Department of Bioscience & Bioengineering

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Flexibility in curriculum, in all its academic programs, encompassing elements of teaching, research, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship is the most unique feature of IIT Jodhpur. The Department of Science and Technology (DST), under the National Mission on Cyber Physical Systems, has identified IIT Jodhpur as a Technology &amp; Innovation Hub in the area of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. The institute has also been nominated as the coordinator for the Jodhpur City and Knowledge Cluster by the Office of Principal Scientific Adviser, Government of India.

The sprawling 852-acre IIT Jodhpur campus is a majestic tribute to the deep-rooted diverse cultural heritage of the region. The campus is an architectural masterpiece, which is slated to become an international exemplar of sustainability with net-zero energy, and advanced water and waste management strategies.&rdquo;

IIT Jodhpur

The aim of this work was to compare the performance of the two types of photosynthetic microbial fuel cells (MFCs) fed with real wastewater- one having plant Canna indica (PMFC) and the other having alga Chlorella vulgaris (AMFC) at the cathode. The chemical oxygen demand (COD), phosphate, and nitrate removal stood at 57.16% 88.81%, 59.82% for PMFC and 65.27%, 95.59%, 66.61% for the AMFC. While AMFC was slightly superior in water treatment, the power output was 6 times higher in PMFC (22.76 mW m−2) than the AMFC (3.64 mW m−2). The biomass growth was good in both systems, with biomass productivity of 0.031 Kg m−3 day−1 in AMFC and a leaf area index of 0.006 in PMFC. The study's findings suggest that PMFCs are equally good or even better than AMFCs when the goal is simultaneous water treatment and power generation. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd

World University root node

Bioresource Technology

Effect of cathodic culture on wastewater treatment and power generation in a photosynthetic sediment microbial fuel cell (SMFC): Canna indica v/s Chlorella vulgaris

This study reports the use of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii at the cathode in a photosynthetic microbial fuel cell (PMFC). The PMFC produced power and current density of 15.21 W m(3) and 39 A m(3), respectively. The specific growth rate of algae culture at the cathode was 0.284 day(-1). The system achieved COD removal at 73.30\% with a Coulombic efficiency of 9.068\%. The usability of algae biomass was assessed in terms of its total phenol content (157.69 mg GAE/g algae DW), antioxidant activity (IC50 = 67.07 mu g/ml), total Chlorophyll (18.95 mg/g), total Carotenoids (2.40 mg/g), and antibacterial properties against known pathogens. Overall, the study's findings suggested that C. reinhardtii supports high power output from a PMFC and is highly resourceful in terms of valueadded products.

School of Liberal Arts (SoLA)

BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY

Performance evaluation of a photosynthetic microbial fuel cell (PMFC) using Chlamydomonas reinhardtii at cathode

There has been a recent increase in the development of delivery systems based on red blood cells (RBCs) for light-mediated imaging and therapeutic applications. These constructs are able to take advantage of the immune evasion properties of the RBC, while the addition of an optical cargo allows the particles to be activated by light for a number of promising applications. Here, we review some of the common fabrication methods to engineer these constructs. We also present some of the current light-based applications with potential for clinical translation, and offer some insight into future directions in this exciting field. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Fulltext

Biomolecules

Phototheranostics using erythrocyte-based particles

Ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecological cancer. Cytoreductive surgery to remove primary and intraperitoneal tumor deposits remains as the standard therapeutic approach. However, lack of an intraoperative image-guided approach to enable the visualization of all tumors can result in incomplete cytoreduction and recurrence. We engineered nano-sized particles derived from erythrocytes that encapsulate the near infrared (NIR) fluorochrome, indocyanine green, as potential imaging probes for tumor visualization during cytoreductive surgery. Herein, we present the first demonstra-tion of the use of these nanoparticles in conjunction with spatially-modulated illumination (SMI), at spatial frequencies in the range of 0–0.5 mm−1, to fluorescently image intraperitoneal ovarian tumors in mice. Results of our animal studies suggest that the nanoparticles accumulated at higher levels within tumors 24 h post-intraperitoneal injection as compared to various other organs. We demon-strate that, under the imaging specifications reported here, use of these nanoparticles in conjunction with SMI enhances the fluorescence image contrast between intraperitoneal tumors and liver, and between intraperitoneal tumors and spleen by nearly 2.1, and 3.0 times, respectively, at the spatial frequency of 0.2 mm−1 as compared to the contrast values at spatially-uniform (non-modulated) illumination. These results suggest that the combination of erythrocyte-derived NIR nanoparticles and structured illumination provides a promising approach for intraoperative fluorescence imaging of ovarian tumor nodules at enhanced contrast. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Cancers

Near infrared fluorescence imaging of intraperitoneal ovarian tumors in mice using erythrocyte-derived optical nanoparticles and spatially-modulated illumination

We have engineered nano-sized constructs from erythrocytes doped with the FDA-approved near infrared (NIR) chromophore, indocyanine green (ICG). Herein, we present results that demonstrate membrane cholesterol enrichment is associated with reduced uptake of these nanoparticles by macrophages in vitro, and greater accumulation of the nanoparticles in intraperitoneal implants in immunodeficient mice. These preliminary findings suggest that cholesterol-enrichment of erythrocyte-derived optical nanoparticles can provide a potential capability for enhanced NIR imaging of tumors. © 2021 SPIE. All rights reserved.

Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE

Cholesterol-enriched erythrocyte-derived optical nanoparticles for nir fluorescence imaging of intraperitoneal ovarian tumors in mice

We propose a granular architecture as a potential impact protector and signal filter. The system consists of monodispersed granular chains decorated with side beads fixed (welded) on sidewalls. Numerical results from usual monodispersed chains and simple tapered chains are employed as reference. An appropriate material combination and an optimal radii ratio between the side and axial granules show that more than 90% of the momentum amplitude of solitary pulses can be attenuated using a small and scalable system composed of five axial granules. Considering sinusoidal signals, the findings suggest that regular chains (monodispersed and tapered) are low-pass filters with cutoff frequencies as functions of the driven amplitude, restitutional losses, and tapering. The granular chain with fixed decoration filters all the input signals. © 2021 American Physical Society.

Physical Review E

Granular chains with fixed side decoration as impact protector and signals filter

Centrosome serves as the primary site of microtubule organization in a majority of animal cells. These microtubules carry out several significant functions in the cell such as cell division, chromosome segregation, mechanical support and cellular transport. Proteins localized at the centrosome play extensive role in orchestrating the process of microtubule organization, growth and stabilization in space and time. Anomalies in centrosome number, structure and functioning disturb microtubule organization and lead to several human diseases. Advancements in proteomics and microscopy methods have been instrumental in identifying molecular mechanisms pertaining to the microtubule organizing function of centrosomes. This review focuses on the involvement of centrosome as a microtubule nucleating center of the cell. We present the major molecular mechanisms at the centrosome which affect microtubule nucleation and activation. Finally, we discuss human diseases associated with defective microtubule organization resulting from centrosome abnormalities. © 2021, Indian Institute of Science.

Journal of the Indian Institute of Science

Centrosome: A Microtubule Nucleating Cellular Machinery

Centrosomes are the major microtubule organizing centers in a large number of animal cells. They are involved in diverse cellular functions like cell division, migration, sensing and motility. Despite being identified more than 100 years ago, they did not receive much attention until recent discoveries suggesting their association with human diseases. Centrosome-related defects have been observed in several human diseases including cancers, brain disorders and ciliopathies. Researchers in the field are trying to understand the relationship between centrosomes and these diseases. Accordingly, this review provides an overview of the current knowledge regarding the role of centrosomes during ciliogenesis and neural stem cell division. The review primarily focuses on the impairment of centrosome number, organization and functioning leading to a wide range of human diseases. Finally, we discuss the scope of targeting centrosomes for therapeutic purposes. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd

Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology

Centrosome dysfunction in human diseases

Identification of groups of co-expressed or co-regulated genes is critical for exploring the underlying mechanism behind a particular disease like cancer. Condition-specific (disease-specific) gene-expression profiles acquired from different platforms are widely utilized by researchers to get insight into the regulatory mechanism of the disease. Several clustering algorithms are developed using gene expression profiles to identify the group of similar genes. These algorithms are computationally efficient but are not able to capture the functional similarity present between the genes, which is very important from a biological perspective. In this study, an algorithm named CorGO is introduced, that specifically deals with the identification of functionally similar gene-clusters. Two types of relationships are calculated for this purpose. Firstly, the Correlation (Cor) between the genes are captured from the gene-expression data, which helps in deciphering the relationship between genes based on its expression across several diseased samples. Secondly, Gene Ontology (GO)-based semantic similarity information available for the genes is utilized, that helps in adding up biological relevance to the identified gene-clusters. A similarity measure is defined by integrating these two components that help in the identification of homogeneous and functionally similar groups of genes. CorGO is applied to four different types of gene expression profiles of different types of cancer. Gene-clusters identified by CorGO, are further validated by pathway enrichment, disease enrichment, and network analysis. These biological analyses demonstrated significant connectivity and functional relatedness within the genes of the same cluster. A comparative study with commonly used clustering algorithms is also performed to show the efficacy of the proposed method. © 2021, International Association of Scientists in the Interdisciplinary Areas.

Interdisciplinary Sciences: Computational Life Sciences

CorGO: An Integrated Method for Clustering Functionally Similar Genes

Studying respiratory illness-specific microbial signatures and their interaction with other micro-residents could provide a better understanding of lung microbial ecology. Each respiratory illness has a specific disease etiology, however, so far no study has revealed disease—specific microbial markers. The present study was designed to determine disease-specific microbial features and their interactions with other residents in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (stable and exacerbated), sarcoidosis, and interstitial lung diseases. Broncho-alveolar lavage samples (n = 43) were analyzed by SSU rRNA gene sequencing to study the alveolar microbiome in these diseases. A predominance of Proteobacteria followed by Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, and Fusobacteria was observed in all the disease subsets. Shannon diversity was significantly higher in stable COPD when compared to exacerbated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (ECOPD) (p = 0.0061), and ILD patient samples (p = 0.037). The lung microbiome of the patients with stable COPD was more diverse in comparison to ECOPD and ILD patients (p < 0.001). Lefse analysis identified 40 disease—differentiating microbial features (LDA score (log10) > 4). Species network analysis indicated a significant correlation (p < 0.05) of diseases specific microbial signature with other lung microbiome members. The current study strengthens the proposed hypothesis that each respiratory illness has unique microbial signatures. These microbial signatures could be used as diagnostic markers to differentiate among various respiratory illnesses. © 2021, The Author(s).

Scientific Reports

Comparative analysis of the alveolar microbiome in COPD, ECOPD, Sarcoidosis, and ILD patients to identify respiratory illnesses specific microbial signatures