Madhuparna Bose

A simplistic approach to green future with eco-friendly luminescent carbon dots and their application to fluorescent nano-sensor ‘turn-off’ probe for selective sensing of copper ions

Zero-dimensional fluorescent nanoparticles having specificity as molecular probe appears to be strategically balanced fluorescent nano-probes. In this work, purified lemon extract and l-arginine have been thermally coupled for the extremely acute detection of Cu2+ in aqueous medium. The Cu2+ ions may be captured by the amino groups on the surface of the nano-sensor to form cupric ammine complex resulting in quenched fluorescence via an inner filter effect. Our proposed nano-probe is N-doped carbon dots (NCDs) which are efficiently selective as fluorescent chemosensor due to enormous binding affinity towards Cu2+ in a wide range of concentration (0.05-300μM) within a few minutes.

Green approach to photoluminescent carbon dots for imaging of gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli

Fluorescent carbon dots, zero-dimensional nanomaterials with surface ligands, have been studied extensively over the past few years in biolabelling or fluorescence-based live cell assays. In the past, synthetic organic dyes have been used as cell tracking materials, but they have severe limitations; fluorescent carbon dots may pave the way to biolabelling and cell imaging. In this work, green fluorescent carbon dots have been synthesized from a green source, gram, without any sort of covalent or ionic modifications. These gram-derived carbon dots are unique with respect to synthetic commercial cell-tracking dyes as they are non-toxic, cell internalization occurs quickly, and they have excellent bioconjugation with bacterial cells. Our aim is to establish these carbon dots in a biolabelling assay with its other physicochemical features like the tunable luminescence property, high degree of water solubility and low toxicity, towards various environments (wide range of pH, high ionic strength). Our study introduces a new perspective on the commercialization of carbon dots as a potential alternative to synthetic organic dyes for fluorescence-based cell-labelling assays.

Complete catalytic cycle of cofactor-independent phosphoglycerate mutase involves a spring-loaded mechanism

Cofactor‐independent phosphoglycerate mutase (iPGM), an important enzyme in glycolysis and gluconeogenesis, catalyses the isomerization of 2‐ and 3‐phosphoglycerates by an Mn2+‐dependent phospho‐transfer mechanism via a phospho‐enzyme intermediate. Crystal structures of bi‐domain iPGM from Staphylococcus aureus, together with substrate‐bound forms, have revealed a new conformation of the enzyme, representing an intermediate state of domain movement. The substrate‐binding site and the catalytic site are present in two distinct domains in the intermediate form. X–ray crystallography complemented by simulated dynamics has enabled delineation of the complete catalytic cycle, which includes binding of the substrate, followed by its positioning into the catalytic site, phospho‐transfer and finally product release. The present work describes a novel mechanism of domain movement controlled by a hydrophobic patch that is exposed on domain closure and acts like a spring to keep the protein in open conformation. Domain closing occurs after substrate binding, and is essential for phospho‐transfer, whereas the open conformation is a prerequisite for efficient substrate binding and product dissociation. A new model of catalysis has been proposed by correlating the hinge‐bending motion with the phospho‐transfer mechanism.

Zinc and nitrogen ornamented bluish white luminescent carbon dots for engrossing bacteriostatic activity and Fenton based bio-sensor

Carbon dots with heteroatom co-doping associated with consummate luminescence features are of acute interest in diverse applications such as biomolecule markers, chemical sensing, photovoltaic, and trace element detection. Herein, we demonstrate a straightforward, highly efficient hydrothermal dehydration technique to synthesize zinc and nitrogen co-doped multifunctional carbon dots (N, Zn-CDs) with superior quantum yield (50.8%). The luminescence property of the carbon dots can be tuned by regulating precursor ratio and surface oxidation states in the carbon dots. A unique attribution of the as-prepared carbon dots is the high monodispersity and robust excitation-independent emission behavior that is stable in enormously reactive environment and over a wide range of pH. These N, Zn-CDs unveils captivating bacteriostatic activity against gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli. Furthermore, the excellent luminescence properties of these carbon dots were applied as a platform of sensitive biosensor for the detection of hydrogen peroxide. Under optimized conditions, these N, Zn-CDs reveals high sensitivity over a broad range of concentrations with an ultra-low limit of detection (LOD) indicating their pronounced prospective as a fluorescent probe for chemical sensing. Overall, the experimental outcomes propose that these zero-dimensional nano-dots could be developed as bacteriostatic agents to control and prevent the persistence and spreading of bacterial infections and as a fluorescent probe for hydrogen peroxide detection.

Expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction studies of phosphoglycerate mutase from Staphylococcus aureus NCTC8325.

Phosphoglycerate mutase (PGM) is a key enzyme in carbohydrate metabolism. It takes part in both glycolysis and gluconeogenesis. PGM from pathogenic Staphylococcus aureus (NCTC8325) was cloned in pQE30 expression vector overexpressed in Escherichia coli M15 (pREP4) cells and purified to homogeneity. The protein was crystallized from two different conditions, (i) 0.1 M HEPES pH 7.5, 20%(w/v) polyethylene glycol 10,000 and (ii) 0.2 M NaCl, 0.1 M bis-tris pH 6.5, 25%(w/v) polyethylene glycol 3350, at 25°C by the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method. Crystals grown at pH 7.5 diffracted to 2.5 Å resolution and belonged to the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2, with unit-cell parameters a = 77.0, b = 86.11, c = 94.07 Å. Crystals from the second condition at pH 6.5 diffracted to 2.00 Å resolution. These crystals belonged to the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 73.21, b = 81.75, c = 89.18 Å. X-ray diffraction data have been collected and processed to the maximum resolution to determine the structure of PGM. The structure has been solved by molecular replacement and structure refinement is now in progress.

Reconstitution of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase activity of Antheraea mylitta cypovirus in vitro using separately expressed different functional domains of the enzyme.

Antheraea mylitta cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus is a segmented dsRNA virus of the family Reoviridae. Segment 2 (S2)-encoded RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) helps the virus to propagate its genome in the host cell of the silkworm, Antheraea mylitta. Cloning, expression, purification and functional analysis of individual domains of RdRp have demonstrated that the purified domains interact in vitro. The central polymerase domain (PD) shows nucleotide binding properties, but neither the N-terminal domain (NTD) nor the C-terminal domain (CTD). Isolated PD does not exhibit RdRp activity but this activity can be reconstituted when all three domains are included in the reaction mixture. Molecular dynamics simulation suggests that the isolated PD has increased internal motions in comparison to when it is associated with the NTD and CTD. The motions of the separated PD may lead to the formation of a less accessible RNA template-binding channel and, thus, impair RdRp activity.

Molecular insights into RNA-binding properties of Escherichia coli–expressed RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of Antheraea mylitta cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus

Antheraea mylitta cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus (AmCPV) is responsible for morbidity of the Indian non-mulberry silkworm, A. mylitta. AmCPV belongs to the family Reoviridae and has 11 double-stranded (ds) RNA genome segments (S1-S11). Segment 2 (S2) encodes a 123-kDa polypeptide with RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) activity. To examine the RNA-binding properties of the viral polymerase, the full-length RdRp and its three domains (N-terminal, polymerase and C-terminal domains) were expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) cells with hexahistidine and trigger factor tag fused consecutively at its amino terminus, and the soluble fusion proteins were purified. The purified full-length polymerase specifically bound to the 3′ untranslated region (3′-UTR) of a viral plus-sense (+) strand RNA with strong affinity regardless of the salt concentrations, but the isolated polymerase domain of the enzyme exhibited poor RNA-binding ability. Further, the RdRp recognition signals were found to be different from the cis-acting signals that promote minus-sense (-) strand RNA synthesis, because different internal regions of the 3′-UTR of the (+) strand RNA did not effectively compete out the binding of RdRp to the intact 3′-UTR of the (+) strand RNA, but all of these RNA molecules could serve as templates for (-) strand RNA synthesis by the polymerase.