Browsing by Author "Prajapati, Vijay Kumar"

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Cloning, expression and in vitro validation of chimeric multi epitope vaccine candidate against visceral leishmaniasis infection
(Elsevier Inc., 2023-04-11T00:00:00) Ojha, Rupal; Chand, Kailash; Vellingiri, Balachandar; Prajapati, Vijay Kumar
Visceral Leishmaniasis or Kala-Azar is one of the most severe and deadly neglected tropical disease caused by the Leishmania parasite. A few number of vaccines are going through different phases in clinical trial but failing of these vaccines in successive phase trial or less efficacy, urge to develop highly immunogenic and cost-effective treatment to get rid of deadly VL. This study focuses on the development of more potent vaccine candidate against VL. The recombinant vaccine candidate LeiSp was expressed in Pichia pastoris, followed by purification and characterization. The purified protein was also tested for any post-translation modification, which favors being a potent immunogenic candidate. Further, the expression modulation of different pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines was evaluated in THP1 cell lines. A significant upregulation in the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines while no significant changes were observed in the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines. The impact of recombinant vaccine protein candidates in infected conditions were determined. Here, upon treatment with chimeric vaccine protein candidate, we observed a considerable recovery in the expression level of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which were downregulated upon infection alone. In addition to this, we found a significant decrease in the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines, which were upregulated during infection alone. We further validated our findings in infected hPBMCs and observed similar expression modulation of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines with and without treatment. Thus, the present study indicates that the chimeric LeiSp protein which was designed using bioinformatics approaches shows a potential inductive efficacy for pro-inflammatory cytokines in Leishmania-infected cells. � 2023 Elsevier Inc.
Identification of multi-targeting natural antiviral peptides to impede SARS-CoV-2 infection
(Springer, 2022-12-17T00:00:00) Singh, Satyendra; Chauhan, Priya; Sharma, Vinita; Rao, Abhishek; Kumbhar, Bajarang Vasant; Prajapati, Vijay Kumar
SARS-CoV-2 and its variants cause serious health concerns throughout the world. The alarming increase in the daily number of cases has become a nightmare in many low-income countries; although some vaccines are available, their high cost and low vaccine production make them unreachable to ordinary people in developing countries. Other treatment strategies are required for novel therapeutic options. The peptide-based drug is one of the alternatives with low toxicity, more specificity, and ease of synthesis. Herein, we have applied structure-based virtual screening to identify potential peptides targeting the critical proteins of SARS-CoV-2. Non-toxic natural antiviral peptides were selected from the enormous number of peptides. Comparative modeling was applied to prepare a 3D structure of selected peptides. 3D models of the peptides were docked using the ClusPro docking server to determine their binding affinity and peptide-protein interaction. The high-scoring peptides were docked with other crucial proteins to analyze multiple targeting peptides. The two best peptides were subjected to MD simulations to validate the structure stability and evaluated RMSD, RMSF, Rg, SASA, and H-bonding from the trajectory analysis of 100�ns. The proposed lead peptides can be used as a broad-spectrum drug and potentially develop as a therapeutic to combat SARS-CoV-2, positively impacting the current pandemic. � 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
Mechanism of cell cycle regulation and cell proliferation during human viral infection
(Academic Press Inc., 2023-02-01T00:00:00) Panda, Mamta; Kalita, Elora; Rao, Abhishek; Prajapati, Vijay Kumar
Over the history of the coevolution of Host viral interaction, viruses have customized the host cellular machinery into their use for viral genome replication, causing effective infection and ultimately aiming for survival. They do so by inducing subversions to the host cellular pathways like cell cycle via dysregulation of important cell cycle checkpoints by viral encoded proteins, arresting the cell cycle machinery, blocking cytokinesis as well as targeting subnuclear bodies, thus ultimately disorienting the cell proliferation. Both DNA and RNA viruses have been active participants in such manipulation resulting in serious outcomes of cancer. They achieve this by employing different mechanisms�Protein-protein interaction, protein-phosphorylation, degradation, redistribution, viral homolog, and viral regulation of APC at different stages of cell cycle events. Several DNA viruses cause the quiescent staged cells to undergo cell cycle which increases nucleotide pools logistically significantly persuading viral replication whereas few other viruses arrest a particular stage of cell cycle. This allows the latter group to sustain the infection which allows them to escape host immune response and support viral multiplication. Mechanical study of signaling such viral mediated pathways could give insight into understanding the etiology of tumorigenesis and progression. Overall this chapter highlights the possible strategies employed by DNA/RNA viral families which impact the normal cell cycle but facilitate viral infected cell replication. Such information could contribute to comprehending viral infection-associated disorders to further depth. � 2023 Elsevier Inc.
Multi-pathogen based chimeric vaccine to fight against COVID-19 and concomitant coinfections
(Springer Science and Business Media B.V., 2023-05-06T00:00:00) Ojha, Rupal; Singh, Satyendra; Gupta, Nidhi; Kumar, Ketan; Padhi, Aditya K.; Prajapati, Vijay Kumar
Background: COVID-19 has proved to be a fatal disease of the year 2020, due to which thousands of people globally have lost their lives, and still, the infection cases are at a high rate. Experimental studies suggested that SARS-CoV-2 interacts with various microorganisms, and this coinfection is accountable for the augmentation of infection severity. Methods and results: In this study, we have designed a multi-pathogen vaccine by involving the immunogenic proteins from S. pneumonia, H. influenza, and M. tuberculosis, as they are dominantly associated with SARS-CoV-2. A total of 8 antigenic protein sequences were selected to predict B-cell, HTL, and CTL epitopes restricted to the most prevalent HLA alleles. The selected epitopes were antigenic, non-allergenic, and non-toxic and were linked with adjuvant and linkers to make the vaccine protein more immunogenic, stable, and flexible. The tertiary structure, Ramachandran plot, and discontinuous B-cell epitopes were predicted. Docking and MD simulation study has shown efficient binding of the chimeric vaccine with the TLR4 receptor. Conclusion: The in silico immune simulation analysis has shown a high level of cytokines and IgG after a three-dose injection. Hence, this strategy could be a better way to decrease the disease's severity and could be used as a weapon to prevent this pandemic. � 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.
A review of chromium (Cr) epigenetic toxicity and health hazards
(Elsevier B.V., 2023-04-17T00:00:00) Iyer, Mahalaxmi; Anand, Uttpal; Thiruvenkataswamy, Saranya; Babu, Harysh Winster Suresh; Narayanasamy, Arul; Prajapati, Vijay Kumar; Tiwari, Chandan Kumar; Gopalakrishnan, Abilash Valsala; Bontempi, Elza; Sonne, Christian; Barcel�, Dami�; Vellingiri, Balachandar
Carcinogenic metals affect a variety of cellular processes, causing oxidative stress and cancer. The widespread distribution of these metals caused by industrial, residential, agricultural, medical, and technical activities raises concern for adverse environmental and human health effects. Of these metals, chromium (Cr) and its derivatives, including Cr(VI)-induced, are of a public health concern as they cause DNA epigenetic alterations resulting in heritable changes in gene expression. Here, we review and discuss the role of Cr(VI) in epigenetic changes, including DNA methylation, histone modifications, micro-RNA changes, biomarkers of exposure and toxicity, and highlight prevention and intervention strategies to protect susceptible populations from exposure and adverse occupational health effects. Cr(VI) is a ubiquitous toxin linked to cardiovascular, developmental, neurological, and endocrine diseases as well as immunologic disorders and a high number of cancer types in humans following inhalation and skin contact. Cr alters DNA methylation levels as well as global and gene-specific histone posttranslational modifications, emphasizing the importance of considering epigenetics as a possible mechanism underlying Cr(VI) toxicity and cell-transforming ability. Our review shows that determining the levels of Cr(VI) in occupational workers is a crucial first step in shielding health problems, including cancer and other disorders. More clinical and preventative measures are therefore needed to better understand the toxicity and safeguard employees against cancer. � 2023
Role of Telomeres and Telomerase in Parkinson's Disease�A New Theranostics?
(John Wiley and Sons Inc, 2023-08-21T00:00:00) Vellingiri, Balachandar; Balasubramani, Kiruthika; Iyer, Mahalaxmi; Raj, Neethu; Elangovan, Ajay; Song, Kwonwoo; Yeo, Han-Cheol; Jayakumar, Namitha; Kinoshita, Masako; Thangarasu, Ravimanickam; Narayanasamy, Arul; Dayem, Ahmed Abdal; Prajapati, Vijay Kumar; Gopalakrishnan, Abilash Valsala; Cho, Ssang-Goo
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a complex condition that is significantly influenced by oxidative stress and inflammation. It is also suggested that telomere shortening (TS) is regulated by oxidative stress which leads to various diseases including age-related neurodegenerative diseases like PD. Thus, it is anticipated that PD would result in TS of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Telomeres protect the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes preserving them against fusion and destruction. The TS is a normal process because DNA polymerase is unable to replicate the linear ends of the DNA due to end replication complications and telomerase activity in various cell types counteracts this process. PD is usually observed in the aged population and progresses over time therefore, disparities among telomere length in PBMCs of PD patients are recorded and it is still a question whether it has any useful role. Here, the likelihood of telomere attrition in PD and its implications concerning microglia activation, ageing, oxidative stress, and the significance of telomerase activators are addressed. Also, the possibility of telomeres and telomerase as a diagnostic and therapeutic biomarker in PD is discussed. � 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.
Translational vaccinomics and structural filtration algorithm to device multiepitope vaccine for catastrophic monkeypox virus
(Elsevier Ltd, 2022-12-30T00:00:00) Singh, Satyendra; Rao, Abhishek; Kumar, Ketan; Mishra, Amit; Prajapati, Vijay Kumar
Recent outbreak of monkeypox disease commenced in April 2022, and on May 7, the first confirmed case was reported. The world health organization then designated monkeypox disease as a public health emergency of international outrage on July 23, after it spread to 70 non-endemic nations in less than 15 days. This catastrophic viral infection encourages the development of antiviral therapeutics due to the lack of specific treatments with negligible adverse effects. This analysis developed a highly immunogenic multiepitope subunit vaccine against the monkeypox virus using an in silico translational vaccinomics technique. Highly antigenic B cell and T cell (HTL and CTL) epitopes were predicted and conjugated with the help of unique linkers. An adjuvant (?-defensin) and a pan-HLA DR sequence were attached at the vaccine construct's N-terminal to invoke a robust immunological response. Additionally, physiochemical, allergic, toxic, and antigenic properties were anticipated. Interactions between the vaccine candidate and the TLR3 demonstrated that the vaccine candidate triggers a robust immunological response. Finally, the stability is confirmed by the molecular dynamics study. In contrast, the modified vaccine candidate's ability to produce a protective immune response were verified by an immune dynamics simulation study conducted via C-ImmSim server. This study validates the generation of B cell, Th cell, and Tc cell populations as well as the production of IFN??. � 2022 Elsevier Ltd