Research

Research: Welcome

Research: About

PhD Supervisior

Dr. Ajaikumar B. Kunnumakkara, Ph.D., FRSM.

Professor

Cancer Biology Laboratory

Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati

Guwahati, Assam-781039, INDIA.

Email: kunnumakkara@iitg.ac.in; ajai78@gmail.com

Phone: +91 361 258 2231/3220 (Office); +91 789 600 5326 (mobile)

Fax: +91 361 258 2249

Secretary: Society for Nutraceuticals and Chronic Diseases

Joint Secretary: Society for Translational Cancer Research

Research: About

Courses completed during PhD

Cumulative Performance Index (C.P.I.) = 9.60

Courses taught under PMRF scheme

BSC Zoology-Second Year
Molecular Biology, Biochemistry
(Department of Zoology, Krishnarpit Institute of Education, Uttar Pradesh)

BSC Zoology- Third Year
Computational Bioinformatics and Biostatistics
(Department of Zoology, North Gauhati College, Assam)

BSC Zoology- Second Year
Biochemistry of Metabolic Process
(Department of Zoology, North Gauhati College, Assam)

Research: Services

My Research

Development of miRNA mimics targeting Tumor necrosis factor-α induced protein eight (TNFAIP8/TIPE) in oral cancer

The goal of the proposed study is to identify significant miRNAs that regulate TIPE proteins in oral cancer and to develop miRNA therapeutics for the treatment of oral cancer. Since TIPE proteins have been shown to be involved in the modulation of various signaling pathways responsible for disease aetiology, we hypothesize that the regulation of TIPEs by miRNAs would be a novel strategy in the treatment of oral tumorigenesis. We opine that potential miRNAs identified in this study would further help in understanding the specificities and dynamics of the disease and aid in clinical paradigm for therapeutic intervention.

OBJECTIVES OF THE WORK

To identify the significant miRNAs regulating the expression of TIPE in oral cancer and expression analysis of candidate miRNAs in oral cancer cell lines and patient samples compared to normal cells/tissues.
To design miRNA mimics and antimiRs that regulate TIPE proteins in oral cancer.
To decipher the functional role of candidate miRNAs in proliferation, invasion, migration and angiogenesis in in vitro and in vivo models.
To decipher the role of TNF-α and NNK in modulating the expression of miRNAs involved in TIPE regulation in oral cancer.
To determine the chemo-sensitizing effect of miRNA mimics in combination with 5-FU by in vitro and in vivo method.

Work Progress

The sequence and Ensemble ID of TNFAIP8, TNFAIP8L1, TNFAIP8L2, and TNFAIP8L3 were retrieved from NCBI database. Target prediction using various established computational tools were used to predict the putative miRNAs targeting different TIPE family. A total of eight different miRNAs were selected based on the TargetScan score and the percentile. The results were validated using other sequence-based search tools like DianaTools, miRDIP and miRDB (Table 1). miRNet was used to illustrate the target network in a topological manner. Fruchterman Reingold layout for selected for creating miRNA target map (Figure 1). These putative miRNAs will be now validated using machine learning algorithms (SVMicrO, miRMark, TarpMiR and FilTar) and their expression will be assessed using q-PCR in oral cancer human tissues and cell lines.

Figure 1: Different putative miRNAs based on miRNet Fruchterman Reingold layout for (A) TNFAIP8, (B) TNFAIP8L1, (C) TNFAIP8L2, and (D) TNFAIP8L3. The miRNAs are depicted as blue squares and the proteins are depicted as red circle.

Table 1: Different tables with the miRNAs and their predicted score calculated in different computational tools.