Author Archives: rcb

Drosophila as a model system to study complex interactions that maintain immune and energy homeostasis

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As part of collaborative research Dr. Geetanjali Chawla participated in a study that examined the metabolic remodeling that occurs in macrophages during bacterial infection.  This work has revealed that orthologs of Hypoxia inducible factor 1a (HIF1a) and Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) are required for macrophage activation, bactericidal function of the immune cells and resistance to infection, […]

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How can India contribute more effectively to the field of Aging Research?

The rapidly An opinion article by Dr. Geetanjali Chawla discusses the current status of research in the biology of aging in India and some initiatives that can help India to participate more effectively in the field of aging research and deal with the challenges of the rapidly increasing older population. Full article:  https://medwinpublishers.com/JERHA/JERHA16000105.pdf

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A polar filter in DNA polymerases prevents ribonucleotide incorporation

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The presence of ribonucleotides in DNA can lead to genomic instability and cellular lethality. To prevent adventitious rNTP incorporation, the majority of the DNA polymerases (dPols) possess a steric filter in the form of a bulky residue that stacks against the ribose sugar and clashes with 2’ -OH of incoming ribonucleotide. MsDpo4 from Mycobacterium smegmatis, […]

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How bacteria switch between motile and biofilm life forms?

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Bacteria are versatile organisms that instantly respond to changing environmental signals.Motility in bacteria is mediated by multi-protein complex thread like structure called flagella that allows bacteria to move towards favourable conditions.However, bacteria can also form sessile sedentary surface attached communities embedded in think polysaccharide matrix called biofilms. A research paper published in ACS Chemical Biology […]

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Nanogels Targeting Post-translation Modifications help in Combating Gut Inflammation

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterised by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract  and includes Chron’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Currently the treatment to this disease mainly involves immune-suppressants that often results in severe side effects.  To overcome poor success rates and challenges associated with current therapeutic strategies, Drs. Bajaj and Srikanth’s group tested  […]

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