The Biochemistry department is prolific in promoting undergraduate research. The department

receives grants through the DBT Star College Scheme and University of Delhi. In the

last five years, 12 DU innovation projects have seen the participation of numerous students. 11

projects have been funded through DBT Star College Scheme. In addition to these in-house

research opportunities, several of our students have worked in laboratories outside the college

as summer interns and trainees to get a broader exposure to recent developments in science

and technology.

The DBT- Star College Scheme

The DBT, Govt. of India launched the „Star College Scheme‟ for improving critical thinking and

„hands on‟ experimental work in the cutting edge-technologies needed for modern biological

studies at undergraduate (college) level in life sciences. Six Departments of Sri Venkateswara

College, namely Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Botany, Chemistry, Physics and Zoology were

selected under the STAR College Scheme of DBT in 2011. The Department has been awarded

the prestigious „DBT Star Status’ in 2015.

Activities under the DBT- Star College Scheme

Workshops / Seminars / Conferences for faculty and

students.

Popular Lectures of eminent scientists.

Value added experiments as extensions of the course

curriculum.

DBT Star Innovation projects for „hands–on‟ exposure to

experimental work.

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH @ BIOCHEMISTRY

PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS

PARTICIPATING IN RESEARCH

Dr. V. S. Chauhan at a

Conference on

Nanotechnology (2014)

Educational / Field trips.

Visits to Research Institutes.

Workshops for Non-teaching Staff.

Purchase of equipment / chemicals / teaching kits for practical training.

Purchase of library books and Journals.

Open House for school children.

Adopting a rural school (GSSS, Bhigan, Sonepat, Haryana) and college (Padmavathi

College, Tirupati and SV college, Tirupati) for generating awareness and interest in

Natural Sciences.

S. No.

Name of the Project No. of students involved

Mentor/ Principal Investigator

1. Assessment of shelf life and antioxidant levels in heated and fresh cooking oils.

23 Dr. Nandita Narayanasamy

Dr. Oshima Sachin

2. Tissue culture and regeneration of Nicotiana tobaccum using leaf

explant.

10 Dr. Shalini Sen Dr. Nimisha Sinha

3. Isolation and Characterization of microorganisms for Habur Limestone (Jaisalmer Fossil).

6 Dr. Nandita Narayanasamy

4 Cloning of gene pknL (Rv2176) from M. tb H37Rv.

20 Dr. Shalini Sen

5. Cloning of gene pknB (Rv0014c) from M. tb H37Rv.

20 Dr. Shalini Sen

6. Purification and characterization of immunoglobulin G from serum.

20 Dr. Anju Kaicker

7. Immunochemical characterization of leaf extracts from Oscimum sanctum.

20 Dr. Anju Kaicker

8. Nutritional Deficiency - A Major Side Effect of Pesticides, Reheated Food, and Adulteration.

13 Dr. Kameshwar Sharma YVR

9. Isolation, Purification and Characterization of Secondary structure and Kinetic study of Lipase from Indian Major Carp, Catla catla (catla).

2 Dr. Kameshwar Sharma YVR

10. Structural Characterization and Protein Conformational Studies of Osmolytes on Trypsin from Bovine, Porcine and Carps.

6 Dr. Kameshwar Sharma YVR

11. Assessment of the impact of different diets on cognitive and physical functioning in 18-20 year olds.

3 Dr. Nandita Narayanasamy

PROJECTS UNDER DBT STAR COLLEGE SCHEME (2011-2014)

DU INNOVATION PROJECTS (2012-2016)

The DU innovation project is an undergraduate research initiative by the University of Delhi to motivate students to think „out of the box‟ to enable high-end knowledge with practical applications. Undergraduate students in groups of 10 are encouraged to envision an idea that is trans-disciplinary and has real world application. The department faculty and students have been involved in 12 DU innovation projects so far, of which 7 have been completed and 5 are ongoing. Below is the list of DU innovation projects (2012-2016).

Project Code

Names of the PIs Title of the Project Department Project Mentor

SVC-101

Dr. P. Hemalatha Reddy Dr. NVSRK Prasad Dr. Amit Vashishtha Dr. Brijesh Rathi

Survey of tree species of Delhi region and screening of selected plants for anti-cancer activity.

Biochemistry, Botany and Chemistry

Prof. Daman Saluja, ACBR

SVC-103

Dr. Nandita Narayanasamy Dr. NVSRK Prasad Dr. Neeti Mehla Dr. K. Sharma YVR

Comparative Antioxidant Profiling of Various Indian Rice Cultivars in Response to Salinity Stress.

Biochemistry and Botany

Prof. Ashwani Pareek, Life Sciences, JNU

SVC-104

Kavitha Rajsekar Dr. Meenakshi Kuhar Dr. Nandita Narayanasamy Dr. Shalini Sen

Screening of Indian population for possible polymorphisms in candidate genes of extracellular matrix proteins that could lead to Disc degeneration leading to herniation.

Biochemistry

Prof. S. Rajasekran, Ganga Hospital, Coimbatore

SVC-105

Dr. Hemalatha Reddy Dr. Nandita Narayanasamy Dr. Anju Kaicker Dr. Oshima Sachin Mr. Krishna kumar

To study the nutritional and socio-economic viability of consuming Olive oil versus Groundnut oil in the Indian context.

Biochemistry Prof. Anil. K. Tyagi, UDSC

SVC-106

Dr. Meenakshi Kuhar Dr. Sharda Pasricha Dr. Latha Narayanan Dr. Pragya Gahlot Dr. Nandita Narayansamy Dr. Unnati Ahluwalia

Purification and characterization of Cytochrome P450 from liver for the study of P450 interaction with anticancer drug molecules.

Biochemistry

Prof. Shashankdeep, IIT Delhi, Dr. K. Narayanasamy, Sphaera Pharma

SVC-107 Dr. Mansi Verma Dr. P. S. Dhanraj Dr. Anju Kaicker

An easy identification of few pathogenic gamma/epsilon proteobacteria by exploring the internal features of their 16S rRNA.

Zoology and Biochemistry

Prof. Rooplal, Dept. of Zoology, Delhi University

SVC-204

Dr. Sharda Pasricha Dr. Hemalatha Reddy Dr. N. Latha Dr. Shefali Shukla Dr. Pragya Gahlot

Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Novel Oxygen and Nitrogen Heterocyclics as Potential Antitubercular, Antibacterial and Antiviral Agents.

Biochemistry and Chemistry

Prof. J. M Khorana, Dept. of Chemistry

SVC-206

Dr. P. Jayaraj Dr. P. S. Dhanaraj Dr. Kameshwar Sharma Dr. Mansi Verma

Immuno-histochemical evaluation of candidate markers for sebaceous differentiation and their association with aggressive eyelid sebaceous gland carcinoma.

Biochemistry and Zoology

Prof. Seema Sel, Dept. of Ocular Pathology, Rajendra Prasad Centre, AIIMS

SVC-315

Dr. Nandita Narayansamy Mr. Krishna Kumar Dr. Shailaja Thakur

Mapping the unskilled migrant labour in the NCR region: an exploration into the socio economic profile and health status.

Biochemistry and Economics

Dr. Jesim Pais, Economist, ISID, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi

SVC-312

Dr. N. Latha Dr. Punam Sood Dr. E. Muralidhara Rao Dr. Shalini Sen

Science in Music Preferences in Indian Society & its implication with respect to Age and Gender Differences.

Biochemistry, Hindi and Telegu

Prof. Deepti Bhalla, Faculty of Music, DU

SVC-313 Dr. R.P.Singh Dr. Nimisha Sinha Dr. Pooja

Synthesis of coumarin based triazolylated thiazolidinone derivatives and to study their apoptotic inducer/inhibitor activity.

Biochemistry and Chemistry

Dr. B.K. Singh, Assistant Professor, Dept of Chemistry, DU

SVC-302

Dr. P. Jayaraj Dr. Anita Verma Dr. Sarika Yadav Dr. Rajendra Phartyal

Evaluation of circulating cell free DNA (ccf DNA) and their clinical utility as Biomarkers in skin carcinomas.

Zoology and Biochemistry

Dr Seema Sen, Professor, Department of Ocular pathology, R P Centre, AIIMS, New Delhi

Best display award at the Delhi

university innovation plaza,

ANTARDHWANI 2015

Entire team of SVC-106 with Dr K

Narayansamy at Sphaerapharma

Manesar (4th

August, 2012)

NII-SCIENCE SETU PROGRAMME (2015)

Students Visit to NII, New Delhi under Science Setu Programme (March, 2016)

Dr. P. Hemalatha Reddy, Principal, SVC, signing the MoU at NII, New Delhi (March, 2015)

National Institute of Immunology (NII) launched “Science Setu” Programme in 2015. The objective of the program was to bridge between NII and Undergraduate Science students. The Department of Biochemistry is one of the partner department. Mentors (Scientists, NII, New Delhi):

Dr. A. C. Banerjea Dr. P. Sahai Dr. Prafulla K. Tailor Dr. Vinay K. Nandicoori

SUMMER INTERSHIPS AND DISSERTATIONS

M. Sc Dissertation “Deciphering the role of PhoP response regulator in the

transcriptional regulation of DevR regulon of Mycobacterium tuberculosis” carried out

under the co-supervision of Dr. Vandana Malhotra by Ms. Gunjan Sharma, AIIMS in

2015.

Internship (Six months) titled “Effects of osmolytes on the structural stability of bovine

trypsin. (August, 2014 to January, 2015) carried out under the supervision of Dr.

Kameshwar Sharma YVR by Ms. Shivani Jain, St. Xavier‟s College, Mumbai.

Summer trainings carried out under the supervision of Dr. N. Latha under Indian

Academy of Sciences (IAS): Kiran Bairola, VIT, Vellore “Computational studies of

proteases as drug targets for discovery of novel anti-malarials“ June 2015 – July 2015,

Anusha Gonela, "Trifluoperazine Analogues as Antitubercular Inhibitors: Docking

Studies and Binding Studies to Albumins" May 2013 - July 2013.

M. Sc. Dissertation “„Assessment of oxidative stress induced inflammmation as a

possible cause of lumbar disk degradation leading to herniation in the Indian population”

carried out under the supervision of Dr. Nandita Narayanasamy by Ms. Vaishali

Raghava, Amity University in 2013.

M. Sc. Dissertation “To study the effect of hypoxia on stemness during in vitro expansion

of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs)” carried out under the supervision of Dr. Hemalatha

Reddy by Puneet Sharma, AIIMS in February 2012.

Summer training by B.Sc (H) Biochemistry, II yr students, SVC titled “Assessment of anti

oxidant enzymes in smokers versus and nonsmokers (2010-11) under Dr. Nandita

Narayanasamy.

Summer training by B.Sc (H) Biochemistry, III yr students, SVC titled “Isolation and

characterization of antibacterial compounds present in neem leaves” (2011-12) under

Dr. Nandita Narayanasamy.

Summer projects titled “Purification of two enzymes Acid and Alkaline phosphatase from

goat liver” (2012) and “Identification of LDH, Acid and Alkaline Phosphatase isozymes in

serum ”(2011) carried out under the supervision of Dr. Nandita Narayanasamy.

M. Sc. Dissertation “Cloning, expression and structure prediction for Rv2757c and

Rv3168 of M. tuberculosis by in vitro and in silico methods” carried out under the

supervision of Dr. Hemalatha Reddy by Rohini Goswami, Amity University in July 2011.

Summer training by B.Sc (H) Biochemistry, III yr students, SVC titled “Assessment of

serum calcium and iron levels in students on a 2 month vegan vs vegetarian vs non-

vegeterian diet” (2010-11) under under Dr. Nandita Narayanasamy.

Summer training by B.Sc (H) Biochemistry, II yr students, SVC titled “Correlation of Liver

Function tests and lipid profile with BMI in students aged 18-20 years” (2010-11) under

under Dr. Nandita Narayanasamy.

Immunological characterization of leaf extracts of Oscimum sanctum, Training under

supervision of Dr. Anju Kaicker in 2010 under under Dr. Nandita Narayanasamy.

Summer training by B.Sc (H) Biochemistry, II yr students, SVC titled Isolation of

auxotrophic mutants of E. Coli using UV irradiation and replica plating technique (2009-

10)

M. Phil in Biochemistry “Status of Antioxidant Enzyme Catalase and Vitamin C in Breast

Cancer Patients” carried out under the supervision of Dr. Meenakshi Kuhar by Ms.

Avatapalli Kalpana, Annamalai University in 2008.

INDIVIDUAL FACULTY RESEARCH PROJECTS

Dr. P. Hemalatha Reddy

Specialization: Molecular Biology and Drug discovery

Understanding the role of calcium binding proteins in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and to assess the

potential of Calmodulin inhibitors as lead molecules for anti-TB drug discovery.

Research Projects:

S. No. Title of Project Funding

Agency

Amount Duration

1. Cloning and expression of Calmodulin-like-protein in mycobacteria

DBT Rs 11 lakhs 2002-2005

(3 years)

2. A virtual center for excellence for coordinated research in tuberculosis: Development of alternative strategies for intervention

DBT Rs.15 lakhs 2006-2008

(2 years)

3 Inhibitory studies of trifluoperazine, a Calmodulin antagonist in mycobacteria

DRDO Rs.20.03 lakhs 2006-2009

(3 years)

4 Expression of Rv1211 in M. tuberculosis during latency

DRDO Rs. 30 lakhs 2011-2014

(3 years)

Publications:

Correlation between Calmodulin like protein, phospholipids and growth in glucose grown

Mycobacterium phlei Reddy P.H, Sastry.S. Burra and P.S Murthy Canadian Journal MicroBio

1992: 339-44.

Calmodulin like protein and the phospholipids of Mycobacterium smegmatis Sastry.S., Reddy

P.H., Falah.S., T.A.V.Subramanian and P.S.Murthy. FEMS MicroBiol. lett 1993: 189.

Effect of some antitubercular drugs on the calmodulin content of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Burra.S., Reddy.P.H., Murty.P.S. Indian Journal of Clinical Biochemistry 1995: 126-128.

Molecular cloning and expression of the gene for a novel protein from Mycobacterium smegmatis

with the functional similarity to eukaryotic calmodulin J. Bacteriol 2003 185: 5263-8.

A novel calcium binding protein in M.tuberculosis – potential target for trifluoperazine, Sunaina

Koul, Aruna Somayajulu, Meeta J. Advani and Hemalatha Reddy, IJEB, Vol 47, 480 June 2009.

Activity of trifluoperazine agaisnt active, multi-drug resistant and dormant M. Tuberculosis H37Rv,

Meeta J. Advani, Imran Sidiqqui, Pawan Sharma, P. Hemalatha Reddy (2012), PlosONE 7(8)

e:44245.

Team / Research Students

Sunaina Koul Meeta Advani

Dr. Meenakshi Kuhar

Specialization: Apoptosis and Bioenergetics

Dr. Nandita Narayansamy

Specialization: Physiology and Genetics

Area: Understanding molecular and biochemical basis of Lumbar Disc Degeneration

Publications

“Role Of Oxidative Stress In Inducing Apoptosis, Necrosis Or Senescence In

Intervertebral Disc Degeneration” K. Rajsekar, N. Narayanasamy, M. Kuhar, S. Vaishya,

R. Shanmuganathan, N. Devaraj, International Journal Of Multidisciplinary Educational

Research ISSN : 2277-7881; Volume 4, Issue 4(1), April 2015.

“Association analysis of Col9A1, Col9A2, Col9A3, Aggrecan and TNF-α gene

polymorphisms with early onset of Disc Herniation in Indian population” K. Rajsekar, N.

Narayanasamy, M. Kuhar, S. Vaishya, S.Rajasekaran, N.Devaraj; International Journal

Of Multidisciplinary Educational Research ISSN : 2277-7881; Volume 4, Issue 4(2),

April 2015.

Cytokine TH1/TH2 levels in patients with disc hernition – A comparative study K.

Rajsekar, M. Kuhar, N. Narayanasamy, S. Vaishya, N. Devaraj, S.Rajasekaran,

International Journal Of Multidisciplinary Educational Research ISSN : 2277-7881;

Volume 4, Issue 4(1), April 2015.

Team / Research students

Kavita Rajsekhar

S. No. Title of Project Funding Agency Amount Duration

1.

Assessment of Apoptosis induced disc herniation in relation to pro-inflammatory stress conditions and polymorphism of cellular and matrix proteins in the Indian Population.

Ganga Orthopaedic Research and Educational Foundation

Rs. 3.5 Lakhs

2009-2012

Dr. N. Latha

Specialization: Bioinformatics

Research interest includes molecular modeling & simulation studies, computer aided drug design,

network biology and immunoinformatics.

Research projects:

Publications:

Singh, A. K.; Rathore, S.; Tang, Y.; Goldfarb, N. E.; Dunn, B. M.; Rajendran, V.; Ghosh, P. C.;

Latha, N.; Singh, B. K. and Rathi, B. (2015) Hydroxyethylamine-Based Phthalimides As New

Class of Plasmepsin Hits: Design, Synthesis and Antimalarial Evaluation Plos ONE under

revision 2015.

Singh et al (2015) Design, Synthesis and biological evaluation of functionalized pthalimides: A

new class of antimalarials and inhibitors of falcipain 2, a major hemoglobinase of malarial

parasite. Biorg. Med Chem 23 (8) 1817-27, doi 10.1016/j.bms.2015.02.029Epub 2015 Feb 26.

Jatana N, Thukral L, Latha N (2014). Structure and dynamics of DRD4 bound to an agonist and

an antagonist using in silico approaches. Protein: Structure, Function and Bioinformatics.

Nov 5. doi: 10.1002/prot.24716.

S. No. Title of Project Funding

Agency

Amount Duration

1. Creation of Bioinformatics

Infrastructure facility (BIF) under the

DBT-BTISnet

DBT 103.2 Lakhs 2006-till date

2. In silico analysis of the impact of

SNPs/SNP haplotypes on protein

structure and function

DBT 36.6 Lakhs 2008-2014

3. Computational Assisted Design and

Synthesis of Novel Antimalarial

Agents Embodying Structural

Diversity Suitable for Protease

Inhibitors

DST 49.98 Lakhs 2014-2017

4. Contributions to Bioinformatics and

Nanomedicine: Computational,

Biochemical and Biophysical

Evaluation of new small peptide and

fatty acid derivative as well as their

self assembled nano structures as

molecular weapons to infectious

diseases

DST India

Belarus

International

exchange

10.1 Lakhs 2014-2017

Avijit Podder and N.Latha. (2014). New insights into schizophrenia disease genes interactome in

the human brain: Emerging targets & therapeutic implications in the postgenomics era OMICS: A

Journal of Integrative Biology, 18 (12), 754-766.

Avijit Podder, Nidhi Jatana, N. Latha. (2014). Human Dopamine Receptors Interaction Network

(DRIN): A systems biology perspective on topology, stability and functionality of the network.

Journal of Theoretical Biology 357: 169-183.

Antony Michealraj, Nidhi Jatana, Md. Jafurulla, N.Latha, Amitabh Chattopadhyay & B. K. Thelma.

(2014). Functional characterization of rare variants in human Dopamine receptor D4 gene by

genotype - phenotype correlations. Neuroscience262: 176–189.

Nidhi Jatana, Sarvesh Jangid, Garima Khare, Anil K. Tyagi and N. Latha. (2011). Molecular

modeling studies of Fatty acyl-CoA synthetase (FadD13) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis -a

potential target for the development of antitubercular drugs. Journal of Molecular

Modeling17:301-313.

Brijesh Rathi, Anil K. Singh, Ram Kishan, Neelu Singh, N. Latha, S. Srinivasan, Kailash C.

Pandey, Hemandra K. Tiwari, Brajendra K. Singh. (2013). Functionalized hydroxyethylamine

based peptide nanostructures as potential inhibitors of falcipain-3, an essential proteases of

Plasmodium falciparum. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry 21:5503-9.

Nidhi Jatana, Apoorva Nagarajan, Sonika Malik, Aditya Sharma and N. Latha. (2013). Inhibitors

of Catechol-O-methyltransferase in the treatment of neurological disorders. Central Nervous

System Agents in Medicinal Chemistry 13:166-194.

Chandresh Sharma, M. A. Khan, Teena Mohan, Jatin Shrinet, N. Latha and Neeta Singh. (2014).

A synthetic chimeric peptide harboring human papillomavirus 16 cytotoxic T lymphocyte epitopes

shows therapeutic potential in a murine model of cervical cancer. Immunologic Research

58:132-8.

Nidhi Jatana, Aditya Sharma &N. Latha. (2013). Pharmacophore modeling and virtual screening

studies to design potential COMT inhibitors as new leads. Journal of Molecular Graphics and

Modelling 39:145-64.

Team / Research students

Nidhi Jatana Avijit Podder Diksha

Dr. Vandana Malhotra

Specialization: Tuberculosis Pathogenesis, Host-Pathogen Interactions and Signal Transduction

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Serine/Threonine protein kinases (PknA - L) are key regulators of

mycobacterial growth, physiology and metabolism. Studies have established PknK as a component of

regulatory pathways that slow growth of M. tuberculosis in stressful environments and during persistent

infection in mice. The focus of the proposed study is to identify PknK-mediated signaling interactions and

to understand the role of these interactions in the regulation of mycobacterial growth.

Publications:

Malhotra, V., R. Agrawal, T. R. Duncan, D. K. Saini, and J. E. Clark-Curtiss Mycobacterium tuberculosis Response Regulators, DevR and NarL Interact In Vivo and Co-Regulate Gene Expression during Aerobic Nitrate Metabolism. J. Biol. Chem. published February 6, 2015 as doi:10.1074/jbc.M114.591800.

Korch, S., V. Malhotra, H. Contreras and J.E.Clark-Curtiss. 2015 The Mycobacterium tuberculosis relBE toxin:antitoxin genes are stress-responsive modules that regulate growth through translation inhibition. J. Microbiol. 2015 Nov;53(11):783-95. doi: 10.1007/s12275-015-5333-8. Epub 2015 Oct 28.

S. No. Title of Project Funding

Agency

Amount Duration

1. High-Throughput substrate profiling

of M. tuberculosis Protein Kinase K

DBT Rs. 44 Lakhs

2015-18