Brief Profile
Prof. Rajendra Pilankatta joined International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi as postdoc in 2005, after the completion of his PhD degree in Biochemistry in the area of Biochemical Toxicology from Osmania University, Hyderabad. At ICGEB, he got research training in the area of tetravalent vaccine development against dengue virus using adenovirus as a vaccine delivery vector under the mentorship of Prof. S. Swaminathan. During this period, he had an opportunity to involve in the dengue diagnostics development using NS1 protein. The vaccine research was well cited and helped to create a platform to develop tetravalent chimeric epitope against dengue virus. He joined as postdoc in Prof. G. Inesi lab at CPMCRI, San Francisco, USA and did studies on P-Type ATPase by delivering the gene by adenovius vectors (2007-2010). Following this, he expanded his research in the area of antiviral drug discovery against dengue virus, as a senior postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA under the guidance of Dr. Priscilla Yang (2010- 2011). During this period, his research work was mainly involved on the mechanism of action of bioactive lipids against dengue viruses. The work gave significant insight into the action of these lipid based drugs against various RNA viruses. After obtaining sufficient research training, he moved back to his hometown Kasaragod, and joined as Asst Professor in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Central University of Kerala (2011). During his service at CUK he received prestigious Raman Fellowship from Govt of India to continue studies in the area of anti-viral drug development and joined as visiting faculty at Prof. Padmanabhan’s lab, Georgetown University, Washington DC (2014-2015). He re-joined CUK as Associate Professor in 2016 . He continues his research work on biochemical and molecular characterization of dengue virus replication complex and ADE of viruses. He was invited as Visiting Associate Professor by DUKE-NUS during 2017 and also serves as an expert member for the development of Institute of Advanced Virology (IAV) being set up at Trivandrum, Kerala. During COVID19 outbreak, he took leadership and extended his research lab for the COVID19 RTPCR testing for the entire community of the Kasaragod District after obtaining approval from ICMR and University, since March 2020. He also played key role in the genetic surveillance of SARSCoV2 in collaboration with the Dept of Health, Govt of Kerala. Currently, he is in charge of COVID19 RTPCR testing lab and completed more than 3 lakhs test so far. He served the university under various academic and administrative capacities such as Dean, School of medicine and public Health, HOD of Dept of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Director of Research, Registrar, Nodal Officer - NIRF and Local coordinator- GIAN etc. Also, he played major role in setting up of Institute of Advanced Virology at Trivandrum as core committee member.
Education
| Degree | College Name | Year Of Passing |
|---|
| Ph.D. | Osmania University | 2006 |
Experience
| Employer Name | Designation | Start From | End To |
|---|
| Govt College Kasaragod | Guest Lecturer | 1999 | 2000 |
| International center for genetic engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) | Research Associate | 2005 | 2007 |
| California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute (CPMCRI) | Postdoctoral Fellow | 2007 | 2010 |
| Harvard Medical School | Postdoctoral Fellow | 2011 | 2011 |
| Central University of Kerala | Assistant Professor (Direct Recruitment) | 2011 | 2016 |
| Central University of Kerala | Associate Professor (Direct Recruitment) | 2016 | 2019 |
| Central University of Kerala | Professor (CAS Promotion) | 2019 | |
Teaching & Research Guidance
| Level Of Teaching | Subjects |
|---|
| Post Graduate | Biopolymers |
| Post Graduate | Bioorganic and Biophysical Chemistry |
| Post Graduate | Intermediary Metabolism |
| Post Graduate | Bioenergetics |
| Post Graduate | Biochemical Basis of Diseases |
| Post Graduate | Molecular Diagnostics |
| Post Graduate | Molecular Virology |
| Post Graduate | Molecular Endocrinology |
| Post Graduate | Molecular Cell Biology |
| Research Guidance | Molecular Virology |
| Research Guidance | P Type ATPase and Drug Resistance |
Recent and Major Publications
- Prajit Janardhanan, Aswathi Kodenchery Somasundaran, Anjali Jayasree Balakrishnan, Rajendra Pilankatta (2022). "Sensitization of Cancer cells towards Cisplatin and Carboplatin by Protein Kinase D inhibitors through modulation of ATP7A/B (Copper Transport ATPases)". Cancer Treatment and Research Communications, Volume 32, 2022, 100613
- Neeli Chandran, Prajit Janardhanan, Manikanta Bayal, Rajendra Pilankatta & Swapna S. Nair (2022). "Development of a paper printed colorimetric sensor based on Cu-Curcumin nanoparticles for evolving point-of-care clinical diagnosis of sodium". Sci Rep, 12, : 6247 (2022)
- Naranthatta S, Janardhanan P, Pilankatta R, Nair SS (2021). "Green Synthesis of Engineered CdS Nanoparticles with Reduced Cytotoxicity for Enhanced Bioimaging Application". ACS Omega, 17;6(12):8646-8655
- Maya V, Kaviyil JE, Ponnambath DK, Nair RP, Bhatt A, Pilankatta R, Valliyot L, Dungdung R, Veettil RA, Gopi M (2021). "Evaluation of diagnostic accuracy of developed rapid SARS-COV-2 IgG antibody test kit using novel diluent system". Virus disease, 4;32(1):1-7
- Neeli Chandran, Manikanta Bayal, Rajendra Pilankatta, Swapna S.Nair (2021). "2D layer stacked metallic Cu-serine triangular pyramids and their surface plasmon resonance properties". Physica E: Low-dimensional Systems and Nanostructures., Volume 127, March 2021, 114509
- Ranjeet Dungdung, Manikanta Bayal, Lathika Valliyott, Unnikrishnan Unniyampurath, Swapna S. Nair and Rajendra Pilankatta (2020). "A slow, efficient and safe nanoplatform of tailored ZnS QD-mycophenolic acid conjugates for in vitro drug delivery against dengue virus 2 genome replication". Nanoscale Adv, 06 Oct 2020
- Neeli Chandran, Prajit Janardhanan, Manikanta Bayal, Unnikrishnan Unniyampurath, Rajendra Pilankatta*, and Swapna S. Nair (2020). "Label Free, Nontoxic Cu-GSH NCs as a Nanoplatform for Cancer Cell Imaging and Subcellular pH Monitoring Modulated by a Specific Inhibitor: Bafilomycin A1". ACS Appl. Bio Mater, 2, 1245–1257
- Sivan SK, Shankar SS, N S, Kandambath Padinjareveetil A, Pilankatta R, Kumar VBS, Mathew B, George B, Makvandi P, Černík M, Padil VVT, Varma RS (2020). "Fabrication of a Greener TiO2@Gum Arabic-Carbon Paste Electrode for the Electrochemical Detection of Pb2+ Ions in Plastic Toys". ACS Omega, 24;5(39):25390-25399
- Arun Kumar Karayi, Vijaya Basavaraj, Saravu R Narahari, Madhur Guruprasad Aggithaya, Terence J Ryan (2020). "Human Skin Fibrosis: Up-regulation of Collagen type-III gene transcript in the fibrotic skin nodules of lower limb lymphedema". Trop Med Int Health, 25(3):319-327
- Lathika Valliyott, Ranjeet Dungdung, Rajendra Pilankatta (2019). "Semi-quantification of Antibody-Dependent Enhancement (ADE) in the Uptake of Adenovirus Serotype 5 Into THP-1 Cells". Anal Biochem, 15;591:113568
- Nageswar Reddy, Ranjeet Dung Dung, Pankaj Trivedi, Unnikrishnan Unniyampurath, Rajendra Pilankatta (2019). "Mycophenolic acid (MPA) modulates host cellular autophagy progression in sub genomic dengue virus-2 replicon cells". Microbial Pathogenesis, 103762
- Balasubramanian A, Pilankatta R, Teramoto T, Sajith AM, Nwulia E, Kulkarni A, Padmanabhan R (2019). "Inhibition of dengue virus by curcuminoids". Antiviral Res, 162:71-78
- P.G. Prabhash, V.S. Haritha, Swapna S. Nair, Rajendra Pilankatta (2017). "Localized surface plasmon resonance based highly sensitive room temperature pH sensor for detection and quantification of ammonia". Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, (240) 580–585
- Reddy MN, Dungdung R, Valliyott L, Pilankatta R (2017). "Occurrence of concurrent infections with multiple serotypes of dengue viruses during 2013-2015 in northern Kerala, India". Peer J, 14;5:e2970
- Margot Carocci, Stephen Hinshaw, Mary Rodgers, Valerie Villareal, Dominique Burri, Rajendra Pilankatta, Natalya Maharaj, Michaela Gack, Eric Stavale, Kelly Warfield, and Priscilla Yang (2014). "The Bioactive Lipid 4-Hydroxyphenyl Retinamide Is a Potent Inhibitor of Flavivirus Replication". Antimicrob Agents Chemother, AAC.04177-14
- Pilankatta R, Lewis D, Inesi G (2011). "Involvement of protein kinase D in expression and trafficking of ATP7B (copper ATPase)". J Biol Chem, 286(9):7389-96
Research Projects Undertaken
| Project Title | Project Type | Commencement Year | Completion Year | Funding Agency |
|---|
| Development of a diagnostic kit comprising sample collection buffer and RNA extraction kit for real time RT PCR based detection of SARS CoV-2 | Co-PI | 2020 | 2021 | DBT BIRAC |
| Molecular docking and 3-D QSAR studies to evaluate the mechanism of antimicrobial action of fatty acids from virgin coconut oil and monolaurin | Co-PI | 2014 | 2016 | KSCSTE-KBC |
| Role of copper- handling proteins in cisplatin drug resistance | DBT Pilot Grant | 2015 | 2019 | DBT |
| Role of dengue viral proteins in autophagy induction | DST Fast Track | 2014 | 2018 | DST-SERB |
| Seroprevalence Of Adenovirus serotype 5 and its implication in adenovirus vector based gene delivery | Young Investigator Award | 2014 | 2015 | KSCSTE- KBC |
| Effect of endosulfan on sarco-endoplasmic reticulum Ca - ATPase (SERCA) and Cu-Transport ATPase (ATP7B) | Start Up | 2013 | 2015 | UGC |
Books / Chapters
Chapter(s) - Co-Author, (2021). Nanomaterials for Luminescent Devices, Sensors, and Bio-imaging Applications, Springer, 978-981-16-5367-4Chapter(s) - Co-Author, (2021). Nanomaterials for Luminescent Devices, Sensors, and Bio-imaging Applications, Springer, 978-981-16-5367-4Chapter(s) - Co-Author, (2021). Nanomaterials for Luminescent Devices, Sensors, and Bio-imaging Applications, Springer, 978-981-16-5367-4Chapter(s) - Co-Author, (2021). Nanomaterials for Luminescent Devices, Sensors, and Bio-imaging Applications, Springer, 978-981-16-5367-4Book - Co-Author, (2014). Biological Effects of Magnetic Fields, LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, 3659609986
Miscellaneous
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