Ravinder Kumar

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center · Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

In yeast, the selective autophagy of intracellular lipid droplets (LDs) or lipophagy can be induced by either nitrogen (N) starvation or carbon limitation (e.g. in the stationary (S) phase). We developed the yeast, Komagataella phaffii (formerly Pichia pastoris), as a new lipophagy model and compared the N-starvation and S-phase lipophagy in over 3...

Virus-like particles (VLPs) are empty, nanoscale structures morphologically resembling viruses. Internal cavity, noninfectious, and particulate nature with a high density of repeating epitopes, make them an ideal platform for vaccine development and drug delivery. Commercial use of Gardasil-9 and Cervarix showed the usefulness of VLPs in vaccine fo...

Please find below our response or reply to the author's letter to the editor for our recently published review article "Thermostable vaccines: an innovative concept in vaccine development" in expert reviews of vaccines.

Introduction: Vaccines represent one of the most common and safer ways of combating infectious diseases. Loss of potency owing to thermal denaturation or degradation of almost all the commercially available vaccines necessitates their storage, transportation, and final dissemination under refrigerated or deep-freeze conditions. However, maintenanc...

Background Environmental chemical exposures are likely making important contributions to current levels of infertility and its increasing incidence. Yet the US produces high volumes of industrial chemicals for which there is limited data on their potential human reproduction toxicity. Current assays typically used in policy and regulatory settings...

Recently, we developed Komagataella phaffii (formerly Pichia pastoris) as a model for lipophagy, the selective autophagy of lipid droplets (LDs). We found that lipophagy pathways induced by acute nitrogen (N) starvation and in stationary (S) phase have different molecular mechanisms. Moreover, both types of lipophagy are independent of Atg11, the s...

Recently, we developed Komagataella phaffii (formerly Pichia pastoris) as a model for lipophagy, the selective autophagy of lipid droplets (LDs). We found that lipophagy pathways induced by acute nitrogen (N) starvation and in stationary (S) phase have different molecular mechanisms. Moreover, both types of lipophagy are independent of Atg11, the s...

Although once perceived as inert structures that merely serve for lipid storage, lipid droplets (LDs) have proven to be the dynamic organelles that hold many cellular functions. The LDs’ basic structure of a hydrophobic core consisting of neutral lipids and enclosed in a phospholipid monolayer allows for quick lipid accessibility for intracellular...

Proper and timely segregation of the cellular genome is a prime requirement of all cell division programs. Mis-segregation of chromosomes and the resulting aneuploidy lead to several clinical consequences. Over the years, shugoshin has emerged as a key protein factor involved in the segregation of genetic material in dividing cells. Deletion or an...

Thermolabile nature of commercially available vaccines necessitates their storage, transportation, and dissemination under refrigerated condition. Maintenance of continuous cold chain at every step increases the final cost of vaccines. Any breach in the cold chain even for a short duration results in the need to discard the vaccines. As a result, t...

Proper and timely segregation of cellular genome is an important and a prime requirement of all cell division programmes. Mis-segregation of chromosomes and resulting aneuploidy leads to several clinical consequences. Over the years, shugoshin emerges as a key protein factor involved in the segregation of genetic material in dividing cells. Deletio...

In yeast, the selective autophagy of intracellular lipid droplets (LDs) or lipophagy can be induced by either nitrogen (N) starvation or carbon limitation (e.g., in the stationary (S) phase). We developed the yeast, Komagataella phaffii (formerly Pichia pastoris), as a new lipophagy model and compared the N-starvation and S-phase lipophagy in over...

During the last couple of decades, the methylotrophic yeast, Pichia pastoris has emerged as an important yeast species owing to its increasing importance both in industry and in basic research. The presently available methods for P. pastoris transformation necessitate the preparation of competent cells which requires lots of resource, space, time a...

In presently licensed vaccines, killed or attenuated organisms act as a source of immunogens except for peptide-based vaccines. These conventional vaccines required a mass culture of associated or related organisms and long incubation periods. Special requirements during storage and transportation further adds to the cost of vaccine preparations. A...

Even today vaccine(s) remains a mainstay in combating infectious diseases. Many yeast-based vaccines are currently in different phases of clinical trials. Despite the encouraging results of whole recombinant yeast (WRY) and yeast display (YD), the systematic study assessing the long-term stability of protein antigen(s) in yeast cells is still missi...

Over the last couple of decades, methylotrophic yeast, Pichia pastoris emerges as an important yeast species owing to its increasing application in industry and basic biological research. Transformation of Pichia pastoris cells for the introduction of the gene of interest is common practice for expression and purification of a heterologous protein(...

14-3-3 is a family of relatively low molecular weight, acidic, dimeric proteins, conserved from yeast to metazoans including humans. Apart from their role in diverse cellular processes, these proteins are also known for their role in several clinical implications. Present proteomic and biochemical comparison showed increased abundance and different...

14-3-3s are a group of relatively low molecular weight, acidic, dimeric, protein(s) conserved from single-celled yeast to multicellular vertebrates including humans. Despite lacking catalytic activity, these proteins have been shown to be involved in multiple cellular processes. Apart from their role in normal cellular physiology, recently these pr...

Proper and timely segregation of genetic endowment is necessary for survival and perpetuation of every species. Mis-segregation of chromosomes and resulting aneuploidy leads to genetic instability, which can jeopardize the survival of an individual or population as a whole. Abnormality with segregation of genetic contents has been associated with s...

Most of the microbial cells on earth under natural conditions exist in a dormant condition, commonly known as quiescent state. Quiescent cells exhibit low rates of transcription and translation suggesting that cellular abundance of proteins may be similar in quiescent cells. Therefore, this study aim to compare the proteome of budding yeast cells f...

The success of a proteomic experiment largely depends on the quality and quantity of the protein extract. Currently, various protocols are available for extraction of proteins from different types of samples; however, further optimization is required for every new sample type. Hence, a common protein extraction protocol is desirable. In the present...

Faithful segregation of chromosomes during mitosis and meiosis is the cornerstone process of life. Cohesin, a multi-protein complex conserved from yeast to human, plays a crucial role in this process by keeping the sister chromatids together from S-phase to anaphase onset during mitosis and meiosis. Technological advancements have discovered myriad...

Faithful segregation of chromosomes during mitosis and meiosis is the cornerstone process of life. Cohesin, a multi-protein complex conserved from yeast to human, plays a crucial role in this process by keeping the sister chromatids together from S-phase to anaphase onset during mitosis and meiosis. Technological advancements have discovered myriad...