Dr Rajesh Dabur                      Research Officer (Biochemistry)
Dr Tushar Kanti Mandal           Research Officer (Ayurveda)
Mr Tasleem Arif                       Research Scholar (Biochemistry)
Mr J D Bhosale                        Senior Research Fellow (Chemistry)

Studies on Structural and Functional Aspects of Human Telomeric RNA proteins: Telomeres act as caps at the ends of chromosomes, which is essential for chromosome stability. Telomerase is an RNA dependent DNA polymerase which appropriately maintains the telomeres during normal cell division to counterbalance the natural shortening that occurs during replication. Therefore, telomerase regulation is a critical step in tumorigenesis and aging. Telomerase activity is found to be up-regulated in more than 90% of human tumors as well as in stem cells and germ lines. The reports indicate that telomere stabilization is a requisite step for tumor development. Although the importance of telomerase expression in tumor development is established, little is known about the mechanisms involved. The aim of the lab is to deliver an integrated, multidisciplinary analysis of the molecular mechanisms of telomerase which will have significant medical implications in cancer and aging. Main objectives to find out that (1) How proteins in telomerase complex interact and assemble and (2) How do the different components of the complex regulates of telomerase function. The objectives will be directed towards applications of telomerase targets for the discovery of compounds leading to the development of specific drugs to cure associated diseases.

Functional Genomics and Proteomics of Ayurvedic Management of Obesity with special reference to Tridosha Prakriti Concept: After completion of human genome project; proteomics or functional genomics remains important. Out of 30,000 genes identified in human genome till date function of merely 40% genes is known. Association studies involving patients and healthy controls are popularly done with advanced techniques such as SNP mapping and gene expression microarrays. Research in Ayurveda mainly focused on drug development and not much attention was given to explore science behind fundamental principles of Ayurveda. In this project our focus is to study differential display of genes/mRNA and proteins in  Tridosha Prakriti (Vataj, Pitaj and Kaphaj). Besides exploring the molecular mechanisms of ayurvedic treatment in obesity this project is expected to provide gene and protein signatures for prakritis and identify mechanism of action of ayurvedic treatment in obesity.
Collaborators: Central Research Institute, Mumbai and Tilak Ayurved College, Pune.
Note: Volunteers for the studies are required.