Within the eukaryotic genome, DNA and proteins come together to form dynamic functional repeating units called Nucleosomes which further assemble to form the higher order Chromatin  within the nucleus. Chromatin is involved in all the genetic processes and thus, is of utmost importance in gene expression, development and disease. Chromatin structure is subjected to various alterations which includes the likes of histone modifications, chaperone mediated assembly and disassembly of the histones and ATP dependent remodeling enzymes. Our lab seeks to find out how these different enzymatically driven processes come together to ensure efficient regulation of gene expression. For this, we employ a broad range of molecular, biochemical and biophysical research tools to gain insights into protein structure, function and their corresponding mechanisms.

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Broadly, our research interests include : ​

1. Structure-guided designing of inhibitor molecules against epigenetic enzymes  involved in metabolic disorders in human.

2. Insights into structural and functional aspects of histone chaperones involved in the DNA damage repair pathways and their role in rare diseases.

3. Structural and functional characterization histone ubiquitin ligases in different disease contexts. 

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We are located in the Jadavpur campus of CSIR - Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata. We have all the necessary equipment for protein expression and purification. For documentation and quantification of different biochemical assays run on native and denatured PAGE, Western Blots or EMSA gels, we use the chemi and phosphor imagers (Azure C400 and Thermo iBright fl1500) installed in the common imaging and documentation facility of our institute. Our shared state-of-the art crystallization facility includes mosquito® crystallization robot and dragonfly® crystal screen optimizer which allows us to perform high-throughput screening of crystallization conditions. Our X-Ray diffraction set up consists of Bruker D8 Venture system with PHOTON III detector and IμS DIAMOND source and is situated in the ground floor of the building. We have access to DAWN Light Scattering detector (Wyatt) for SEC-MALS, ForteBio Octet Bio-interferometry system, Shimadzu spectrofluorometer, Circular Dichroism spectropolarimeter (JASCO), Isothermal Titration Calorimeter (TA instruments) and a MALDI proteomics analyzer with TOF/TOF optics (Applied Biosystems), all housed in different rooms under the  centralized instrumental facility at CSIR - Indian Institute of Chemical Biology. We also have our own mammalian cell culture facility.
 

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