Research Projects

A novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of COVID-19 and continues to be a global health challenge. Proteo genomic analysis using next generation sequencing (NGS) and mass spectrometry on nasopharyngeal swabs of COVID-19 patients to examine clinical genome and proteome is carried out. The study confirms the mutability of SARS-CoV-2 showing multiple SNPs. Host proteome analysis revealed several key host proteins to be uniquely expressed in COVID-19 patients. Pathway analysis of these proteins points towards modulation in immune response, especially involving neutrophil and IL-12 mediated signaling. Besides revealing the aspects of host-virus pathogenesis, the study opens new avenues to develop better diagnostic markers and therapeutic approaches.