Kapila Kumar

Mapping interactions of Chikungunya virus nonstructural proteins.

The four nonstructural proteins (nsPs1-4) of Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) play important roles involving enzymatic activities and specific interactions with both viral and host components, during different stages of viral pathogenesis. Elucidation of the presence and/or absence of interactions among nsPs in a systematic manner is thus of scientific interest. In the current study, each pair-wise combination among the four nonstructural proteins of CHIKV was systematically analyzed for possible interactions. Six novel protein interactions were identified for CHIKV, using systems such as yeast two-hybrid, GST pull down and ELISA, three of which have not been previously reported for the genus Alphavirus. These interactions form a network of organized associations that suggest the spatial arrangement of nonstructural proteins in the late replicase complex. The study identified novel interactions as well as concurred with previously described associations in related alphaviruses.

Intraviral Protein interactions of Chandipura Virus

Chandipura virus (CHPV) is an emerging rhabdovirus responsible for several outbreaks of fatal encephalitis among children in India. The characteristic structure of the virus is a result of extensive and specific interplay among its five encoded proteins. The revelation of interactions among CHPV proteins can help in gaining insight into viral architecture and pathogenesis. In the current study, we carried out comprehensive yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) analysis to elucidate intraviral protein-protein interactions. All of the interactions identified by Y2H were assessed for reliability by GST pull-down and ELISA. A total of eight interactions were identified among four viral proteins. Five of these interactions are being reported for the first time for CHPV. Among these, the glycoprotein (G)-nucleocapsid (N) interaction could be considered novel, as this has not been reported for any members of the family Rhabdoviridae. This study provides a framework within which the roles of the identified protein interactions can be explored further for understanding the biology of this virus at the molecular level.

Elucidating the Interacting Domains of Chandipura Virus Nucleocapsid Protein

The nucleocapsid (N) protein of Chandipura virus (CHPV) plays a crucial role in viral life cycle, besides being an important structural component of the virion through proper organization of its interactions with other viral proteins. In a recent study, the authors had mapped the associations among CHPV proteins and shown that N protein interacts with four of the viral proteins: N, phosphoprotein (P), matrix protein (M), and glycoprotein (G). The present study aimed to distinguish the regions of CHPV N protein responsible for its interactions with other viral proteins. In this direction, we have generated the structure of CHPV N protein by homology modeling using SWISS-MODEL workspace and Accelrys Discovery Studio client 2.55 and mapped the domains of N protein using PiSQRD. The interactions of N protein fragments with other proteins were determined by ZDOCK rigid-body docking method and validated by yeast two-hybrid and ELISA. The study revealed a unique binding site, comprising of amino acids 1–30 at the N terminus of the nucleocapsid protein (N1) that is instrumental in its interactions with N, P, M, and G proteins. It was also observed that N2 associates with N and G proteins while N3 interacts with N, P, and M proteins.

Reviewing host proteins of Rhabdoviridae: Possible leads for lesser studied viruses

Rhabdoviridae, characterized by bullet-shaped viruses, is known for its diverse host range, which includes plants, arthropods, fishes and humans. Understanding the viral–host interactions of this family can prove beneficial in developing effective therapeutic strategies. The host proteins interacting with animal rhabdoviruses have been reviewed in this report. Several important host proteins commonly interacting with animal rhabdoviruses are being reported, some of which, interestingly, have molecular features, which can serve as potential antiviral targets. This review not only provides the generalized importance of the functions of animal rhabdovirus-associated host proteins for the first time but also compares them among the two most studied viruses, i.e. Rabies virus (RV) and Vesicular Stomatitis virus (VSV). The comparative data can be used for studying emerging viruses such as Chandipura virus (CHPV) and the lesser studied viruses such as Piry virus (PIRYV) and Isfahan virus (ISFV) of the Rhabdoviridae family.

A generalized procedure for minimizing tool changeovers of two parallel and identical CNC machining centres

This paper considers the problems of scheduling N jobs of the same family. Each job is manufactured in a number of operations, in sequence, on two parallel and identical CNC machining centres which are equipped with automatic tool changers. A generalized procedure to minimize tool changeovers has been developed and tested on real industrial problems considering a set of possible constraints. The procedure suggested in this paper results in minimal changeovers. Validity of the heuristics suggested is borne out of the fact that when the same case study is considered as a travelling salesman problem and solved using the Hungarian method, an identical result is attained. The procedure is simple and easy to implement in a CNC environment.

CHIKVPRO - a protein sequence annotation database for chikungunya virus.

In the recent past, there has been a resurgence of interest in Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) attributed to massive outbreaks of Chikungunya fever in the South-East Asia Region. This has reflected in substantial increase in submission of CHIKV genome sequences to NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) database. Hereby we submit a database “CHIKVPRO” containing structural and functional annotation of Chikungunya virus proteins (25 strains) submitted in the NCBI repository. The CHIKV genome encodes for 9 proteins:4 non-structural and 5 structural. The CHIKVPRO database aims to provide the virology community with a single accession authoritative resource for CHIKV proteome- with reference to physiochemical and molecular properties, proteolytic cleavage sites, hydrophobicity, transmembrane prediction, and classification into functional families using SVMProt and other Expasy tools. Availability The database is freely available at http://www.chikvpro.info/

Minimizing tool changeovers in three parallel and identical CNC machining centres

This paper considers the problems of scheduling N jobs of the same family, each manufactured in a number of operations, in order, on three CNC machining centres which are equipped with automatic tool changers. A generalized procedure to minimize tool changeovers has been developed and tested on real industrial problems considering a set of possible constraints. The procedure suggested in this paper results in minimal changeovers. Validity of the heuristics suggested is borne out of the fact that when the same case-problem is considered as a Travelling Salesman problem and solved using Hungarian Method, identical result is attained. The procedure is simple and easy to implement in a CNC environment.