Rajasthan 

Masters - School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Email - manisha@jncasr.ac.in