National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER)-Guwahati
Email: swapnil@niperguwahati.in/ swapnil.jd@niperguwahati.ac.in
The lab pursues research activities, which are divided into three major verticals i.e., MS-based proteomics, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK), and stability studies.
The group focuses on leveraging mass spectrometry techniques to further the understanding of biological processes through the qualification and quantification of proteins. The protein groups without prior knowledge in disease or exposure conditions are identified using an LC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS spectrometer. The targeted proteomics workflow utilizes LC-MS/MS (triple quadrupole) and Skyline ecosystem to quantify the identified proteins by bottom-up approaches.
We perform biotherapeutics characterization to investigate sequence coverage, stability, and types of glycans. The selective and sensitive assays of biotherapeutics for quantification are also developed by mass spectrometry.
We are involved in developing and validating the bioanalytical assays for quantification of small molecules from biological matrices. These assays would be implemented to investigate the pre-clinical pharmacokinetics. It is imperative to identify the metabolites of xenobiotics after they undergo metabolism. Depending on the structure and physicochemical properties, a metabolite can be active, non-active, or reactive. We perform the identification of metabolites in in-vivo and in-vitro models by employing LC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS technique.
The stability of drug molecules is an important aspect to ensure the safety and efficacy of the formulation. Forced degradation studies under various stress conditions are conducted to find the soft spots within the molecule that give rise to degradation products. We develop stability-indicating assay methods to quantify drugs in the presence of degradation products. The degradation products are identified by high-resolution mass spectrometry, NMR, and IR spectroscopy. It helps in establishing the degradation pathway and assessing the toxicity of degradation products using in-silico tools like DEREK Nexus.
