Biology subjects

Praharaj, M. R.

Publications and source records attributed to Praharaj, M. R..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Multi-omics analysis uncovers differential growth kinetics of Japanese Encephalitis Virus in human and porcine macrophages

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), a mosquito-borne neurotropic virus, poses a significant threat to juvenile humans, while causing mild symptoms in pigs, except piglets. Pigs with high viremia are amplifier hosts, whereas humans with lower viremia are dead-end hosts. The molecular mechanisms behind the varying viremia levels in pigs and humans remain poorly understood. A comparative multi-omics study was conducted on JEV-infected macrophages, the early site of JEV replication in both species. We identified 24 key determinants potentially regulating viral growth. Functional validation of three antiviral factors - LGALS1, ssc-miR-133a-3p, and hsa-miR-3614-5p, and two proviral factors - MIF and VMP1, in macrophages showed that the upregulation of MIF and VMP1, and downregulation of ssc-miR-133a-3p, enhanced JEV replication in pigs. In contrast, the downregulation of MIF and VMP1 and upregulation of hsa-miR-3614-5p reduced JEV replication in human macrophages. These findings provide critical insights into JEV infection and its species-specific dynamics.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2023

A bovine pulmosphere model and multiomics analyses identify a signature of early host response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection

Interactions between the tubercle bacilli and lung cells during the early stages of tuberculosis (TB) are crucial for disease outcomes. Conventional 2D cell culture inadequately replicates the multicellular complexity of lungs. We introduce a 3D pulmosphere model for Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in bovine systems, demonstrating through comprehensive transcriptome and proteome analyses that these 3D structures closely replicate the diverse cell populations and abundant extracellular matrix proteins, emphasizing their similarity to the in vivo pulmonary environment. While both avirulent BCG and virulent M. tuberculosis-infected pulmospheres exhibit commonalities in the upregulation of several host signaling pathways, distinct features such as upregulation of ECM receptors, neutrophil chemotaxis, interferon signaling, and RIG-1 signaling pathways characterize the unique early response to virulent M. tuberculosis. Moreover, a signature of seven genes/proteins, including IRF1, CCL5, CXCL8, CXCL10, ICAM1, COL17A1, and CFB, emerges as indicative of the early host response to M. tuberculosis infection. Overall, this study presents a superior ex vivo multicellular bovine pulmosphere TB model, with implications for discovering disease biomarkers, enabling high-throughput drug screening, and improving TB control strategies.

systems biology↗

bioRxiv2022

Changes in m6A RNA methylation of goat lung following PPRV infection

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is an acute, highly contagious viral disease of goats and sheep, caused by the Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV). Earlier studies suggest the involvement of diverse regulatory mechanisms in PPRV infection. Methylation at N6 of Adenosine called m6A is one such RNA modification that influences various physiological and pathological phenomena. As the lung tissue represents the primary target organ of PPRV, the present study explored the m6A changes and their functional significance in PPRV disease pathogenesis. m6A-seq analysis revealed 1289 m6A peaks to be significantly altered in PPRV infected lung in comparison to normal lung, out of which 975 m6A peaks were hypomethylated and 314 peaks were hypermethylated. Importantly, hypomethylated genes were enriched in Interleukin-4 and Interleukin-13 signaling and various processes associated with extracellular matrix organization. Further, of the 843 differentially m6A containing cellular transcripts, 282 transcripts were also found to be differentially expressed. Functional analysis revealed that these 282 transcripts are significantly enriched in signaling by Interleukins, extracellular matrix organization, cytokine signaling in the immune system, signaling by receptor tyrosine kinases, and Toll-like Receptor Cascades. We also found m6A reader HNRNPC and the core component of methyltransferase complex METTL14 to be highly upregulated than the m6A readers - HNRNPA2B1 and YTHDF1 at the transcriptome level. These findings suggest that alteration in m6A landscape following PPRV is implicated in diverse processes including the Interleukin signaling.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2020

Systems Biology behind immunoprotection of both Sheep and Goats after Sungri/96 PPRV vaccination

Immune response is a highly coordinated cascade involving all the subsets of PBMCs. In this study, RNA-Seq analysis of PBMC subsets - CD4+, CD8+, CD14+, CD21+ and CD335+ cells from day 0 and day 5 of Sungri/96 Peste des Petits Ruminants vaccinated sheep and goats was done to delineate the systems biology behind immune - protection of the vaccine in sheep and goats. Assessment of the immune response processes enriched by the differentially expressed genes in all the subsets suggested a strong dysregulation towards development of early inflammatory microenvironment, which is very much required for differentiation of monocytes to macrophages, and for activation and migration of dendritic cells into the draining lymph nodes. The protein - protein interaction networks among the antiviral molecules (IFIT3, ISG15, MX1, MX2, RSAD2, ISG20, IFIT5 and IFIT1) and common DEGs across PBMCs subsets in both the species identified ISG15 to be an ubiquitous hub, that helps in orchestrating antiviral host response against PPRV. IRF7 was found to be the key master regulator activated in most of the subsets in sheep and goats. Most of the pathways were found to be inactivated in B - lymphocytes of both the species indicating that 5 dpv is too early a time point for the B - lymphocytes to react. The cell mediated immune response and humoral immune response pathways were found more enriched in goats than in sheep. Though, animals from both the species survived the challenge, a contrast in pathway activation was observed in CD335+ cells. ImportancePeste des petits ruminants (PPR) by PPRV is an OIE listed acute, contagious transboundary viral disease of small ruminants. Attenuated Sungri/96 PPRV vaccine used all over India against this PPR, provides long-lasting robust innate and adaptive immune response. The early antiviral response was found mediated through type I interferon independent ISGs expression. However, systems biology behind this immune response is unknown. In this study, in vivo transcriptome profiling of PBMC subsets (CD4+, CD8+, CD14+, CD21+ and CD335+) in vaccinated goats and sheep (at 5 days of post vaccination) was done to understand this systems biology. Though there are a few differences in the systems biology across cells (specially the NK cells) between sheep and goats, the co-ordinated response that is inclusive of all the cell subsets was found to be towards induction of strong innate immune response, which is needed for an appropriate adaptive immune response.

systems biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Prediction analysis of SARS-COV-2 entry in Livestock and Wild animals

BackgroundSARS-CoV-2 is a viral pathogen causing life-threatening disease in human. Interaction between spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 and ACE2 receptor on the cells is a potential factor in the infectivity of a host. The interaction of SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain with its receptor - ACE2, in different hosts was evaluated to understand and predict viral entry. The protein and nucleotide sequences of ACE2 were initially compared across different species to identify key differences among them. The ACE2 receptor of various species was homology modeled (6LZG, 6M0J, and 6VW1 as a reference), and its binding ability to the spike ACE2 binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 was assessed. Initially, the spike binding parameters of ACE2 of known infected and uninfected species were compared with each Order (of animals) as a group. Finally, a logistic regression model vis-a-vis the spike binding parameters of ACE2 (considering data against 6LZG and 6M0J) was constructed to predict the probability of viral entry in different hosts. ResultsPhylogeny and alignment comparison did not lead to any meaningful conclusion on viral entry in different hosts. Out of several spike binding parameters of ACE2, a significant difference between the known infected and uninfected species was observed for six parameters. However, these parameters did not specifically categorize the Orders (of animals) into infected or uninfected. The logistic regression model constructed revealed that in the mammalian class, most of the species of Carnivores, Artiodactyls, Perissodactyls, Pholidota, and Primates had high probability of viral entry. However, among the primates, African Elephant had low probability of viral entry. Among rodents, hamsters were highly probable for viral entry with rats and mice having a medium to low probability. Rabbits have a high probability of viral entry. In Birds, ducks have a very low probability, while chickens seemed to have medium probability and turkey showed the highest probability of viral entry. ConclusionsMost of the species considered in this study showed high probability of viral entry. This study would prompt us to closely follow certain species of animals for determining pathogenic insult by SARS-CoV-2 and for determining their ability to act as a carrier and/or disseminator.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2020

HSPs, Ubiquitins and Antioxidants aid in Heat Tolerance in Tharparkar Indicine cattle

Transcriptome profiling of Vrindavani and Tharparkar cattle revealed that more numbers of genes dysregulated in Vrindavani than in Tharparkar. A contrast in gene expression was observed with 18.5 % of upregulated genes in Vrindavani were downregulated in Tharparkar and 17.5% upregulated genes in Tharparkar were downregulated in Vrindavani. Functional annotation of genes differentially expressed in Tharparkar and Vrindavani revealed that the systems biology in Tharparkar is moving towards counteracting the effects due to heat stress. Unlike Vrindavani, Tharparkar is not only endowed with higher expression of the scavengers (UBE2G1, UBE2S, and UBE2H) of misfolded proteins but also with protectors (VCP, Serp1, and CALR) of naive unfolded proteins. Further, higher expression of the antioxidants in Tharparkar enables it to cope up with higher levels of free radicals generated as a result of heat stress. In this study we found relevant genes dysregulated in Tharparkar in the direction that can counter heat stress.

physiology↗