Optimised copper nanoclusters for bio imaging applications

Research SRMAP

Inspite of being a plentiful and inexpensive metal, the use of copper nanoclusters is limited in bio-medical research because of their toxicity and low stability due to its easily oxidizable nature. It also has a low quantum yield. The interdisciplinary publication of the researchers at SRM University-AP successfully addressed these constraints, resulting in strong fluorescence, superior colloidal stability, and non-toxicity of copper nanoclusters for bio imaging applications. The research was a collective work of Dr Manjunatha Thondamal from the Department of Biological Sciences, Dr Mahesh Kumar Ravva and Dr Sabyasachi Chakrabortty from the Department of Chemistry along with their PhD scholars; Mr Kumar Babu Busi, Ms Kotha Jyothi, Ms Sheik Haseena, Ms Shamili Bandaru and Ms Jyothi Priyanka Ghantasala.

The article titled ‘“Engineering colloidally stable, highly fluorescent and nontoxic Cu nanoclusters via reaction parameter optimization” was featured in the prestigious Q1 journal RSC Advances (IF: 4.036), published by the ‘Royal Society of Chemistry’. They successfully prepared the protein stabilised copper nanoclusters inside the aqueous medium with exceptional optical properties. To the best of their knowledge, the reported colloidal stability and quantum yield of their as-synthesized Cu NCs are the highest reported in the literature, where the emission wavelength is in the red region. Also, optimised copper nanoclusters showed excellent biocompatibility towards solid cancer cell lines and C. elegans as in vitro and in vivo environments. Thus, these red colour luminescent copper nanoclusters were becoming a suitable fluorescent probe for deep tissue penetration, photodynamic, photothermal and diagnostic applications.

Abstract of the Research

Metal Nanoclusters (NCs) composed of the least number of atoms (few to tens) became very attractive for their emerging properties owing to their ultrasmall size. Preparing copper nanoclusters (Cu NCs) in an aqueous medium with high emission properties, strong colloidal stability, and low toxicity has been a long-standing challenge. Although they are earth-abundant and inexpensive, they are comparatively less explored due to their limitations such as ease of surface oxidation, poor colloidal stability, and high toxicity. To overcome these constraints, we established a facile synthetic route by optimizing the reaction parameters, especially altering the effective concentration of the reducing agent to influence their optical characteristics. The improvement of photoluminescence intensity and superior colloidal stability was modelled from a theoretical standpoint. Moreover, the as-synthesized Cu NCs showed a significant reduction of toxicity in both in vitro and in vivo models. The possibilities of using such Cu NCs as a diagnostic probe towards C. elegans were explored. Also, the extension of this approach towards improving the photoluminescence intensity of the Cu NCs on other ligand systems was demonstrated.

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Dr Anil K Suresh and team exploring novel domains of research at SRM AP!

Dr Anil K Suresh

SRM AP proudly congratulates Dr Anil K Suresh, Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences and his cohort of research scholars for their rare achievement of having their paper featured in the prestigious weekly news magazine Chemical and Engineering News (ACS-C&EN). The news article titled “This catalyst is a Golden Egg“, edited by Prachi Patel highlights the innovative research conducted by Dr Anil K Suresh and his team on developing a low-cost, sustainable catalyst by infusing eggshells with gold nanoparticles that can be reused and eventually recycled.

The research paper titled Sustainable Bio-Engineering of Gold structured Wide-Area Supported Catalyst for Hand-Recyclable Ultra-Efficient Heterogeneous Catalysis (ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2022, DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c13564) highlights the team’s breakthrough advance in impregnating eggshells with gold nanoparticles to develop a cheap, and reusable ‘mega catalyst’. The research has used the robust “mega catalyst” to detoxify dye waste and run other organic reactions by dropping the eggshell catalyst into reaction solutions.

Dr Suresh and colleagues dipped waste eggshells collected from restaurants in a suspension containing gold chloride for 6 hours. Consequently, the amino acids on the shells reduced the gold ions to form crystalline gold nanoparticles. Dr Suresh attested this method to be one of the simplest syntheses of a supported catalyst that was ever reported. He emphasised that he and his colleagues have also grafted catalytic silver and copper oxide on eggshells and are now working on methods to do this for platinum and palladium.

SRM University-AP manifests pioneering advancement in innovative domains of research in the field of science and technology. The breakthrough research by Dr Anil K Suresh and his research team is of outstanding achievement and incredible addition to the institution’s laurels in the field of translational research.

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Symposium on Cell and Molecular Biology (SCMB-2023)

symposium-biology

Cell and molecular biology is a vast field that encompasses many different areas of research, from genetics to immunology, from biochemistry to the study of single-cell sequencing. In order to emphasise the on-going research in cell and molecular biology, The Department of Biological Sciences organised a two-day Symposium on Cell and Molecular biology (SCMB-2023) from February 16 to 17, 2023, at SRM University-AP. The symposium consisted of insightful talks by eminent speakers from different parts of India and abroad, including the Hebrew University (Israel), Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (Israel), Biological Research Centre (Hungary), Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel), The AMR Insights (The Netherlands), Indian Institute of Science, IIT-Jodhpur, CSIR- Institute for Microbial Technology, IIIT-Delhi and more. A pre-symposium workshop on computational handling of biological data was another highlight of the convention.

Pre-symposium Workshop

In the past decade, the use of computational tools and algorithms to analyze data or use of artificial intelligence to model biological systems and predict how they will behave under different conditions have increased extensively. With an aim to give the basic knowledge of how this computational approach works, the Department of Biological Sciences invited Dr Gaurav Ahuja and Miss Aayushi Mittal to have a hands on session on:

  1. Building Machine Learning models leveraging biological datasets in R-programming.
  2. Using AutoML techniques for building classification and regression models (Biological datasets)
  3. Case study with Metabo Killer Python Package (Mittal et al. 2022, Nature Chemical Biology).

symposium-biology2

Symposium talks

Among all the eminent speakers the keynote speakers for the symposium were Prof. Orna Amster-Choder, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel and Prof. Motti Choder, Technion- Israel Institute of Technology who gave an insight on gene expressions. With all the hot topics of cell and molecular biology starting right from ribosomal role in diseases, protein quality control in neurodegeneration and its therapy, the speakers also spoke about different model system and techniques, for instance bacterial nanotubes in intercellular interactions, use of Caenorhabditis elegans for host pathogen interaction, CRISPR-Cas3 systems for large-scale genome manipulation and gene discovery and Pseudouridine RNA modification. These insightful talks on data analytics and cell and its regulation not only provided the participants with brainstorming sessions, it also provided a platform to discuss and channelise new thoughts.

The conference was jointly convened by Prof. Jayaseelan Murugaiyan, Head of the Department of Biological Sciences, SRM University-AP, India and Dr Sutharsan Govindarajan, India Alliance Early Career Fellow and Assistant Professor at SRM University-AP. The symposium was held in a hybrid mode aimed to reach more budding scientists and established researchers. The target audience of the symposium included undergraduate students, postgraduate students, doctoral and post-doctoral scholars and researchers across the world. Participants from over nine institutes took part in the offline mode with a majority being undergrad students, whereas online participation witnessed registration from 327 institutes. The symposium had 120 offline participants and 572 online participants from 19 countries; 26 states and 3 union territories within India.

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SERB- SURE Grants: 10 projects worth 2.50 crores awarded to SRM AP

SERB SURE GRANTS

The faculty of SRM University-AP have been awarded 10 projects worth 2.50 crores from the Science and Engineering Research Board  (SERB-SURE). Department of Science and Technology (DST) received a total of 2000 proposals, of which 466 were sanctioned. Among the 466 projects, 151 projects were awarded to Private Universities. Of the 151 projects approved to state private universities and colleges throughout India, the five-and-a-half-year young varsity was awarded 10 projects. 10 professors from various Science and Engineering Departments brought this incredible achievement to the university.

SERB-SURE is a research grant scheme initiated by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) in India to provide financial support to young researchers in the early stages of their careers. The grants are intended to support research in basic and applied sciences, engineering, and technology and is typically granted for a period of three years.The SERB-SURE scheme is one of several initiatives by SERB to promote scientific research in India and support the development of a strong research community in the country.

“It is a milestone achievement that resonates with the University’s unparalleled commitment for excellence. We are striving towards research-intensive learning to build cutting-edge innovation for a transformative tomorrow”, commented Vice Chancellor, Prof. Manoj K Arora. The Executive Director-Research of SRM Group, Prof. Narayana Rao said that, “SRM University-AP has travailed hard to achieve the world-class scientific temperament that we now advocate, and this achievement is a testimonial recognition of all our efforts.” The prestigious grants were sanctioned to the faculty in the on-going domains of Quantum Kinetic Approach, Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Profiling and Changing of Hydroclimatic conditions in Bay of Bengal among 7 others.

Dean-SEAS, Prof. Ranjith Thapa said, “These research could be path-breaking and could offer a solution to many of the societal difficulties.” Prof. Jayaseelan Murugaiyan, Dr Sandeep Singh and Dr Pitchaiah Cherukuri of the Department of Biological Sciences; Dr Sabyasachi Chakrabortty, Dr V S Baswanth Oruganti of the Department of Chemistry; Dr Debabrata Pramanik, Dr Ravi Kumar and Dr Pankaj Bhalla  of the Department of Physics ; Dr Sandeep Kumar Verma of the Department of Mathematics; Dr Uma Maheswar Arepalli of the Department of Civil Engineering; and Dr Kousik Das of the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering were awarded the grants.

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MoU with NITTE (Deemed to be University) to foster research in Biological Science

mou-nitte

SRM University-AP inked an MoU with NITTE (Deemed to be University), Mangalore, on June 16, 2023, to promote academics and research in Biological Science. The MoU was signed at the NITTE Mangalore campus by Dr R Premkumar, Registrar, SRM University-AP and Prof. Dr Harsha Halahalli, Registrar, NITTE, in the presence of Prof. Dr MS Moodithaya, Vice-Chancellor, NITTE.

Prof. Dr MS Moodithaya termed this association a very important one for the university and expressed his confidence that the formal agreement will foster a mutually beneficial relationship through knowledge exchange, academic excellence, and research of societal relevance between the Universities. “I hope this collaboration can leverage both university’s strengths and complementary skills to undertake research projects that require a combination of expertise. I look forward to the synergy leading to more comprehensive and impactful research outcomes”, commented Prof. Manoj K Arora, Vice Chancellor, SRM University-AP, in response to the MoU.

Prof. Jayaseelan Murugaiyan, Head-Department of Biological Sciences, SRM University-AP and Dr Krishna Kumar, Associate Professor, NITTE University Centre for Science, Education and Research (NUCSER), have been collaborating for the last couple of years in the field of antimicrobial resistance. Prof. Anirban Chakraborty, Director- NUCSER and Prof. Jayaseelan Murugaiyan, SRM University-AP, are the authorised representatives from the respective universities. The Director, R&D; Director, Projects and DST-NUTEC; Director, Academia- Industry collaborations; Director, Institute Innovation Council; and Director, PG Studies and Clinical Research were among the others present on this occasion.

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