Research Papers (Udaykumar Ranga)

Temperature sensitivity of circadian clocks is conserved across Drosophila species melanogaster, malerkotliana and ananassae

Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Temperature sensitivity of circadian clocks is conserved across Drosophila species melanogaster, malerkotliana and ananassae Prabhakaran, Priya M.; Sheeba, Vasu Light and temperature are the major environmental cycles that can synchronize circadian rhythms in a variety of organisms. Previously, we have shown that under light/dark cycles of various photoperiods, the Drosophila species ananassae exhibits unimodal activity pattern with a prominent morning activity peak in contrast with Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila malerkotliana, which show bimodal activity pattern with morning and evening activity peaks. Here we report that circadian clocks controlling activity/rest rhythm of these two less-studied species D. malerkotliana and D. ananassae can be synchronized by temperature cycles and that even under temperature cycles D. ananassae exhibits only a pronounced morning (thermophase onset) activity peak. Although D. melanogaster and D. ananassae exhibit differences in the phase of activity/rest rhythm under temperature cycles, circadian clocks of both show similar sensitivity to warm temperature pulses. Circadian period of activity/rest rhythm of D. ananassae differs from the other two species at some moderate-range temperatures; however, in conditions that are more extreme, circadian clocks of D. melanogaster, D. malerkotliana and D. ananassae appear to be largely temperature compensated. Restricted Access

Simulating natural light and temperature cycles in the laboratory reveals differential effects on activity/rest rhythm of four Drosophilids

Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Simulating natural light and temperature cycles in the laboratory reveals differential effects on activity/rest rhythm of four Drosophilids Prabhakaran, Priya M.; Sheeba, Vasu Recent studies under semi-natural conditions have revealed various unique features of activity/rest rhythms in Drosophilids that differ from those under standard laboratory conditions. An additional afternoon peak (A-peak) has been reported for Drosophila melanogaster and another species D. malerkotliana while D. ananassae exhibited mostly unimodal diurnal activity. To tease apart the role of light and temperature in mediating these species-specific behaviours of four Drosophilid species D. melanogaster, D. malerkotliana, D. ananassae, and Zaprionus indianus we simulated gradual natural light and/or temperature cycles conditions in laboratory. The pattern observed under semi-natural conditions could be reproduced in the laboratory for all the species under a variety of simulated conditions. D. melanogaster and D. malerkotliana showed similar patterns where as D. ananassae consistently exhibited predominant morning activity under almost all regimes. Z. indianus showed clearly rhythmic activity mostly when temperature cycles were provided. We find that gradually changing light intensities reaching a sufficiently high peak value can elicit A-peak in D. melanogaster, D. malerkotliana, and D. ananassae even at mild ambient temperature. Furthermore, we show that high mid-day temperature could induce A-peak in all species even under constant light conditions suggesting that this A-peak is likely to be a stress response. Restricted Access

Toll-Like Receptor 9 Activation Rescues Impaired Antibody Response in Needle-free Intradermal DNA Vaccination

Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Toll-Like Receptor 9 Activation Rescues Impaired Antibody Response in Needle-free Intradermal DNA Vaccination Arunachalam, Prabhu S.; Mishra, Ria; Badarinath, Krithika; Selvam, Deepak; Payeli, Sravan K.; Stout, Richard R.; Ranga, Udaykumar The delivery of plasmid DNA to the skin can target distinct subsets of dermal dendritic cells to confer a superior immune response. The needle-free immunization technology offers a reliable, safe and efficient means to administer intradermal ( ID) injections. We report here that the ID injection of DNA vectors using an NF device (NF-ID) elicits a superior cell-mediated immune response, at much lesser DNA dosage, comparable in magnitude to the traditional intramuscular immunization. However, the humoral response is significantly impaired, possibly at the stage of B cell isotype switching. We found that the NF-ID administration deposits the DNA primarily on the epidermis resulting in a rapid loss of the DNA as well as the synthesized antigen due to the faster regeneration rate of the skin layers. Therefore, despite the immune-rich nature of the skin, the NF-ID immunization of DNA vectors may be limited by the impaired humoral response. Additional booster injections are required to augment the antibody response. As an alternative and a viable solution, we rescued the IgG response by coadministration of a Toll-like receptor 9 agonist, among other adjuvants examined. Our work has important implication for the optimization of the emerging needle-free technology for ID immunization. Open Access

The Evolving Profile of the Signature Amino Acid Residues in HIV-1 Subtype C Tat

Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMT

The Evolving Profile of the Signature Amino Acid Residues in HIV-1 Subtype C Tat Aralaguppe, Shambhu Prasad G.; Sharma, Shilpee; Menon, Malini; Prasad, Vinayaka R.; Saravanan, Shanmugam; Murugavel, Kailapuri G.; Solomon, Suniti; Ranga, Udaykumar Using several HIV-1 tat exon 1 amino acid sequences available from public databases and additional sequences derived from a southern Indian clinical cohort, we compared the profile of the signature amino acid residues (SAR) between two different time periods, 1986-2004 and 2005-2014. The analysis identified eight positions as signature residues in subtype C Tat and demonstrated a changing pattern at four of these positions between the two periods. At three locations (histidine 29, serine 57, and proline 60), there appears to be a nonuniform negative selection against the SAR. The negative selection appears to be severe, especially against histidine 29 (p<.0001) and moderate against proline 60 (p<.0001). The negative selection against serine 57 is statistically insignificant and appears to have begun recently. At position 63, the frequency of signature residue glutamic acid increased over the past decade, although the difference was not significant. Importantly, at the three locations where the negative selection is in progress, the substitute amino acids are the generic residues present in most of the other HIV-1 subtypes. Our data demonstrate that viral evolution can subject specific amino acid residues to subtle and progressive selection pressures without affecting the prevalence of other amino acid residues. Restricted Access