Browsing by Author "Sharat Chandra"

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Characterization of the proliferating cell nuclear antigen of leishmania donovani clinical isolates and its association with antimony resistance
(American Society for Microbiology, 2014) Rati Tandon; Sharat Chandra; Rajendra Kumar Baharia; Sanchita Das; Pragya Misra; Awanish Kumar; Mohammad Imran Siddiqi; Shyam Sundar; Anuradha Dube
Previously, through a proteomic analysis, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was found to be overexpressed in the sodium antimony gluconate (SAG)-resistant clinical isolate compared to that in the SAG-sensitive clinical isolate of Leishmania donovani. The present study was designed to explore the potential role of the PCNA protein in SAG resistance in L. donovani. For this purpose, the protein was cloned, overexpressed, purified, and modeled. Western blot (WB) and real-time PCR (RT-PCR) analyses confirmed that PCNA was overexpressed by≥3-fold in the log phase, stationary phase, and peanut agglutinin isolated procyclic and metacyclic stages of the promastigote form and by5-fold in the amastigote form of the SAG-resistant isolate compared to that in the SAG-sensitive isolate. L. donovani PCNA (LdPCNA) was overexpressed as a green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion protein in a SAG-sensitive clinical isolate of L. donovani, and modulation of the sensitivities of the transfectants to pentavalent antimonial (SbV) and trivalent antimonial (Sb III) drugs was assessed in vitro against promastigotes and intracellular (J774A.1 cell line) amastigotes, respectively. Overexpression of LdPCNA in the SAG-sensitive isolate resulted in an increase in the 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of SbV (from 41.2±0.6 μg/ml to 66.5±3.9 μg/ml) and SbIII (from 24.0±0.3 μg/ml to 43.4±1.8 μg/ml). Moreover, PCNA-overexpressing promastigote transfectants exhibited less DNA fragmentation compared to that of wild-type SAG-sensitive parasites upon SbIII treatment. In addition, SAG-induced nitric oxide (NO) production was found to be significantly inhibited in the macrophages infected with the transfectants compared with that in wild-type SAG-sensitive parasites. Consequently, we infer that LdPCNA has a significant role in SAG resistance in L. donovani clinical isolates, which warrants detailed investigations regarding its mechanism. © 2014, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Molecular, biochemical characterization and assessment of immunogenic potential of cofactor-independent phosphoglycerate mutase against Leishmania donovani: A step towards exploring novel vaccine candidate
(Cambridge University Press, 2018) Rati Tandon; Sharat Chandra; Rajendra Kumar Baharia; Pragya Misra; Sanchita Das; Keerti Rawat; Mohammad Imran Siddiqi; Shyam Sundar; Anuradha Dube
Despite immense efforts, vaccine against visceral leishmaniasis has yet not been developed. Earlier our proteomic study revealed a novel protein, cofactor-independent phoshoglycerate mutase (LdiPGAM), an important enzyme in glucose metabolism, in T helper cells type 1 (Th1) stimulatory region of soluble Leishmania donovani antigen. In this study, LdiPGAM was biochemically and molecularly characterized and evaluated for its immunogenicity and prophylactic efficacy against L. donovani. Immunogenicity of recombinant LdiPGAM (rLdiPGAM) was initially assessed in naïve hamsters immunized with it by analysing mRNA expression of inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase (iNOS) and other Th1/T helper cells type 2 cytokines, which revealed an upregulation of Th1 cytokines along with iNOS. Immunogenicity of rLdiPGAM was further evaluated in lymphocytes of treated Leishmania-infected hamsters and peripheral blood mononuclear cells of Leishmania patients in clinical remission by various parameters, viz. lymphoproliferation assay and NO production (hamsters and patients) and levels of various cytokines (patients). rLdiPGAM induced remarkable Lymphoproliferative response and NO production in treated Leishmania-infected hamsters as well as in patients and increase in interferon gamma (IFN-γ), interleukin-12 (IL-12p40) responses in Leishmania patients in clinical remission. Vaccination with rLdiPGAM exerted considerable prophylactic efficacy (73%) supported by increase in mRNA expression of iNOS, IFN-γ and IL-12p40 with decrease in transforming growth factor beta and interleukin-10. Above results indicate the importance of rLdiPGAM protein as a potential vaccine candidate against visceral leishmaniasis. © 2018 Cambridge University Press.