Career

• Scientist E: Institute of Life Sciences (Nov 2020 onwards)
• Scientist D: Institute of Life Sciences (Nov 2015 – Dec 2019)
• Project Scientist: University of California, San Diego, USA (2011 to 2015)
• Post-Doctoral Fellow: University of California, San Diego, USA (2008 to 2011)
• PhD: University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India (2001-2007)

Fellowships and Awards

• Wellcome Trust-DBT India Alliance Intermediate Fellowship-2015
• Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellowship, Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi 2014 (Fellowship not availed)

Editorial Board Member

• Associate Editor of Frontiers in Microbiology (Virus-Host Interaction)
• Associate Editor in PLOS One

Membership:

• American Society for Microbiology (ASM)                                        : 2014 to Present
• American Society for Studies on Liver Diseases (AASLD)          : 2012 to Present
• Indian Virological Society                                                                       : 2016 onwards

Research Interest

1. The main focus of the lab is to characterize the virus-host interactions and decipher the consequence of these interactions on; cellular and mitochondrial homeostasis, mitochondrial signaling, metabolism, innate immune signaling and inflammation.
2. Currently, we are attempting to characterize how the flaviviruses (Dengue, Japanese Encephalitis & Hepatitis C viruses)  interact with the host mitochondria and exploit them for their dissemination and determine the significance of these interactions on virus associated disease pathogenesis.
3. We also focus on characterizing the  viral life cycle at the molecular level to identify viral and host proteins/processes that are crucial for viral propagation.
4. The overall goal is to identify therapeutic targets and develop novel antiviral agents to curb viral dissemination and disease pathogenesis

Viruses are obligate intracellular parasites with limited genome and thereby rely on the host cell machinery for their proliferation. Thereby viruses have evolved molecular strategies to escape the cellular innate immune surveillance and to usurp/hijack the host cell signaling to benefit their dissemination.  The virus-mediated alterations to the host signaling pathways or the host response to infection often predisposes the host to viral disease.

The cellular mitochondria, membranes and cytoskeleton are primary targets of many viruses. Mitochondria serve as the hub for many cellular events and mitochondrial dynamics is considered an integral cellular process with implications in cellular homeostasis, metabolism, inflammation and innate immunity. The cellular physiological perturbation associated with viral infection may affect host cell mitochondria and their dynamics.  On the contrary, the viruses may directly target or exploit mitochondria  and/or mitochondrial dynamics as a viral strategy to escape cellular defense mechanisms and promote viral proliferation.

The complex interplay between the virus and the cellular mitochondria and the subsequent consequence on mitochondrial- metabolism,  antiviral and inflammatory signaling governs the outcome of viral infection and pave way for disease pathogenesis.  This is an emerging and unexplored area with many viruses remaining to be characterized in this direction and to identify the molecular cues that triggers viral disease pathogenesis.

Currently the lab is working with the flaviviruses, Dengue virus (DENV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and Japanese Encephalitis virus. During the pandemic  we  have also worked towards COVID-19 research and isolated local circulating strains of SARS-CoV2 and are conducting studies for repurposing of approved drugs against SARS-CoV2 in in-vitro and in-vivo models. In future we will also attempt to characterize the virus-host interactions of emerging pathogenic viruses to determine therapeutic targets for curbing viral proliferation and disease pathogenesis.

The major focus of the lab will be;

1. Characterize the virus-host interaction at the mitochondrial perspective and elucidate the viral strategies that exploit host signalling/responses to promote viral proliferation and predispose to disease pathogenesis
2. Characterize the molecular events in HCV, DENV and JEV life cycle such as the entry, replication, assembly and secretion of virus particle to identify pro-viral host factors.
3. Identify potential therapeutic targets and develop effective strategies to curb viral dissemination and disease pathogenesis.

2021

1. Panda S, Behera S, Alam FM, Syed GH. Endoplasmic reticulum & mitochondrial calcium homeostasis: The interplay with viruses. Mitochondrion. 2021; 227-242.
2. Kumar S, Singh B, Kumari P, Kumar PV, Agnihotri G, Khan S, Beuria TK, Syed GH, Dixit A. Identification of multipotent drugs for COVID-19 therapeutics with the evaluation of their SARS-CoV2 inhibitory activity. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal. 2021, 19, 1998-2017.
3. Suresh V, Mohanty V, Avula K, et al. Quantitative proteomics of hamster lung tissues infected with SARS-CoV-2 reveal host factors having implication in the disease pathogenesis and severity. The FASEB Journal. 2021, 35:e21713.
4. Avula K, Singh B, Vijay Kumar P, Syed GH. Role of Lipid Transfer Proteins (LTPs) in the Viral Life Cycle. Frontiers in Microbiology. 2021, 12, 1493.

2020

1. Raghav S, Ghosh A, Turuk J, et al. Analysis of Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomes Reveals Prevalence of D614G Mutation in Spike Protein Predicting an Increase in Interaction With TMPRSS2 and Virus Infectivity. Front Microbiol. 2020; 11:594928.

2018

1. Kim S-J, Ahn D-G, Syed GH, Siddiqui A. The essential role of mitochondrial dynamics in antiviral immunity. Mitochondrion. 2018, 41, 21-27.

2017

1. Syed GH (co-corresponding author), Khan M, Yang S, Siddiqui A. Hepatitis C virus lipoviroparticles (HCV-LVP) assemble in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and bud off from the ER to Golgi in COPII vesicles. J Virol. 2017, doi: 10.1128/JVI.00499-17.
2. Börgeson E, Wallenius V, Syed GH, Darshi M, Lantero Rodriguez J, Biörserud C, Ragnmark Ek M, Björklund P, Quiding-Järbrink M, Fändriks L, Godson C, Sharma K. AICAR ameliorates high-fat diet-associated pathophysiology in mouse and ex vivo models, independent of adiponectin. Diabetologia. 2017, 60(4):729-739. doi: 10.1007/s00125-017-4211-9

2016

1. Khan M, Syed GH, Kim SJ, Siddiqui A. Hepatitis B Virus-Induced Parkin-Dependent Recruitment of Linear Ubiquitin Assembly Complex (LUBAC) to Mitochondria and Attenuation of Innate Immunity. PLoS Pathog. 2016, 12(6):e1005693. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1005693

2015

1. Till A, Saito R, Merkurjev D, Liu JJ, Syed GH, Kolnik M, Siddiqui A, Glas M, Scheffler B, Ideker T, Subramani S. 2015. Evolutionary trends and functional anatomy of the human expanded autophagy network. Autophagy 11(9):1652-67.
2. Borgeson E, Johnsson A, Lee YS, Till A, Syed GH, Ali-Shah ST, Guiry PJ, Dalli J, Colas RA, Serhan NC, Sharma K, Godson C. Lipoxin A4 attenuates obesity-induced adipose inflammation and associated liver and kidney disease. 2015. Cell Metabolism 22(1):125-37.
3. Khan M, Syed GH, Seong-Jun K and Siddiqui A. 2015. Mitochondrial Dynamics and Viral infections: a close nexus. 2015. Biochim Biophys Acta Molecular Cell Research 1853 (10 Pt B): 2822-33.

2014

1. Soto-Acosta R, Bautista-Carbajal P, Syed GH, Siddiqui A, Del Angel MR. 2014. Nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) inhibits replication and viral morphogenesis of Dengue virus. Antiviral Research, 109:132-40
2. Seong-Jun K, Syed GH (equal contribution), Khan M, Chiu W, Sohail AM, Gish GR, & Siddiqui A. 2014. Hepatitis C Virus Triggers Mitochondrial Fission and Attenuates Apoptosis to Promote Viral Persistence. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci, 111:6413-8.
3. Syed GH, Tang H (equal contribution), Khan M, Hassanein T, Liu J, & Siddiqui A. 2014. Hepatitis C Virus stimulates Density Lipoprotein Receptor (LDLR) expression to facilitate viral propagation. J. Virol, 88:2519-29.

2013

1. Seong-Jun K, Syed GH, Siddiqui A. 2013. Hepatitis C virus induces mitochondrial translocation of Parkin and subsequent mitophagy. PLoS Pathog, 9(3):e1003285.
2. Yadaiah M, Sudhamalla B, Rao PN, Roy KR, Ramakrishna D, Syed GH, Ramaiah KV, AK bhuyan. 2013. Arrested Cell Proliferation through Cysteine Protease Activity of Eukaryotic Ribosomal Protein S4. FASEB J, 27:803-10.

2012

1. Bishé B, Syed GH, Field SJ, Siddiqui A. 2012. Role of phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PI4P) and its binding protein GOLPH3 in hepatitis C virus secretion. J Biol Chem, 287, 27637-47.
2. Bishe B, Syed GH, Siddiqui A. 2012. Phosphoinositides in the Hepatitis C virus Life Cycle. Viruses, 4, 2340-58.

2011

1. Syed GH, Siddiqui A. 2011. Effects of hypolipidemic agent nordihydroguaiaretic acid on lipid droplets and hepatitis C virus. Hepatology, 54, 1936-46.
2. Amako Y, Syed GH (equal contribution), Siddiqui A. 2011. Protein kinase D negatively regulates hepatitis C virus secretion through phosphorylation of oxysterol binding protein and ceramide transfer protein. J Biol Chem, 286, 11265-274.

2010

1. Syed GH, Amako Y, Siddiqui A. 2010. Hepatitis C virus hijacks host lipid metabolism. Trends Endocrinol Metab, 21: 33-40.

2007

1. Syed GH, Ramaiah KVA. 2007. Reduced eIF2alpha phosphorylation and increased proapoptotic proteins in aging. Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 355:365-70.
2. Syed GH, Ramaiah KVA. 2007. Endoplasmic reticulum: Stress, signaling and apoptosis. Current Science, 93: 1684-96.

Book Chapters

1. Syed GH, Wyles DL and Siddiqui A. 2014. Chapter on ‘Hepatitis Viruses’ in the Reference Module in Biomedical Sciences. Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-801238-3.00087-8.
2. Seong-Jun K, Syed GH, Sohail M, Khan M and Siddiqui A. Chapter on ‘The Emerging Role of Mitochondrial Dynamics in Viral Hepatitis’ in the book ‘Mitochondria in Liver Disease’ by Neil Kaplowitz and Derick Han published by CRC press.

Ph.D students:

1. Bharati Singh
2. Mohd Faraz Alam
3. Avula Kiran
4. Sayani Das

Postdoctoral Fellows:

1. Swagatika Panda (N-PDF)
2. Shamim Akhtar Sufi

Project Fellow: Sabyasachi Pattnayak

Lab Technician: Biswajita Prusty

Past Members: Ruthu Nagraj (JRF), Subham K Sahoo (Lab Technician), Debjani Tarapdhar (N-PDF), Leela Kirshna Bankapalli (PDF), Subashish Samantray (Project Fellow), Poornima Kokavalla (SRF), Preethy V Kumar (JRF)

• In 2014 was awarded the Ramalingswami Re-entry Fellowship from the Dept. of Biotechnology, Govt of India (Fellowship not availed).
• In June-2015 was awarded the Wellcome Trust-DBT India Alliance Intermediate Fellowship.

• Masters students who want to pursue PhD in the field of Virus-Host interactions and Viral disease pathogenesis may contact Dr. G Syed (gulamsyed@ils.res.in). Preference will be given to students having their own research fellowship.
• Candidates who wish to apply postdoctoral fellowships (IA, N-PDF, DBT RA, ICMR) in the lab focus areas please contact Dr. G Syed (gulamsyed@ils.res.in).
• Students who wants to pursue summer trainees (minimum 3 months) and Master’s project (minimum 6 months) may also communicate to Dr. G Syed.