Molecular biology of protein biosynthesis.

Protein translation is an important step in the life cycle of cells where genetic information is converted into functional protein information. Protein biosynthesis is a sophisticate multistep, multifactorial process and consumes 30-50% of cellular energy. It was thought that all the problems in protein biosynthesis had been addressed in 1970s. However, the emergence of new technologies, refinement in ribosome structure by cryo-EM and X-ray methods and discoveries of new translation factors and their structures are contributing to new understanding of the fundamentals of the information decoding pathway. The discoveries of IRES in pathogenic viral protein synthesis, the presence of translation control element at the 5' or 3' UTR of mRNA, miRNA, siRNA and P-bodies which controls the dynamics of protein expression have given new dimensions to this field. Protein biosynthesis is now-a-days increasingly linked to inherited diseases, cancer, diabetes, obesity, embryonic development, learning and memory formation. Numerous antibiotics and toxins are known to target the translation apparatus. In order to translate the knowledge acquired into "translational research" we need an in-depth understanding of mechanism of protein biosynthesis.

My research interest is to understand the regulation and mechanism of open reading frame selection in yeast model using range of genetic, biochemical and biophysical techniques.

Phone (O) : -, (M) :
e-mail : pankaj [at] niser [dot] ac [dot] in
Personal Homepage