About me:
I was born in Orissa state of India. After my schooling I did my BS at Govt. College
Angul in Orissa in Biology and later obtained Masters Degree in Life Sciences from
Sambalpur University. By that time I was quite involved into research activities and later
ended up at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, where I worked for my
doctoral degree in Biophysical Chemistry in the laboratory of Dr. N. Kishore. My PhD
work was on protein folding, protein solvent interaction, protein aggregation betaamyloid fibril formation. Now I am working as a postdoctoral fellow at Dept. of
Biochemistry (UMDNJ/RWJMS) in Dr. Barbara Brodsky’s laboratory.
I love music and graphic designing. My hobbies include playing guitar, graphic designing
and cartoon drawing. My parents, two elder brothers and some very special friends are
the secret of my strength. I believe in God and hard work.
My research Interest:
The research work deals with the effect of multiple charged residues on collagen stability.
How the charged amino acids interact with each other in the triple helix? How these inter
chain interaction is governing the overall stability of the triple helix and their correlation
with the three dimensional structure and biological function? Clear answers to the above
questions are still not completely understood. The present work aims to find out some
insights into it by a combinations of calorimetric and spectroscopic techniques.
Curriculum Vitae
KARUNAKAR KAR
PERSONAL DETAILS:
Nationality: Indian
Date of Birth: 16th May 1974
Marital status : Unmarried
Language: English, Hindi, and Oriya
EDUCATION AND RESEARCH EXPERIENCE:
(2001-2004) Ph.D. In Biophysical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry Indian Institute
of Technology, Bombay, Mumbai, India Supervisor: Prof. Nand Kishore
Thesis: "Biophysical studies of interactions of some ions and cosolutes/cosolvents
with proteins "
(1999-2001) Worked as Junior Research Fellow on the project entitled "Protein
Folding and Protein Solvent Interaction" in Department of Chemistry,
I I T Bombay with Prof. Nand Kishore.
(1995-1997) M. Sc. In Life Sciences (3rd rank in University), School of Life
Sciences, Sambalpur University, Orissa, India
(1991-1994) B. Sc. In Chemistry, Biology (major), Govt. College Angul ,
Utkal Univerisity, Orissa, India.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK DONE AT I. I. T. BOMBAY:
The objective of the work was to study the interaction of some ions, amino acids,
nucleosides and nucleotides with proteins and their effect on thermal stability, thermal
unfolding, conformation, activity, aggregation and -amyloid formation of proteins using
a combination of calorimetric and spectroscopic techniques. Thermal denaturation of chymotrypsin in the absence and presence of calcium chloride at various pH values has
been studied. Role of 4-hydoxyproline as a cosolute on thermal stability of proteins, i. e.,
hen egg lysozyme, -lactalbumin, myoglobin and Bovine Serum Albumin has been
studied. Effect of 4-hydroxyproline on conformation of lysozyme and -lactalbumin was
carried out using fluorescence and CD spectroscopy. Correlation between the
enhancement of thermal stability and biological activity by 4-hydroxyproline was
investigated taking hen egg lysozyme as a model protein. Preventive effect of 4hydroxyproline on lysozyme aggregation and -amyloid fibril formation was also
investigated using spectroscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy studies. The
effect of 4-hydroxyproline on protein stability, activity and conformation was compared
with that of L-proline, which is a naturally occurring potent osmolyte. An attempt has
been made to correlate the physicochemical properties (surface tension, apparent molar
volume and heat capacity) of aqueous amino acids with its effect on protein stabilization.
Interactions of some selected nucleosides (uridine, cytidine, thymidine) and nucleotides
(uridine 5'-monophosphate, adenosine 5'-monophosphate, cytidine 5'-monophosphate)
with lysozyme and -lactalbumin at pH 2.4 and 7.0 respectively have also been studied.
Effect of studied nucleosides and nucleotides on thermal stability was correlated with the
effect on catalytic activity of lysozyme.
SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENTS / HONORS:
1. Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering.(GATE) qualified in 2000
(with 96.46 percentile, All India Rank 52), conducted by Indian
Institute of Technology.
2. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Awards (CSIR) (New
Delhi, India) qualified in 2000.
3. Teaching Assistantship (2001-onwards) Awarded by Indian Institute
of Technology, Bombay, India.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE:
1 Teaching Assistantship in Dept. of Chemistry, IIT-Bombay (20022003), Teaching Physical Chemistry to B. Tech 1st year students.
2. Lab instructor in Department of Chemistry, IIT Bombay (2003-present)
in lab-tech courses for B.Tech 1st year students.
RESEARCH INTEREST:
Protein stability and protein folding, Protein Aggregation and amyloid fibril formation and DNA-protein interaction .
PROFICIENCY AND SKILLS:
Instruments:
Micro Differential Scanning Calorimeter (SETARAM, France),
Circular Dichroism (Jasco-810),
Fluorescence spectrometer (Perkin-Elmer LS-55)
UV-Visible Spectrohotometer ( Jasco-V570).
Density meter (Kyoto DA-210)
Transmission Electron Microscope (Technai G2 12 ,120 kV.).
Data Analysis:
Analysis of DSC, CD, Fluorescece and UV-Vis spectroscopic data
Computer Skill:
Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP, Linux, HTML, DHTML,
Software Skill: JASC-Paint-shop-pro 6 and 7, JASC-Anim3, Flash 4,5,6
and MX, Dream Weaver, Adobe photoshop etc.
PUBLICATIONS:
1) "Thermodynamics of the interactions calcium chloride with-chymotrypsin,"
Kar. K, Alex, B., and Kishore, N., (2002) J. Chem. Thermodynamics, 34, 319-336
2) "Partial molar heat capacity and volume of aqueous 4-hydroxyproline as a function
of temperature" Kar, K. and Kishore, N. submitted to J. Chem. Thermodynamics
3) "Exceptional thermal stabilization of proteins by 4-hydroxyproline as cosolute
and its effect on their conformation, activity, aggregation and -amyloid fibril
formation" Kar, K., Kishore, N. ( Submitted to Protein Science)
4) "Thermodynamics of the interaction of some nucleotides and nucleosides with
hew lysozyme and -lactalbumin: A Calorimetric Study"( Submitted to Biophysical
Chemistry)
CONFERENCES:
1) "Thermodynamics of interactions of calcium chloride and manganese chloride
with -chymotrypsin" at National Conference on Recent Advances in
Thermodynamics of Chemical and Biological Systems, held at Guru Nanak
Dev University Amritsar, India, (May 7-9, 2001).
2) "Thermodynamics of interactions of calcium chloride with -chymotrypsin" at The
First Indian Symposium of the Protein Society- Protein Structure and Function,
held at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India
(October 18-20, 2002)