Category Archives: Biopharma

Immune Modulation using Synthetic Signaling Circuit

Posted on March 8, 2016

Efficient immune signalling response against pathogens is crucial for resolving infections. However, many pathogens thrive by evolving strategies to evade the host immune response. Scientists at NCCS are exploring ways to rewire immune signaling pathways or networks by using synthetic signaling circuits. Continue reading →

Posted in Biopharma, Computational Biology, Immunology, Microbial Biology

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Synthetic Biology Approach for Resolving Diseases

Posted on March 8, 2016

Scientists at NCCS are tapping into synthetic biology techniques for understanding the dynamics of infectious diseases like Leishmaniasis and designing simple to complex synthetic circuits made of biological building blocks (bio bricks), which can be used to reprogram various pathways inside a variety of cells involved in the pathogenesis. Continue reading →

Posted in Biopharma, Computational Biology, Immunology, Microbial Biology

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Biomarkers for Breast Cancer using Proteomics and Metabolomics

Posted on March 5, 2016

Scientists at NCCS are identifying potential biomarkers for breast cancer subtypes using multipronged proteomic and metabolomic approaches. They are analyzing various protein and metabolite changes that occur in the diseased state by comparing tissue, serum and urine samples from breast cancer patients to that of samples collected from normal subjects. Continue reading →

Posted in Biopharma, Cancer Biology, Diagnostics

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Enhancing Tolerance of Immune System towards Transplants

Posted on March 3, 2016

Scientists at NCCS are exploring mechanisms for enhancing immune tolerance for the purpose of increasing acceptance of transplants by the body. In particular, they are studying the role of gamma-delta (γδ) T cells in increasing immune tolerance. Continue reading →

Posted in Biopharma, Immunology

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Interfering with Immune Cell Mobilization in Autoimmune Conditions

Posted on March 3, 2016

How do immune cells overcome the brain defence causing multiple sclerosis? What triggers mobilization of immune cells from the secondary immune organs in inflammatory bowel disease? In order to find answers to the occurrences in these autoimmune conditions, scientists at NCCS are studying the mechanism of cell signaling at the site of inflammation and subsequent immune cell mobilization. Continue reading →

Posted in Biopharma, Immunology

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Novel Triterpenoid AECHL-1 for Breast Cancer Chemotherapy

Posted on February 23, 2016

In a quest to find therapeutic molecules having high specificity for cancerous cells and fewer side effects than existing chemotherapeutic agents, scientists at NCCS have identified and isolated a novel triterpenoid AECHL-1. This molecule is currently being developed as a chemotherapeutic agent for breast cancer. Continue reading →

Posted in Biopharma, Cancer Biology

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Endocytosis in deciding fate of Embryonic Stem Cells

Posted on January 12, 2016

Scientists at NCCS are investigating the role of endocytosis and vesicular transport in deciding the future state of an undifferentiated embryonic stem cell. Using experimental techniques like large scale siRNA screening, reprogramming assays and biophysical manipulation of mouse embryos, they are studying how modifications to cellular or vesicular transport determines whether an embryonic stem cell maintains pluripotency or differentiates into a specific cell type. Continue reading →

Posted in Biopharma, Cell Biology, Cell Therapy, Stem Cells

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Tapping into Pluripotent Differentiation Potentials of Embryonic Stem Cells

Posted on January 9, 2016

Using the pluripotent embryonic stem cells as a model system, scientists at NCCS are investigating the epigenetic factors and molecular determinants which are involved in deciding and controlling differentiation of stem cells into specific cellular lineages. Continue reading →

Posted in Biopharma, Cell Therapy, Genetics, In-vitro Platform, Regenerative medicine, Stem Cells

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An Elegant Model for Studying Early Embryonic Development

Posted on January 9, 2016

Scientists at NCCS are studying the early embryonic development using embryonic stem cells derived from the blastula stage embryo. These embryonic stem cells possess unique characteristics of indefinite self renewal and pluripotency; and are capable of precisely recapitulating the early embryogenic development, thereby serving as an elegant model for studying the developmental events occurring during embryogenesis. Continue reading →

Posted in Biopharma, Cell Therapy, Genetics, In-vitro Platform, Stem Cells

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Structure Function Analysis of Proteins in M. tuberculosis

Posted on January 5, 2016

Exploiting the state-of-art technology for increasing the knowledge base on micro organisms, scientists at NCCS are studying the structure and functional correlation of proteins derived from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Using crystallography and in-silico methods, they are analyzing the heat shock responses mediated by proteins such as GroEL chaperonin, oxidative stress induced redox reactions and enzymatic reaction mediated electron transport mechanisms in the cell. Continue reading →

Posted in Biopharma, Microbial Biology

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Computational Method for Mapping Protein Interactions

Posted on January 5, 2016

In order to assimilate large data sets generated by high throughput experiments, scientists at NCCS have developed a novel algorithm solving an NP (non-deterministic polynomial) hard problem and have used it effectively for mapping potential protein interactions. This computational approach can be used for studying organisms at systems level by integrating high throughput differential expression data and information on regulatory networks. Continue reading →

Posted in Biopharma, Computational Biology

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Self-propagating Glioblastoma Model in a Petri-dish

Posted on November 3, 2015

Scientists at NCCS have developed a novel tumor cell co-culture protocol and system for understanding the role of glioma stem cells (GSC) in mediating tumor functions in Glioblastoma (GBM). GBM is a highly invasive malignant tumor with high incidence of therapy resistance and tumor relapse after surgery. This relapse is due to repopulation of tumor by GSCs and is characterized by existence of GSCs in close proximity with endothelial cells (EC). In order to study the GSC-EC interactions, this innovative self-propagating GSC-EC co-culture system was developed as a highly replicating in-vitro model of GBM. Continue reading →

Posted in Biopharma, Cancer Biology, In-vitro Platform, Stem Cells

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Dendritic Cells for Cancer Immunotherapy

Posted on October 27, 2015

Scientists at NCCS have developed a novel two-step method for large-scale generation of mature, functional Dendritic Cells (DC) from Umbilical cord blood (UCB). This technology will aid in development of dendritic cell based vaccines for cancer immunotherapy. Continue reading →

Posted in Biopharma, Cell Therapy, Stem Cells

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Glut-4 Activity based Anti-Diabetic Drug Screening System

Posted on October 14, 2015

Scientists at NCCS have developed an in-vitro anti-diabetic drug screening system based on glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) activity in a novel cell line (CHO-HIRc-mycGLUT4eGFP). Using this system, GLUT4 translocation under stimulation can be visualized by live cell imaging and captured real-time for qualitative and quantitative analysis of GLUT4 on the cell membrane. Continue reading →

Posted in Biopharma, In-vitro Platform, Metabolic Diseases

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Platform for Identifying Heterogeneity of Cancer Cells

Posted on October 14, 2015

Cancer cells remaining undetected in the body following treatment regimens can cause recurrence. Recent studies suggest that this debilitating issue could be a result of heterogeneous characteristics of cancer cells; thus residual cells are likely to be drug resistant and/or not targeted by the initial treatment. Scientists at NCCS believe that identifying the heterogeneity of the cancer cells and providing a targeted therapy specific for different cell fractions can resolve this issue. Continue reading →

Posted in Biopharma, Cancer Biology, In-vitro Platform, Stem Cells

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Novel Cancer Drug Screening Platform

Posted on October 13, 2015

Scientists at NCCS have developed a novel platform for screening of potential anti-tumor agents, compounds and extracts, based on 3-dimensional Multi-Cellular Spheroids derived from tumor cells and prostate apoptosis response (PAR)-4 indicator that is linked to cell death. Continue reading →

Posted in Biopharma, Cancer Biology, In-vitro Platform, Stem Cells

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In-vitro Bone Marrow Niche Platform and Pre-clinical Screening Kit

Posted on October 3, 2015

An artificial bone marrow microenvironment (ABME) platform for enhancing and regulating in-vitro as well as in vivo formation of stem cells has been created by scientist at NCCS, Pune. This technology can be incorporated into high throughput and micro-fluidic devices for drug screening and in-vitro toxicology testing. Continue reading →

Posted in Biopharma, Cell Therapy, In-vitro Platform, Regenerative medicine, Stem Cells, Umbilical Cord Blood Banking

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An Overview of NCCS Capabilities

Posted on September 19, 2015
Capability Area NCCS Scientists/ Consultants
Cancer Biology Dr. Sharmila Bapat, Dr. Padma Shastry, Dr. Anjali Shiras, Dr. Mohan Wani, Dr. Gopal Kundu, Dr. Samit Chattopadhyay, Dr. Manoj Kumar Bhat, Dr. Sandhya Sitaswad, Dr. Girdhari Lal, Dr. Srikanth Rapole, Dr. Manas Santra
Cell Biology Dr. Shekhar Mande, Dr. Mohan Wani, Dr. Debashis Mitra, Dr. Prakash Deshpande, Dr. Jomon Joseph,  Dr. Bhaskar Saha, Dr. Milind Patole, Dr. Arvind Sahu, Dr. M. V. Krishnasastry, Dr. Vasudevan Seshadri, Dr. Radha Chauhan, Dr. Janesh Kumar, Dr. Girdhari Lal, Dr. Shailza Singh, Dr. Deepa Subramanyam
Genetics Dr. Sharmila Bapat, Dr. Anjali Shiras, Dr. Samit Chattopadhyay, Dr. Jomon Joseph, Dr. Vasudevan Seshadri, Dr. Manas Santra, Dr. Vidisha Tripathi
Immunology  Dr. Mohan Wani, Dr. Bhaskar Saha, Dr. Arvind Sahu, Dr. Girdhari Lal, Dr. Shailza Singh
Metabolic Diseases Dr. Manoj Kumar Bhat, Dr. Sandhya Sitaswad
Microbial Biology Dr. Milind Patole, Dr. Yogesh Shouche, Dr. Shailza Singh
Neuroscience Dr. Amitabha Majumdar, Dr. Janesh Kumar
Stem Cells Dr. Vaijayanti Kale, Dr. Lalita Limaye, Dr. Anjali Shiras, Dr. Nibedita Lenka, Dr. Deepa Subramanyam

Posted in Biopharma, Cancer Biology, Cell Biology, Cell Therapy, Diagnostics, Genetics, Immunology, In-vitro Platform, Medical Device, Metabolic Diseases, Microbial Biology, Neuroscience, Nutraceutical, Regenerative medicine, Stem Cells, Umbilical Cord Blood Banking

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