Academics
Degree | University/Institution |
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M.F.Sc. (Master of Fisheries Science – Fishery Microbiology) | University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS, Bangalore), College of Fisheries, Mangalore, India. |
Ph.D. (Biological Sciences – Protein X-ray Crystallography) | Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore. |
Work Experience
Position | University/Organisation | Period |
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Scientist | Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram | June 2023 onwards |
Scientist | Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar | December 2012 onwards (On Lien at ILS from June 2023) |
Postdoctoral Fellow at Disease Biology Unit | Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases (NITD), Singapore | April 2011- November 2012 |
Postdoctoral Fellow at School of Biological Sciences | Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore | February 2006 – March 2011 |
Awards & Recognition
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Research
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Structural Biology [https://www.DVasuLab.com] Over the initial years, we have gained a certain sense of directionality with respect to our science. Details of our current focus areas can be seen below: (1) Chromatin Structural Biology: Histone proteins package eukaryotic DNA into chromatin. The dynamic DNA-protein complex called nucleosomes forms the basic element of chromatin. All eukaryotic genomic processes, both natural and pathological, including transcription, replication, recombination, repair, chromosome segregation, carcinogenesis, and viral infection, can be fully understood only in the context of nucleosomes. The core of a nucleosome, called the nucleosome core particle (NCP), consists of fourteen turns of B-form DNA around an octamer of histone proteins. A nucleosome is known to be the binding platform for several protein factors. In order for a protein to gain access to chromosomal DNA/histone proteins, it needs to interact and/or compete with the histone proteins/DNA of the nucleosome. Studies involving nucleosomes are of greater significance than isolated studies focusing on the interaction of protein factors with individual histone(s) or DNA. In this context, we work on some nucleosome-interacting proteins. Around the theme of chromatin structural biology, another of our interests is histone chaperones. Histone chaperones are a group of proteins that bind histones and regulate nucleosome assembly. The mode of action of several histone chaperones is not well-understood. Also, it is not completely clear what decides the specificity of certain histone chaperones for H3/H4, H2A/H2B, or histone variants. In order to better understand these molecular machines, we work on a few projects dealing with the structural characterization of some important but poorly characterized histone chaperones. A major interest in this direction has been nucleoplasmins. Our endeavors with histone chaperones have gotten us to initiate structural characterization work on certain histone deacetylases (HDACs) as well! (2) Structural Biology of Clp Machinery Proteins: The caseinolytic protease (Clp) machinery is present in bacteria, plants, and other eukaryotes. These proteases usually associate with Clp chaperone proteins that help in the ATP-dependent unfolding of substrates, which need to be taken in for proteolysis by the proteases. ClpD is a Clp-associated chaperone unique to plants. Plant ClpC and ClpD proteins both get localized into chloroplast stroma. However, our work from ILS has shown that the structure of ClpD is quite different from that of ClpC in its N-terminus. Our interest in plant Clp machinery proteins is to understand their distinct roles in protein homeostasis and stress response. In addition, we also work on mycobacterial Clp chaperones due to their importance as a target in anti-mycobacterial research. (3) Infectious Disease Structural Biology: A couple of our chromatin structural biology and Clp machinery projects have infectious disease flavor. In addition, we also work on proteins from bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites that are infectious to humans. We have recently started working on candidate proteins from the pathogens that infect cultured shrimps. Over and above these, additional structural biology projects are being taken up from time to time collaboratively. Our collaborators @ ILS:
Other major collaborators:
As we have technical expertise in making nucleosome core particles and nucleosomal arrays, our group is open to collaborative projects dealing with nucleosome binding factors. To know more about our group, please have a look at https://DVasuLab.com |
Publications
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[* Co-first authors] [# Co-corresponding authors] |
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Our Group Members:
Group Alumni:
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Contacts
Address | Fax | Office | |
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dileep@ils.res.in | DBT-Institute of Life Sciences, Nalco Square, Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar-751023, India | +91 674 2300728 | +91-674-2304291 |
Highlights
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ESRF Highlights 2020 features the work that DVasuLab did at their facility and got published in NAR in 2020! Indian Structural Biology groups are getting featured in ESRF Highlights for the first time! https://www.esrf.eu/home/UsersAndScience/Publications/Highlights/esrf-highlights-2020.html
Our publication in the Plant Cell journal got highlighted in this “In Brief” article
https://academic.oup.com/plcell/advance-article/doi/10.1093/plcell/koac277/6696235
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Positions
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