CENTRE FOR NANOBIOSCIENCE
|
Centre for Nanobioscience
(CNB) at Agharkar Research Institute was established in 2007
as a spin-off of the erstwhile ‘Metal-Microbe Interactions’ Group of the
Microbial Sciences Division. In an effort to seek an answer to a rather
unpretentious question ‘do metal-interacting microbes synthesize nanoparticles?’ the Group pioneered a new approach for
the synthesis of metal-based nanomaterials, viz.
‘Materials Science and Engineering through Microbiology’. Eventually concerted efforts were made to
develop a strong research program on Nanobioscience
in the Institute covering an entire gamut, from nanomaterials
synthesis and characterization to developing products and processes for the
improvement of human health, agriculture, environment etc. |
|
|
|
CNB’s
research contributions touch upon diverse areas of Nanobioscience.
Some of the salient achievements made so far are as follows: Development of eco-friendly methods of
synthesizing metal and semiconductor metal sulfide nanoparticles
using yeasts (Nanotechnol. 43:95, 2003; Adv. Mat.
14:815, 2002; Phys. Edu. 19:31, 2002; Indian Pat.
Nos. 202756, 202757, 205346); ordered assembly of nanoparticles
on bacterial surface layer protein templates (J. Nanosci.
Nanotechnol. 8:3565, 2008); and fabrication of a functional
electronic device, viz. a diode using microbially
synthesized semiconductor nanoparticles, for the
first time (Biotech. Bioeng. 78:583, 2002) has
paved a way for the development of a new field, viz. materials science
through microbiology. |
|
|
|
Our inventions on biostabilizing
submicronic particles (US Pat. No. 7514600;
Eurasian Pat. No. 010338; Chinese Pat. No. 200580014830.g; South African Pat.
No. 2006/08552; PCT/IN05/00153); design and fabrication of an apparatus for
separating nanoparticles (Indian Pat. No.206541)
and discovery that biostabilized silver nanoparticles possess potent antimicrobial activity and
are safe for human application (Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 236:310, 2009;
Toxicol. Lett. 179:93,
2008; Nanotoxicol. 2:S75, 2008) has resulted in the
development of a new drug formulation, viz. Nanocrystalline
silver gel for the treatment of burns and wounds. This first-of-its-kind
broad-spectrum topical antimicrobial gel formulation (Mol. Pharm. 6:1388, 2009; South African Pat. No.2006/08552;
PCT/IN05/00155; Ind. Pat. No. 1688/MUM/2006) fulfils a longstanding demand of
a drug for treating burns and wounds infected by pathogens not susceptible to
conventional antibiotics. Nanocrystalline silver
gel technology is licensed to a pharma industry and
has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) after
completing multi-centre clinical trials. The product was among the top six
contenders for the global Innovation Awards at the International Convention
of Pharmaceutical Ingredients (CPhI- 2008) held in
Frankfurt, Germany. It is expected to benefit millions of patients suffering
from burns, wounds, diabetic ulcers, bed sores etc. |
|
|
|
Our work on dextran /
protein-coated and cerium-doped lanthanum strontium- manganese oxide (LSMO) nanoparticles has identified these paramagnetic materials
as possible agents for treatment of cancer by targeted hyperthermia (Nanotechnol. 18: 345101, 2007; J. Biomed.
Nanotechnol. 3:178, 2007; Nanomed.
- Nanotechnol. Biol. Med. 2:217, 2006; Ind. Pat.
No. 330/MUM/2006 and 331/MUM/2006). Under Nano Cell
Biology work being carried out in collaboration with National Institute of
Cell Science, Pune and National Chemical
Laboratory, Pune it was shown that SMAR1 derived
P44 peptide retains its tumor suppressor function through modulation of p53
(J. Biol. Chem. 282:9902, 2007). The Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) study of SMAR1 revealed that it modulates
the roughness of cell surface and hence, it might be used as a phenotypic
differentiation marker between cancerous and non-cancerous cells (BMC Cancer
9:350, 2009). AFM was also used to analyze the phenomenon of flocculation in dimorphic yeast Benjaminiella poitrasi (Bioresource Technol, 101: 1393, 2010) and to get a visual evidence
for cholesterol deposition in preadipocytes
(3T3-L1 cells) differentiated in the absence and presence of insulin (Biochim Biophys Acta (General Subjects), 1790: 57, 2009). Our reports on catalytic degradation of a
recalcitrant chlorinated pesticide- lindane using
biopolymer-stabilized iron-sulfide nanoparticles (Sci. Technol. Adv. Mat. 6:370,
2005; Indian Pat. No. 1242/MUM/2006), reductive dechlorination
of lindane with Fe-Pd bimetallic nanoparticles (J. Haz. Mater,
175, 680, 2010); Fe-Ni
bimetallic nanoparticles
mediated degradation of synthetic azo dyes (Env. Sci. Technol.
41:7437, 2007; Appl. Catal.
B 79:270, 2008) and discovery that metal containing wastes can be bioconverted to value-added products,
viz. metal nanoparticles are important
contributions in environmental nanotechnology. µSpore® DNA preservation technology is
a biomimetic method for long-term preservation of
nucleic acids at room temperature in a structurally and functionally intact
form. It uses microcapsules of sporopollenin - a
structural biopolymer of plant pollen grains (PCT/IN2009/000641; Indian Pat.
No. 956/MUM/2008) for encapsulating nucleic acid samples. The application
areas for the technology cover forensic science, health care,
pharmaceuticals, medicine, military and basic research. It won the India Innovation Pioneers Challenge (IIPC) 2009 competition and
was showcased at Intel-University of |
|
|
|
Our studies on unraveling the nanoscience
in traditional Indian medicine led us to prove that gold nanoparticles
are effective in ameliorating the symptoms of mycobacterial-,
collagen- and pristine-induced arthritis in rat models (Gold Bull. 40:245,
2007). Further, gold nanoparticles can be a cost-effective
and safer substitute for gold bhasma preparations (Indian Pat. No. 551/MUM/2004). |
|
|
|
In
agricultural nanotechnology we have used environmentally benign nanomaterial-based enzyme formulations for biocontrol of plant pathogens and pests. Using this
method, control of plant pathogen Fusarium as well as cotton mealy bug, Pseudococcus gossypiphilous
has been demonstrated in laboratory experiments. CNB has active collaborations with a number of highly reputed
institutions and universities in Information for prospective
PhD students Students who have obtained Junior Research Fellowship of UGC-CSIR, DBT, ICAR, ICMR etc. are encouraged to apply for PhD studentship at CNB. They could be from any branch of Life Sciences, Pharmacy, Chemistry, Agriculture, and Medicine. |