newsletter edited 26-12-11

TSI NEWSLETTER Vol. 1, Issue 2, December 2011

TTOOXXIINNOOLLOOGGIICCAALL SSOOCCIIEETTYY OOFF IINNDDIIAA (W.B Society Registration No.: S/1L/77216 of 2010 – 2011)

NNEEWWSSLLEETTTTEERR

Vol. 1, Issue 2, Dec 2011

Editor-in-chief: Prof. Ashish K. Mukherjee, Tezpur

Headquarters

K.P.C. Medical College & Hospital, Department of Biochemistry

1F, Raja S. C. Mullick Road, Jadavpur, Kolkata 700 032

Website: www.tsi-web.org


Newsletter Staff:

Editor-in-chief:

Prof. Ashish K. Mukherjee, Tezpur University, Tezpur-784028

E-mail: [email protected]

[email protected]

Associate Editors:

Dr. Archita Biswas, Kolkata, E-mail: [email protected]

Dr. Robin Doley, Tezpur, E-mail: [email protected]

Published by:

Toxinological Society of India, K.P.C. Medical College & Hospital,

Department of Biochemistry, 1F, Raja S. C. Mullick Road,

Kolkata 700 032

For permission to reprint or reproduce any portion of the newsletter,

Please write to the Editor-in-chief

© Copyright: Toxinological society of India

ALL THE RIGHTS RESERVED

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TSI Newsletter

Contents Page No.

TSI Executive council 3

Editorial 4

News Highlights 6

Venom therapeutics: a breakthrough in the field of medicine

8

Neutralization of snake venom by the antibody of the same species from a different region remains questionable

11

List of Research Publications/Seminar/Conference Presentation by TSI Members in 2011

15

Achievements & Activities of TSI members 18

My first meeting with Prof. Anthony T. Tu: a remarkable moment in my life

20

List of life members of TSI 24

Announcements 27

TSI meeting notice 29

TSI membership form 30

TSI advertisement/donation form 31

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TOXINOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF INDIA (Under West Bengal Society Registration Act, 1961)

Registration No. S/1L/77216 of 2010 – 2011, dated: 19.01.2011 K.P.C. Medical College & Hospital, Department of Biochemistry

1F, Raja S. C. Mullick Road, Jadavpur, Kolkata 700 032 Website : www.tsi.org Email : [email protected]

Executive Council

Patron-in-Chief Dr. K.P. Chaudhuri, KPCMC & Hospital, Kolkata Advisor Mrs. Krishna Das, KPCMC & Hospital, Kolkata President Prof. (Dr.) C.R. Maity, KPCMC & Hospital Kolkata President Elect Prof. D Velmurugan, University of Madras, Chennai Secretary Prof. Antony Gomes, University of Calcutta, Kolkata Treasurer Dr. J.C. Menon, MAGJ Hospital, Kochi Editor-in-Chief Prof. A.K. Mukherjee, Tezpur University, Assam Associate Editors

1. Dr. Robin Doley, Tezpur University, Assam 2. Dr. Archita Biswas, Kolkata

Members Dr. S. Hazra Prof. B.S. Viswanath Dr. Aparna Gomes Dr. D. Bhattacharya Dr. Keya Chaudhuri Dr. J.K. Joseph Prof. S.C. Dasgupta Dr. D.P.Punde Dr. D.B. Majumdar Dr. D. Chakraborty Dr. B. Giri Dr. Anindita Debnath Mr. S. Ghosh Dr. M.V. Khadilkar

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EDITORIAL

Dear Colleagues,

It gives me immense pleasure to welcome all our members and esteemed readers to this second

issue of the Newsletter. The publication of this Newsletter was initiated with a major objective to

keep network amongst the members of TSI and other scientists, clinicians and professionals

working in the fields of venoms and toxins across the world. We have received an overwhelming

response from our readers after the release of the inaugural issue of the Newsletter reinforcing

our determinations for continuing the publication of the TSI Newsletter despite of several

constrains.

It is heartening to note a considerable increase in the number of annual and life members of TSI

and this rising trend reflects greater interest amongst the scientists and our young colleagues

towards the toxin research. However, I urge upon my colleagues to motivate the other scientists

who are interested in this challenging field to become a member of the TSI.

I hope all the members and other participants of the 1st Annual Conference of the TSI in Chennai

would be enjoying the presentations, scientific deliberations and exhibits. I am sure the annual

conferences of the TSI will significantly contribute in building the scientific collaboration and

exchange of ideas amongst the scientific groups.

I would like to draw the attention of our venerated readers to the Asia Special Edition of Editor’s

Update (Elsevier Editors update issue 33, September, 2011). A statistical analysis of the research

output and citation per articles published from the Asian countries for 2006-2010 suggests India,

China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand will be surged as next scientific

superpowers. However, it appears that China and India are lagging in international collaboration

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and this gap needs to be filled-up. Dr. Sheenam Aggarawal , Product Manager for the Elsevier

Indian Journal Programme has opined -“Participation in society conferences in India is one of the

best ways to attract Indian manuscripts, as these conferences guarantee the attendance of the

majority of the people in that particular field”. During recent years, a substantial increase in the

number as well as citation of the articles published from India in the field of biotechnology,

drugs and pharmaceuticals, material sciences, and medical sciences has been noted and this

deserves a special mention.

I believe this is the high time for us to think for the future of toxinology research in India. In my

personal opinion, more research in this area may be initiated by collaboration amongst the

members of TSI and we also require to attract and encourage bright, young talents into the field

of toxinology. I request more articles from our young colleagues for the future issues of this

Newsletter. In order to keep our readers up dated on research activity of our members, we have

also provided a list of recent research publications and conference presentation by our members.

Hope you will enjoy reading this issue of Newsletter.

The feedback and opinions from the readers are most welcome and would be given a due

consideration for publication in the next issue of this Newsletter.

With best regards

(Ashis K. Mukherjee)

Editor-in-Chief

E-mail: [email protected]

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NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Publication of 1st Newsletter of TSI: A Report

Dr. Archita Biswas

Associate Editor, TSI Newsletter

The 3rd Meeting of the Toxinological Society of India was held on 10th June 2011 at Department

of Biochemistry, KPC Medical College & Hospital, Kolkata. This meeting marked the official

release of the 1st Newsletter of the society. Eminent clinicians and scientists in India who

attended this meeting included Prof. C. R. Maity, Dr. J.C. Menon, Prof. A. Gomes, Prof. D.

Velmurugan, Prof. S.C. Dasgupta, Dr. D. Bhattacharyya, Dr. Keya Chaudhuri, Dr. R. Doley, Dr.

M. V. Khadilkar. About 40 delegates/ probable members were present in this meeting.

Prof. C. R. Maity, President of TSI, officially released the 1st Newsletter of the Toxinological

Society of India. The Editor-in-chief Prof. Ashis K. Mukherjee could not be present during the

inauguration because of an urgent appointment. It was decided that at the beginning phase two

Newsletters would be released every year and associate editors will be selected, who will help

the Editor to coordinate the publication. The house unanimously approved that Dr. Archita

Biswas from Kolkata and Dr. Robin Doley from Tezpur shall be the Associate Editors of the

Newsletter. The society is hopeful of launching a website soon. The second Newsletter is

expected to be released in the 1st Annual Conference of the TSI in Chennai, on December 2011.

The 1st Newsletter was distributed to among the members of the society.

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Prof C.R. Maity, President TSI, addressing

the delegates on the 3rd Meeting of the

Toxinological Society of India which was

held on 10th June 2011 at Department of

Biochemistry, KPC Medical College &

Hospital, Kolkata

Prof A. Gomes, Secretary TSI addressing

the delegates on the 3rd Meeting of the

Toxinological Society of India which was

held on 10th June 2011 at Department of


Hospital, Kolkata

Prof C. R. Maity, President TSI releasing the

1st Newsletter of TSI during the 3rd Meeting

of the Toxinological Society of India which

was held on 10th June 2011 at Department of


Hospital, Kolkata

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VENOM THERAPEUTICS: A BREAKTHROUGH IN THE FIELD OF MEDICINE

Rupamoni Thakur and Ashis. K. Mukherjee1,2

1Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Tezpur-784 028,

Assam, India 2School of Biological Sciences, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO, USA

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Snakes have been considered despicable and fearful creatures due to their fearsome looks and

ghastly appearance. However, over the years, people have realized that all snakes are not

poisonous and that they are an important member of the ecosystem. All of the venomous species

of snakes secrete venom from specialized venom glands. Snake venom which is used primarily

as a weapon to paralyze the unfortunate prey, is a complex mixture of pharmacologically active

compounds that include potent enzymatic (proteases, phospholipases, esterases etc.) and non-

enzymatic (numerous neurotoxins, lectins, disintegrins etc.) components.

Despite its fearful nature, snakes and their venoms are one of the prized research facets for

scientists across the globe in view of its potential applications in the field of therapeutics as well

as diagnostics. Snake venom components have proved to be potential applicants in the

development of better drugs for treatment of numerous disorders such as thrombosis associated

diseases viz. high blood pressure, myocardial infarction and other cardiovascular diseases,

stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, hypertension and even cancer. Moreover, many of the snake venom

components are also successfully employed as conventional diagnostic tools for the assessment

of different coagulation factors and proteins involved in the coagulation cascade. Another

important aspect of venom toxins is that they have developed highly specific molecular targets,

which make them valuable for drug usage in terms of limiting potential side effects. Detailed

studies about these protein toxins and their mechanism of action have contributed to the

knowledge about the various molecular mechanisms involved in the physiological processes and

in the development of novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of various life threatening

diseases.

Cardiovascular diseases, stroke and cancer are the three major medically important disorders

responsible for numerous complications and deaths every year. As a matter of fact, venom from

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various snake species seems to have the solution for these dreaded diseases. Eptifibatide

(commercially marketed as Integrilin by Millenium Pharmaceuticals) , a modified rattlesnake

venom protein and tirofiban, a drug based on a venom protein from the African saw-scaled viper,

are two important venom components which have been used since 1998 as a preventive measure

for minor heart attacks and chest pains. Ancrod, commercially marketed as Viprinex, is yet

another important venom component isolated so far. Ancrod, a thrombin like –alpha

fibrinogenase isolated from pit viper venom causes therapeutic difibrination thereby acting as an

effective clot buster. Besides dissolving the blood clots that cause stroke, Ancrod can also

prevent new blood clots from forming and is used in European countries to treat patients with

deep-vein thrombosis or to prevent problematic blood clots from forming after certain surgeries

or procedures. Numerous other venom components are still under investigation such as

fibrinolytic enzymes and other thrombin-like enzymes which have the potential to be developed

for dealing with the treatment of thrombosis associated disorders. The discovery of Captropril,

an angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor from the venom of Bothrops jaraca by C. G. Smith

and J. R. Vane in 2003 was widely accepted by the medical practitioners to keep blood pressure

at the right level and thereby prevent hypertension and congestive heart failure. Commercially

marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb under the trade name as Capoten, this protein has the added

benefit of having least side effects as compared to other blood pressure lowering drugs. Other

than stroke and cardiovascular diseases, snake venom components have also found a place in the

field of cancer and brain disorders. Efforts from F. S. Markland and his colleagues led to the

identification of a potent antitumor agent called Contortrostatin, a disintegrin isolated from

Angkistrodon sp. which not only prevented cancer cells from attaching to other cells, but also

prevented signal production from new blood vessels thereby inhibiting the spread of cancer.

Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, certain pain disorders as well as neurological disorders

are promised to be dealt with venom components from snakes such as the mamba. These are

only few of the examples for medicines from snake venom. A vast number of such components

are still under investigation and clinical trials which have enormous potential in the field of

therapeutics.

Snake venoms contain a vast array of components, many of which have found extensive

applications in the diagnosis of haemostatic disorders. Prothrombin activators such as Ecarin,

which is marketed by PentaPharm, was first isolated from Echis carinatus and is widely used for

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the detection of abnormal type of prothrombin in patients suffering from hematological

disorders. Russell’s viper venom is composed of numerous diagnostically important components.

RVV-X and RVV-V are two important proteases isolated from Russell’s viper venom which are

regularly used for the measurement of Factor X and factor V respectively. Other diagnostically

important venom proteins are Botroxobin, a thrombin-like enzyme from Bothrops moorjeni,

which is used for the measurement of fibrinogen and Botrocetin, a C-type lectin isolated from

Bothrops jaraca, which is used successfully for the diagnosis of Von- Willebrand disease and

Bernard- Soulier syndrome.

During the last decade, many of the snake venom proteins and toxins showing enormous promise

for medical application have been identified; however, further studies for many of the isolated

proteins are required for development of novel drugs and diagnostic reagents. As such, scientists

and researchers across the globe continue to study the usefulness of snake venom in medicine

and diagnostics. So, the next time we think of snakes and their deadly toxins we might not just

shudder in fear but may also think of the valuable proteins in the venom of the snakes that may

someday save our lives.

Suggested readings:

1. Finn, R., (2001) Snake venom protein paralyzes cancer cells. Journal of the National

Cancer Institute, 93(4), 261-262.

2. Marsh, N., Williams, V., (2005), Practical applications of snake venom toxins in

haemostasis. Toxicon 45, 1171-1181.

3. Mukherjee, A. K., Saikia, D., Thakur, R., (2011) Medical and diagnostic applications of

snake venom proteomes. Journal of proteins and proteomics 2(1), 31-40.

4. Koh, C. Y., Kini, R. M., (2011), From snake venom toxins to therapeutics –

Cardiovascular examples, Toxicon (accepted manuscript).

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NEUTRALIZATION OF SNAKE VENOM BY THE ANTIBODY OF THE SAME

SPECIES FROM A DIFFERENT REGION REMAINS QUESTIONABLE.

Payel Bhattacharjee and Debasish Bhattacharyya

Divison of Structural Biology and Bioinformatics

CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology

4, Raja S.C. Mallick Road, Jadavpur, Kolkata – 700032, India

Snakebite in tropical countries is considered under ‘neglected disease’ according to the

classification of WHO. The number of different snake species found south of the Himalayas is

around 300 of which about 67 venomous species belong to the families Elapidae and

Viperidae [1–5]. Viperid snakes include 26 species belonging to the true vipers (subfamily

Viperinae) and pit vipers (Crotalinae). Among the true vipers, Russell's viper (Daboia russelii) is

associated with the highest morbidity and mortality. In India the other most encountered

venomous snakes are Naja naja., Bungarus caeruleus and Echis carinatus. There is marked

regional variation among the species of these snakes. Clinical manifestation of Russell’s viper

bite varies within different parts of India. Daboia russelli russelli venoms from Northern and

Southern India show predominant neurotoxicity with moderate hemorrhagic activity, while; from

Western India it is mainly hemorrhagic. On the other hand, the Eastern forms show postsynaptic

neurotoxins and hemorrhagins as the principal constituents [6].

South Asia is the most affected region and India has the highest number of deaths due to

snakebites in the world having 35–50,000 people dying per year according to WHO direct

estimates [7, 8]. The snake bite victims mainly die due to the following reasons: lack of

knowledge among rural people about the preliminary treatment of the victims, health workers in

rural areas are usually poorly trained to manage snake bite envenoming that requires complex

emergency attention, delay in transporting the patients to local health care centers, irrational

treatments by non-medical practitioners and improper identification of snakes leads to wrong

strategy of treatment.

The clinical manifestation and bite marks are often very similar among the venomous snakes,

which make the situation more complicated. To overcome this, polyvalent Anti Venom Serum

8

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(AVS) raised against the above mentioned four species of venomous snakes is used. Antivenoms

are available in South Asia for the past 60 years. Present major AVS manufacturers of India are

Bharat Serums and Vaccines Ltd. Mumbai; Serum Institute of India, Pune; King Institute,

Chennai; Vins Bioproducts Ltd., Hyderabad. They also serve neighboring countries like

Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Mayanmar and Pakistan. The district reserve stores distribute the

AVS to the government hospitals and health care centers. Complaints of short supply of AVS are

common in these countries.

Recently, there was a report in a Bengali newspaper that three snake bite victims died even after

receiving sufficient AVS dose [9]. The victims were bitten by Krait (Bungarus caeruleus) at

night and were admitted within reasonable period of time to the Divisional hospital of Canning, a

small town of the district South 24-parganas, West Bengal. Canning is one of the gateways of the

reserve forest Sundarban. The victims received 35-45 vials of AVS, but they were showing

symptoms that they didn’t receive any AVS at all and died after 10-12 hours [9]. The entire

episode indicated the ineffectiveness of AVS.

The success of antivenom therapy depends on the ability of immunoglobulins to bind, neutralize

and eliminate the venom toxins present in the body. While their efficacy in restoring haemostasis

and cardiovascular functions is well established, the ability of antivenoms to prevent tissue

damage and to reverse neurotoxicity is more controversial [10-12]. For instance, administration

of antivenom to krait bite victims with established respiratory paralysis does not reverse

paralysis [13]. This lack of clinical effectiveness often contributes to the administration of

excessive amounts of antivenom [14, 15]. Moreover, treatment outcome can vary greatly with

the geographical location of the biting incidence as the venom composition and antigenic

properties of toxins may be highly variable across the range of a given snake species [16, 17].

Indian antivenoms are produced using venoms from snakes captured in a small geographic area

of the State of Tamil Nadu, say and may therefore be less effective even ineffective in other

regions like West Bengal [18].

As a matter of fact, most of the antivenoms that are routinely used in South Asia have never been

subjected to independent preclinical testing and formal evaluation in clinical trials based on

geographical variations. Their efficacy and safety profiles have not been properly established,

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and there is currently no evidence-based protocol for their administration and dosage. The exact

dosage of AVS is also not clear. In many healthcare centers clinicians used to treat patients with

40-50 vials of AVS till they show sign of recovery. Up to 80% of patients treated with AVS

present one or more adverse effect(s) such as anaphylactic, or pyrogenic reactions, or late serum

sickness [19, 20]. In spite of all these limitations, in hospitals people still depend entirely on

AVS treatments.

References:

1. Warrell DA (1995) Clinical toxicology of Snake bites in Asia. In: White MA, editor.

Handbook of clinical toxicology of animal venoms and poisons. CRC Press. pp. 493–588.

2. Whitaker R, Captain A (2004) Snakes of India, the field guide. Chengalpattu, India: Draco

Books. 483 p.

3. DeSilva A (1990) Colour guide to the snakes of Sri Lanka. Portishead, UK: R & A

Publishing Ltd. 130 p.

4. Khan MS (2002) A guide to the snakes of Pakistan. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Chimaira.

P. 265.

5. Shah KB, Tiwari S (2004) Herpetofauna of Nepal – a conservation companion. Kathmandu,

Nepal: The World Conservation Union. P. 237.

6. Prasad, B.N., Uma, B., Bhatt, K.G.S. and Gowda, T.V. Comparative characterization of

Russell’s viper (Daboia/Vipera russelli) venoms from different regions of Indian Peninsula.

Biochemica Biophysica. Acta, 1999, 12, 1428-1438.

7. Chippaux JP (1998) Snake-bites: appraisal of the global situation. Bull World Health Organ

76: 515–524.

8. Kasturiratne A, Wickremasinghe AR, de Silva N, Gunawardena NK, Pathmeswaran A, et

al. (2008) The global burden of snakebite: a literature analysis and modelling based on regional

estimates of envenoming and deaths. PLoS Med 5: 218.

9. Bartaman (Bengali Newspaper, published from Calcutta, India) 11th October, 2011, p.7.

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10. Kularatne SA (2002) Common krait (Bungarus caeruleus) bite in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka:

a prospective clinical study, 1996–98. Postgrad Med J 78: 276–280.

11. Theakston RD, Phillips RE, Warrell DA, Galagedera Y, Abeysekera DT, et al. (1990)

Envenoming by the common krait (Bungarus caeruleus) and Sri Lankan cobra (Naja naja naja):

efficacy and complications of therapy with Haffkine antivenom. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 84:

301–308.

12. Fernando P, Dias S (1982) Indian krait bite poisoning. Ceylon Med J 27: 39–41.

13. Bawaskar HS, Bawaskar PH (2002) Profile of snakebite envenoming in western

Maharashtra, India. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 96: 79–84.

14. Sharma N, Chauhan S, Faruqi S, Bhat P, Varma S (2005) Snake envenomation in a north

Indian hospital. Emerg Med J 22: 118–120.

15. Sharma SK, Koirala S, Dahal G (2002) Krait bite requiring high dose antivenom: a case

report. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health 33: 170–171.

16. Shashidharamurthy R, Kemparaju K (2007) Region-specific neutralization of Indian cobra

(Naja naja) venom by polyclonal antibody raised against the eastern regional venom: A

comparative study of the venoms from three different geographical distributions. Int

Immunopharmacol 7: 61–69.

17. Tsai IH, Tsai HY, Wang YM, Tun P, Warrell DA (2007) Venom phospholipases of Russell's

vipers from Myanmar and eastern India–cloning, characterization and phylogeographic analysis.

Biochim Biophys Acta 1774: 1020–1028.

18. Simpson ID, Norris RL (2007) Snakes of medical importance in India: is the concept of the

“Big 4” still relevant and useful? Wilderness Environ Med 18: 2–9.

19. Premawardhena AP, de Silva CE, Fonseka MM, Gunatilake SB, de Silva HJ (1999) Low

dose subcutaneous adrenaline to prevent acute adverse reactions to antivenom serum in people

bitten by snakes: randomised, placebo controlled trial. BMJ 318: 1041–1043.

20. Alirol E, Sharma SK, Bawaskar HS, Kuch U, Chappuis F (2010) Snake Bite in South Asia: A

Review. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 4(1): e603.

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LIST OF RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS/SEMINAR/CONFERENCE PRESENTATION

BY TSI MEMBERS IN 2011

1 Antony Gomes, Shamik Bhattacharya, Sanghamitra Mukherjee, Inn-ho-Tsai, Aparna

Gomes (2011). Synthetic herbal compounds inhibit the actions of a toxic phospholipase

A2, isolated and characterized from the Indian Banded Krait (Bungarus fasciatus) venom.

Indian Journal of Medical Research (in press).

2 Antony Gomes, Mohammed Aftab Alam, Poulami Datta, Shamik Bhattacharya, Aparna

Gomes (2011). Hepatoprotective activity of the edible snail (Bellamia bengalensis) flesh

extract in carbon tetrachloride induced hepatotoxic Wistar rats. Journal of

Ethnopharmacology (in press)

3 Antony Gomes, Md. Aftab Alam, Sourav Bhattacharya, Subir Chandra Dasgupta,

Sanghamitra Mukherjee, Shamik Bhattacharya, Aparna Gomes (2011). Ethno biological

usage of Zoo products in Rheumatoid Arthritis. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology,

49, 565 - 573

4 Antony Gomes, Biplab Giri, Aftab Alam, Sanghamitra Mukherjee, Pushpak Bhattacharjee,

Aparna Gomes (2011). Anticancer activity of a low immunogenic protein toxin (BMP1)

from Indian toad (Bufo melanostictus, Schneider) skin extract. Toxicon 58, 95 – 92

5 Ashis K Mukherjee, Sudhir K Rai, Naba K Bordoli (2011). Biodegradation of waste

chicken-feathers by an alkaline β-keratinase (Mukartinase) purified from a mutant

Brevibacillus sp. strain AS-S10-II. International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation (in

press).

6 Debashree Saikia, Rupamoni Thakur, Ashis K Mukherjee (2011). An acidic phospholipase

A2 (RVVA-PLA2-I) purified from Daboia russelli venom exerts its anticoagulant activity

by enzymatic hydrolysis of plasma phospholipids and by non-enzymatic inhibition of

factor Xa in a phospholipids/Ca2+ independent manner. Toxicon 57, 841-850

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7 Ashis K Mukherjee, Debashree Saikia, Rupamoni Thakur (2011). Medical and diagnostic

application of snake venom proteomes. J. proteins and Proteomics 2(1), 31-40

8 Das, G, Roy, J, Mukherjee, A.K., Karak, N. (2011) Mesua ferrea L. seed oil modified

sulfone epoxy resin and multi-walled carbon nanotube nanocomposites and their

biomedical and mechanical properties. Advanced Science Letters (in press)

9 Sudhir K Rai, Ashis K Mukherjee (2011). Optimization of production of an oxidant and

detergent-stable alkaline β-keratinase from Brevibacillus sp. strain AS-S10-II: application

of enzyme in laundry detergent formulations and in leather industry. Biochemical

Engineering Journal ( in press).

10 Nair, R.G., Roy, J.K., Samdarshi, S.K., Mukherjee, A.K. (2011) Enhanced visible light

photocatalytic disinfection of gram negative, pathogenic Escherichia coli bacteria with Ag/

TiV oxidenanoparticle. Colloids and Surface B: Biointerfaces (in press).

11 Ashis K Mukherjee, Sudhir K Rai (2011). A Statistical approach for the enhanced

production of alkaline protease showing fibrinolytic activity from a newly isolated Gram-

negative Bacillus sp. strain AS- S20-I . New Biotechnology 28, 182-189.

12 Jeterdra K Roy, Sudhir K Rai, Ashis K Mukherjee (2011). Characterization and application

of a detergent-stable α-amylase from Bacillus subtilis AS-S01a. International Journal of

Biological Macromolecules (in press).

13 Tanaya Das, Shamik Bhattacharya, Babli Haldar, Archita Biswas, Subho Das

Gupta,Antony Gomes, Aparna Gomes (2011). Cytotoxic and anti oxidant property of a

purified fraction (NN-32) of Indian Naja naja venom on erchlic ascites carcinoma in

BALB/c mice. Toxicon, 57, 1065-1072

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14 S. R. Badhe, R. V. Badhe, M. M. Ghaisas, V.V. Chopade and A.D. Deshpande.

Evaluations of antidepressant activity of Anacyclus pyrethrum root extract. International

Journal of Green Pharmacy (in press)

15 Badhe Ravindra V, Chitamani Ravindra B, Bhujbal Mayur N, Patil Pradeep S, Nanda

Rabindra K, Shirolkar Satish V, Ghaisas Mahesh M, Badhe Sonali R. Spectrophotometric

bioassay method for urokinase. Journal of Pharmacological and Toxilogical Methods (in

press).

16 Badhe Ravindra V, Nanda Rabindra K, Kulkarni Manasi B, Bhujbal Mayur N, Patil

Pradeep S, Badhe Sonali R. Media Optimization studies for Serratiopeptidase production

from Serratia marcescens ATCC 13880. Hindustan Antiobiotic Bulletin (in press).

17 Ravindra V. Badhe, Sumitra J. Jangam, Prafful Rane, Sonali R. Badhe, Asha B. Thomas.

Antibacterial, Antifungal, Pisicidal and Cardiac activities of Derris heyneana, Wight and

Arn. Natural Product Radiance (in press).

18 Badhe Ravindra V., Harer Sunil L., Nanda Rabindra K., Badhe Sonali R., Jangam Sumitra

J., and Deshpande Avinash D. Purification and partial characterization of thermostable

Serine Alkaline Protease from a newly isolated bacillus species HSRB08 from Hotspring.

Hindustan Antiobiotic Bulletin (in press).

17


ACHIEVEMENTS & ACTIVITIES OF TSI MEMBERS

1. Awards and Honors of TSI members:

a. Prof. Antony Gomes received the UGC – BSR Faculty Fellowship award (2011 -

2014) after his superannuation on 31st July, 2011.

b. Dr. Debasish Bhattacharyya received Indian Spectrophysics Association Award

2009, presented on 10.02.2011 at Chennai.

c. Dr. Debasish Bhattacharyya was awarded ‘Member of Honor of the SBCN’

(Society of Biochromatography and Nanoseparation) in 2010 at Lyon, France.

d. Dr. Debasish Bhattacharyya was selected as a Member of the Editorial Board of

the Journal of Chromatography B for 2008-2011.

e. Prof. A. K. Mukherjee delivered an invited lecture on “Development of

genetically modified baculovirus expressing insect-selective neurotoxins from

spider venom gland: Potential for pest control” DBT sponsored Short Term

Course on "Advanced Techniques in Cellular and Molecular Biology" organized

by Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati from

November 11-15, 2010.

f. Dr. Archita Biswas attended the EACR – Anticancer Agents Research Congress

at Antalya, Turkey. Her paper “A novel protein toxin from Indian Naja kaouthia

venom possesses cytotoxic and antiangiogenic potential” has been adjudged

‘The Best Oral Presentation’ by European Association of Cancer Research.

g. Prof. A. K. Mukherjee has recently joined as a Visiting Scientist at School of

Biological Sciences, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO, USA to

work on proteomics approach for drug discovery from snake venom under the

DBT-CREST Award of the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science

and Technology, Govt. of India.

18


2. Motivation Lecture delivered by TSI members

a. 150th birth year anniversary celebration of Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy at

Bamanpukur Humayun Kabir Mahavidyalaya, West Bengal, on 27th August 2011

Prof. A. Gomes of Calcutta University delivered motivation lecture on “Snake,

Snake venom and Snake Venom Research”.

Prof. S. C. Dasgupta of Maulana Azad College, Kolkata delivered motivation

lecture on “Genetic Disorder”.

b. 150th Year birth anniversary celebration of Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy at Raja

Narendralal Khan Women’s College , Midnapore, West Bengal, on 10th September

2011.

Prof. A. Gomes of Calcutta University delivered motivation lecture on

“Biomedicine and Biotechnological Application of Snake Venom Toxins”.

Prof. S.C. Dasgupta of Maulana Azad College, Kolkata delivered motivation

lecture on “Omics Biology, Drug Development – A new Horizon”.

c. Prof. A. K. Mukherjee of Tezpur University delivered a lecture on

“Identification and conservation of medicinal plants used traditionally for the

treatment of snakebite patients: from biodiversity and cultural perspectives” at

Short Term Course on "Tools for Bioresources Conservation" organized by

Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati from July

11-15, 2011.

19


MY FIRST MEETING WITH PROF. ANTHONY T. TU: A REMARKABLE MOMENT

IN MY LIFE

Dr. Ashis K. Mukherjee1,2

1Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Assam, India 2Visiting Scientist, School of Biological Sciences, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley,

CO, USA

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Are you from India? Which part of the country? I like India very much. I had been to India

twelve times-mainly to collect sea snake venom samples for my research in addition to my other

trips as a consultant for the Office of the Naval Research of the US Navy”. Uttering these words

an octogenarian youth cheerfully welcomed us in his office room at the Colorado State

University. He was no other than Prof. Anthony T. Tu, a legendary figure in snake venom

research.

On 2nd November, 2011 me and Steve (Prof. Stephen P. Mackessy) started our journey from the

University of Northern Colorado, Greeley to Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO for

some research related work. Weather forecast predicted heavy snow fall to commence on the

previous day of our journey and it was supposed to be continued till the morning hours of 2nd

instant. Nevertheless the heavy snowfall could not restrain us from our determination to visit the

Fort Collins and we started our journey as per the schedule. Fort Collins is near the Rocky

Mountains and is situated at a driving distance of 45 minutes from Greeley through the Loveland

town. It was a fantastic day with a diverse occurrence. Both the sides of the highway including

the side trees being covered by dazzling, unblemished, soft snow had converted the entire region

into a snow land. I was mesmerized to see the finery of nature.

“Ashis, do you know Dr. Anthony T. Tu?” I was interrupted by Steve. “In the mid nineteen

seventies to eighty Dr. Tu extensively worked on sea snake venom toxins particularly on sea

snake postsynaptic neurotoxin. Dr. Tu was my postdoctoral mentor and at present he is an

emeritus Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at The CSU. Do

you like to visit him?”I happily agreed with the proposal of Steve. After all I was well aware of

20


the work of Dr. Tu and in my Ph.D. thesis I had cited many references from the work of the

legendary scientist.

I was in high spirits to meet Prof. Tu in his office room. He warmly greeted us with a smiling

face. The moment he came to know that I was a visiting scientist from India he was very much

excited. He enquired “Do you know why I like India?” When he saw me speechless, he himself

clarified: “Of course I am indebted to your beautiful country, as I had collected sea snake venom

samples off the coast of India as part of my NIH project. But apart from that I had worked on

Raman spectroscopy. And the science of Raman spectroscopy was discovered in India”.

Knowing the fact that I have also been working on snake venom Prof. Tu was further energized

and it was a great moment for us when he showed his recent research publications and books on

snake venom. I felt like a dwarf man standing in front of the great Himalaya.

Prof. Anthony T. Tu was born in 1930 in Taiwan, a Japanese colony at that time. In 1953, he

graduated from the National Taiwan University. Prof. Tu received his Ph.D. degree in 1961

under the biochemistry programme from the Department of Chemistry, University of Stanford,

USA. He was under the guidance of Dr. Hubert S. Loring, a great biochemist of that time. I also

came to know from Dr. Tu that he did his postdoctoral work in protein Chemistry from the

Department of Biochemistry, Yale University at New Haven, Connecticut.

In the early 1960’s, Dr. Tu started his work on snake venom toxins and he visited Thailand,

India, Iran, Uzbekistan, Egypt and many other countries of southest Asia in connection with

snake venom research. He started his career as an Assistant Professor at Utah State University

but he finally moved to Colorado State University in 1967 and continued his service to CSU until

his retirement in 1998. At present, he is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Biochemistry

and Molecular Biology of CSU. Dr. Tu received adequate endowments from different funding

agencies such as National Institute of Health, South-East Asia treaty Organization, Food and

Drug Administration, Colorado Heart Association etc to boost his research on snake venom. Dr.

Tu mainly concentrated his research on sea snake and rattle snake venom toxins.

I was amazed to hear that one of the major reasons for his visit to India was related to Raman

Spectroscopy. In the late 1960s, Dr. Tu read articles on Raman spectroscopy and was highly

influenced by the work of Sir C. V. Raman that inspired him to think for applying the theories of

21


Raman Spectroscopy on analyzing snake venom neurotoxins. By analyzing the Raman spectra of

sea snake venom neurotoxins Dr. Tu and his colleagues came to a conclusion that sea snake

neurotoxin was mainly made of anti-parallel β –sheets and devoid of much α-helix and their

work was published in Journal of Biological Chemistry. Dr. T informed me that the result of

their work by using Raman Spectroscopy was later confirmed by X-ray diffraction study.

With an intense passion we were listening to the reminiscence of Dr. Tu, an ardent aficionado of

Taj Mahal, Indian temples and sculptures along with Indian scientific knowledge. “Do you

know, although Raman Spectroscopy has a tremendous application for solving many mysteries

of biological molecules but unfortunately, many scientists were unaware of this fact? Even for

many physicists, Raman Spectroscopy was not a common term.” We were astonished to know

that the Books written by Dr. Tu on “Raman Spectroscopy” were followed by many physics

students including the Faculty members of Calcutta University and other Universities of the

country because the book explained the basic theory explicitly. Citing a reference, Dr. Tu was

highly amused to tell us that though throughout the life he worked on snake venom, but many

Indian scientists who knew him for his Raman Spectroscopy work were unaware that he also

worked on snake venom! I highly appreciated the views of Dr. Tu on India. He firmly believes

that India is one of the newly emerging economic powers in the world and he is confident about

the steady growth and progress of Indian science and technology.

Dr. Tu is the author of more than a dozen of books on snake venom toxins and on Raman

Spectroscopy. Some of which includes- Venoms: Chemistry and Molecular Biology; Natural

History of Venomous- Snakes; Raman Spectroscopy in Biology: Principals and Applications;

Biological Weapons: Terrorism and Defense etc. He also served as an Editor of many edited

books on toxins and venoms. Nonetheless, his most remarkable contribution lies in his editing 8

volumes of Handbook of Natural Toxins published by Marcel Dekker, New York. These books

mainly describe the biochemistry, pharmacology, immunochemistry and structural aspects of

venom and toxins of biological origin and their mechanism of action. Prof. Tu has published

many research papers on snake venom toxins and guided several graduate students for the PhD

degree.

I was really impressed to see the dedication of this great scientist towards his mission. Even at

this age, he has been enthralled and passionate about snake venom research and he maintains his

22


research publications in a very well structured manner. It took hardly few minutes for him to

search his selected published research papers from different file cabinets. It was a great honor

and fortune for me when Dr. Tu. presented to me his recently published book Sea snakes and

their Venom and put his autograph into it. I was enjoying the cherished, rare experience of my

life.

Prof. Tu was delighted to know about the recently formed ‘Toxinological Society of India’ and

he conveyed his good wishes for the society. Before bidding goodbye, I invited him to re-visit

India. Dr. Tu. politely accepted my proposal: “Sure. I would love to go to India”. My head

bowed down with a deep sense of respect and appreciation for Dr. Tu, a great researcher and

pedagogue I have ever come across in my life.

Dr. A. K. Mukherjee (left) with Dr. Anthony. T. Tu

23


LIST OF LIFE MEMBERS OF TOXINOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF INDIA (up to the

publication of newsletter)

Sl.

No.

Life Member No. Name& Address E-mail

1 TSI/LM/01 Prof(Dr) C R Maity, KPC

Medical College, Kolkata

[email protected]

2 TSI/LM/02 Prof A Gomes, Calcutta

University, Kokata

[email protected]

3 TSI/LM/03 Dr Aparna Gomes,

IICB(CSIR), Kolkata

[email protected]

4 TSI/LM/04 Prof S C Dasgupta,

Maulana Azad College,

Kolkata

[email protected]

5 TSI/LM/05 Dr Debasish

Bhattacharyya,

IICB(CSIR), Kolkata

[email protected]

6 TSI/LM/06 Dr Keya Chaudhuri,

IICB(CSIR), Kolkata

[email protected]

7 TSI/LM/07 Ms Payel Bhattacharjee,

IICB(CSIR), Kolkata

[email protected]

8 TSI/LM/08 Prof(Dr) S C Hazra, KPC

Medical College, Kolkata

[email protected]

9 TSI/LM/13 Dr Shila E Besra,

IICB(CSIR), Kolkata

[email protected]

10 TSI/LM/14 Dr Sulekha Bose, J N

College, Arunachal

Pradesh

[email protected]

11 TSI/LM/15 Dr Amita Moitra,

Bhagalpur University,

Bihar

[email protected]

24 24


12 TSI/LM/16 Prof Ashis K. Mukherjee,

Tezpur University, Assam

[email protected]/

[email protected]

13 TSI/LM/17 Prof(Dr) B Saha Dalal,

KPC Medical College,

Kolkata

[email protected]

14 TSI/LM/18 Dr J C Menon, MAGJ

Hospital, Kerala

[email protected]

15 TSI/LM/19 Dr H S Bawaskar,

Bawaskar Hospital &

Research Centre,

Maharastra

[email protected]

16 TSI/LM/20 Ms. Sanghamitra

Mukherjee, Maulana Azad

College, Kolkata

[email protected]

17 TSI/LM/21 Mr. Shamik Bhattacharya,

IICB(CSIR), Kolkata

[email protected]

18 TSI/LM/22 Dr. M.V. Khadilkar,

Premium Serum & Vaccine

Pvt. Ltd. Pune

[email protected]

19 TSI/LM/23 Ms. Tanaya Das,

IICB(CSIR), Kolkata

[email protected]

20 TSI/LM/24 Prof(Dr) B C Mazumdar,

KPC Medical College,

Kolkata

[email protected]

21 TSI/LM/25 Dr Archita Biswas,

IICB(CSIR), Kolkata

[email protected]

22 TSI/LM/26 Dr.Anindita Debnath,

School of Tropical

Medicine, Kolkata

[email protected]

23 TSI/LM/27 Dr.Robin Doley, Tezpur [email protected]

25


University, Assam.

24 TSI/LM/28 Mr. Ravindra Vijay Badhe.

Dr. D.Y.PATIL IPSR,

Pune

[email protected]

25 TSI/LM/29 Mrs. Sonali Ravindra

Badhe, Modern C P, Pune

[email protected]

26 TSI/LM/30 Ms. Rupamoni Thakur,

Tezpur University, Assam

[email protected]

27 TSI/LM/31 Dr Dibakar Charkraborty,

BITS Pilani, Goa

[email protected]

26


ANNOUNCEMENTS

TSI Oration Awards

In recognition of distinguished work in the field of toxinology the Toxinological Society of India

(TSI), proudly announce the following two awards

(a) Prof S. C. Lahiri Memorial Oration Award to Prof J W Fox of University of Virginia,

USA

(b) Prof A K Nag Choudhury Memorial Oration Award to Dr H S Bawaskar, Bawaskar

Hospital & Research Centre, India

Request for the Articles

For the next issue of our Newsletter, we welcome toxinology related articles (one to two pages),

book review, announcement of toxinological symposium and conferences in India and aboard

etc. We also like to give a wide publicity of toxinology related jobs, postdoctoral fellowship,

research scholarship, honor and awards received by our members. Your article / message

/information etc. may reach to the undersigned or any of the Associate Editors Dr. R. Doley (e-

mail: [email protected]) or Dr. A. Biswas (e-mail: [email protected]) preferably

within 15 April, 2012.Further, you are also requested to forward this message to your colleagues

and friends interested in toxinology research.

Opinion and suggestions/inputs from our esteemed members to improve the future version of the

Newsletter are most welcome.

Prof. A. K. Mukherjee

Editor-in-chief

27


Proposal for Hosting the 4th Annual Conference of TSI

Toxinological Society of India invites University / Research Institute / Medical Colleges / Serum

Manufacturing Companies / etc. to hold the 4th Annual Conference of Toxinological Society of

India for the year 2014. Please send your letter of intent / proposal through e-mail:

[email protected]

2nd Annual Conference of TSI

2nd Annual conference of the Toxinological Society of India (TSICON2012) will be held in

Mysore, in December 2012 under the leadership of Prof. B S Viswanath, Mysore University.

For details please contact: [email protected].

IST World Congress-2012

IST World Congress will be held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, Hawaii, July 8-13,

2012. For further details please visit the website http://www.istworldcongress17-

venomweek2012.org/.

28


29

Toxinological Society of India (Registered under West Bengal Society Act: No. S/1L/77216)

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION To The Secretary Toxinological Society of India Department of Biochemistry KPC Medical College & Hospital 1F, Raja S.C. Mallick Road, Jadavpur Kolkata – 700 032 Dear Sir, I wish to be Annual Member / Life Member / Corporate Member of the Toxinological Society of India. I am furnishing the required particulars below, and request you to kindly allow me to be a member of the Society. The fee* for Annual Membership / Life Membership / Corporate Membership is enclosed as a Demand Draft (No. __________ Dt _______), in the name of “Toxinological Society of India” payable at Kolkata. I am also enclosing a copy of my Curriculum Vitae and two recent Passport size photographs for your record. Yours sincerely, Place: Date: (Signature of the Applicant) (Signature of the Nominating member of TSI) Particulars of applicant Full Name (in Block Letters): ____________________________________________________________ Date of Birth: ____________ Qualifications ( Name of University, Year ) _________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Present Designation/ Department/ Institute/ Place: ___________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Permanent Address : ___________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address for Correspondence (With Phone No., & Email ID): ___________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ --------------------------------------------- For Official Use Only ------------------------------------------- Membership No. [ ] Approved [ ] Disapproved

Secretary, TSI Note: Duly filled application form along with the Bank Draft should be forwarded to : Prof. Antony Gomes Secretary, Toxinological society of India Lab. Of Toxinology & Exp. Pharmacodynamics, Department of Physiology, University of Calcutta 92, A. P. C. Road, Kolkata – 700 009 E-mail : [email protected] Mobile : +91-9433139031 Fax : 91-033-23519755

*Rs.1000 /4000 / 20,000 for Annual / Life / Corporate Membership respectively (May be paid in two installments in case of life membership only).

Toxinological Society of India (Reg No.S/1L/77216/2010-2011)

Reg. Office : Dept of Biochemistry KPC Medical College & Hospital

1F Raja S C Mallick Road, Jadavpur Kolkata 700 032

ADVERTISEMENT/DONATION CONTRACT FORM

Dear Sir,

It is a great pleasure to inform you that the Toxinological Society of India is going to publish in the forthcoming Newsletter/Souvenir /Report of the Society, which will have a wide publicity in the scientific, medical and industry The Society will be highly obliged, if the advertisement of your esteemed and reputed organization finds a place in our Newsletter/Souvenir /Report. The Society sincerely believed that TSI will not be deprived from your co operation..

Yours faithfully Prof Antony Gomes Secretary, TSI

Name of the Company: ……………………………………………………………………………

Postal Address: ………………………………………………………………………………..

City: ………………………….. State: …………………………. Pin: …………

Tel No. (O) …………………………………….. (R) …………………………………………...

Mobile: ……………………………………… E- mail:………………………………................

ADVERTISEMENT/DONATION CONTRACT FORM

I/ We the undersigned, do hereby contract and agree to use the space/acknowledgement for our Advertisement/Donation in the forthcoming Newsletter/Souvenir/report of the Toxinological Society of India at the following terms & conditions :

Space …………………………..Signature with seal &Date………………………………………..

Payment Rs………………in the name of “TOXINOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF INDIA”

(PLEASE ENCLOSE MATTER & CHEQUE/DRAFT)

Rate of advertisement: Full page(C) @10,000/Half page @5000/Quarter page@2500

Donation : as desired (only acknowledgement will be made)

newsletter edited 26-12-11

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