Dr. Bhupendra Kumar Verma

Present affiliation:

Associate Professor,
Department of Biotechnology,
All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS),
Ansari Nagar,
New Delhi-110029

Email ID: bverma@gmail.com, bverma@aiims.edu

Phone(O): +91-11-26593617

Lab Website: Dr. Bhupendra Kumar Verma

Education:

- PhD. Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, 2010
- MSc (Microbiology)  Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University, Ajmer, India, 2002

Teaching and Research Experience:  

• Assistant Professor, Department of Biotechnology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, 11/17 to 06/21
  
• Assistant Professor of Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, Sikkim University, Gangtok, Sikkim, 09/17 to 11/17
  
• Post-doctoral Researcher, Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Finland, 01/11 to 09/17
  
• Post-doctoral Researcher, New Jersey Medical School, UMDNJ, New Jersey, United States, 07/10 to 11/10
  

Research:

15 years of research experience in field of Molecular Biology, Virology, Post-transcriptional Gene regulation, RNA splicing etc.

Research Focus: DENV virus-host interaction, non-coding RNAs, Alternate Splicing

1. Characterization of non-coding RNA interactome in DENV pathophysiology:
   The global burden of dengue infection poses significant challenges in terms of medical treatment options, as there is a lack of effective therapeutic regimens. This highlights the need to expand our knowledge and deepen our mechanistic understanding of dengue infection in order to develop better strategies for its management. Upon viral infection, multiple-signaling cascades are activated. This leads to secretion of various molecules to combat the infection. RNases are one of those molecules that are activated upon infection. Several studies have shown modulation of RNases upon DENV infection. RNases are mainly involved in maintaining RNA homeostasis inside a cell under stressed conditions. These also acts upon different RNAs like mRNA, tRNA or rRNA to generate various non-coding RNAs (ncRNA). We aim to characterize ncRNA generation during DENV pathogenesis.




2. Modulation of gene regulatory networks in DENV pathophysiology:
   Although a great deal has been learned about the DENV biology in last decade, there are many regulatory networks of viral-host interactions which are yet to be known. In our lab, we are focusing to map novel regulatory posttranscriptional gene regulation circuits perturbed during pathogenesis of DENV. This will help us to understand how virus manipulates host gene regulation during course of infection and can we target this interaction for therapeutic purpose or as biomarker for severity of disease.

Collaborations

1- Juvenile Angiofibroma: Pathophysiology & Molecular Mechanisms (Department of Otorhinolaryngology, AIIMS, New Delhi)

Juvenile Angiofibroma (JA) is a benign yet rapidly expanding neoplasm within the posterior nasal cavity and nasopharynx, posing a potential life-threatening risk due to severe hemorrhage. JA primarily occurs sporadically and commonly manifests with symptoms such as nasal obstruction, epistaxis (nosebleeds), and related complications due to its location. The molecular and genetic understanding of JA is still evolving, but research has shed light on certain molecular and genetic factors that may contribute to the development of this rare tumor. We aim to functionally characterize the mutational spectrum involved in JA pathogenesis.

2- Characterizing mutations in Indian AT-patients (Division of Genetics, Department of Paediatrics, AIIMS, New Delhi)

Ataxia telangiectasia is an autosomal recessive and rare inherited childhood neurological disorder characterized by progressive neurologic impairment and cerebellar ataxia. It is caused by mutations in the ATM gene. Here, we are characterizing Indian AT-patients and aiming to target them with ASO therapy.

Publications: 

Google Scholar ID: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VkkZ9xAAAAAJ&hl=en
Scopus ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1731-5335

1. Sankar, A., Ravi Kumar Y,S., Singh, A., Roy, R., Shukla, R., & Verma, B. (2024). Next-Generation Therapeutics for Rare Genetic Disorders. Mutagenesis (Manuscript in press). IF : 2.8


2. Madhry, D., Malvankar, S., Phadnis, S., Srivastava, R. K., Bhattacharyya, S., & Verma, B. (2023). Synergistic correlation between host angiogenin and Dengue virus replication. RNA biology, 20(1), 805-816. IF : 4.7


3. Malvankar, S., Singh, A., Ravi Kumar Y,S., Sahu, S., Shah, M., Murghai, Y., Seervi, M., Srivastava, R, K., & Verma, B. (2023). Modulation of various host cellular machinery during COVID-19 infection Reviews in Medical Virology, e2481. IF : 11.09


4. Singh, A., Pandey, K.K., Kumar, S., Srivastava, R. K., & Verma, B. (2023). The SARS CoV-2 UTR’s Intrudes host RBPs and Modulates Cellular Splicing Advances in Virology. Apr 5;2023. IF : 2.2


5. Rai S, Bharti PS, Singh R, Rastogi S, Rani K, Sharma V, Gorai PK, Rani N, Verma BK , Reddy TJ, Modi GP, Inampudi KK, Pandey HC, Yadac S, Rajan R, Nikolajeff F, and Kumar S.(2023) Circulating plasma miR-23b-3p as a biomarker target for idiopathic Parkinson's disease: comparison with small extracellular vesicle miRNA. Frontiers in Neuroscience. 2023;17. IF: 4.3


6. Singh, A., Malvankar, S., Kumar, Y. R., Seervi, M., Srivastava, R. K., & Verma, B. (2022). Role of various non-coding RNAs in EMT, cancer, and metastasis: Recent trends and future perspective. Advances in Cancer Biology-Metastasis, 100039. IF: 5.7


7. Siddappa, R. Y., Aditya Rao, S. J., Usha, B. M., Verma, B., & Mahadevappa, P. (2022). Anti-proliferative Activity of Labdane Diterpenes Isolated from Polyalthiacerasoides and their Molecular Interaction Studies. Current Drug Discovery Technologies, 19(5), 78-85. IF: 0.3


8. Pandey, K.K., Madhry, D., Ravi Kumar Y.S., Malvankar, S., Sapra, L., Srivastava, R., Bhattacharyya, S., and Verma, B. (2021). Regulatory roles of tRNA-derived RNA fragments in human pathophysiology. Molecular Therapy- Nucleic Acids, 26, 161-173. IF-10.18


9. Madhrey, D., Pandey, K,K., Kaur, J., Rawat, Y., Sapra, Y., Ravikumar Y. S., Srivastava, R., Bhattacharyya, S., and Verma, B (2021). Role of non-coding RNAs in Dengue virus-host interaction. Front. Biosci. 13 (1), 44–55. IF-4.0


10. Bhardwaj, A., Sapra, A., Saini, C., Azam, Z., Mishra, P.K., Verma, B., Mishra, G.C., and Srivastava RK. COVID-19: Immunology, Immunopathogenesis and Potential Therapies. International Reviews of Immunology 2022 Feb 21;41(2):171-206 IF : 5.0


11. Sapra, L., Bhardwaj, A., Azam, Z., Madhry, D., Verma, B., Rathore, S., and. Srivastava, R. Phytotherapy for treatment of cytokine storm in COVID-19. Frontiers In Bioscience, Landmark. . 2021 Apr 30;26(5):51-75 IF : 4.0


12. Verma, B., Akinyi, M., Norppa, A. and Frilander, M. J. (2018). Minor splicing and diseases. Seminar in Cell and Developmental Biology, 79, 103-112. IF-6.6


13. Norppa, A., Kauppala, T.M., Heikkinen, H.A., Verma B, Iwai, H. and Frilander, M. J. (2018). Mutations in the U11/U12-65K protein associated with isolated growth hormone deficiency lead to structural destabilization and impaired binding of U12 snRNA. RNA, 24(3), 396-409. IF-4.0


14. Verbeeren, J., Verma, B., Niemela, EH., Yap, K., Makeyev, EV., and Frilander, MJ. (2017) Alternate 3’-terminal exon definition events control the choice between retention of U11/U12-65K mRNA in the nucleus and its export to the cytoplasm. PLOS Genetics. 13, e1006824. IF-5.1


15. Argente, J., Flores, R., Gutiérrez-Arumí, A^≠., Verma, B^≠., Martos-Moreno, G.A., Cuscó, I., Oghabian, A., Chowen, J.A., Frilander, M.J., and Pérez-Jurado, L.A. (2014). Defective minor spliceosome mRNA processing results in isolated familial growth hormone deficiency. EMBO Molecular Medicine. 6 (3), 299-306. IF-10.2
    (^≠ Equal contribution).


16. Turunen, J. J., Verma, B., Nyman, T. A., & Frilander, M. J. (2013). HnRNPH1/H2, U1 snRNP, and U11 snRNP cooperate to regulate the stability of the U11-48K pre-mRNA. RNA, 19(3), 380-389. IF-4.0


17. Turunen, J. J., Niemelä, E. H., Verma, B., & Frilander, M. J. (2013). The significant other: splicing by the minor spliceosome. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: RNA, 4(1), 61-76. IF-9.3


18. Verma, B., Ponnuswamy, A., Gnanasundram, S.V. and Das, S. (2011). Cryptic AUG is important for 48S ribosomal assembly during internal initiation of Coxsackievirus B3 RNA. Journal of General Virology. 92, 2310 - 2319. IF-5.14


19. Verma, B., Bhattacharyya, S. and Das, S. (2010). Polypyrimidine tract binding protein interacts with Coxsackievirus B3 RNA and influences its translation. Journal of General Virology. 91, 1245-1255. IF-5.14


20. Bhattacharyya, S¹.,Verma, B¹., Pandey, G. and Das, S. (2008). The structure and function of a cis-acting element located upstream of the IRES that influences Coxsackievirus B3 RNA translation. Virology.377(2):345-354 (Joint first author). IF-4.8

Book Chapters/Newsletters: 

1. Sinha, S., Phadnis, S., Roy, R., Singh, K., and Verma, B (2023). Immunotherapeutics & Viral Infections: Advances and Key Challenges (invited review). Immune Connect; Indian Immunological Society (IIS) 1^st Newsletter.


2. Meena, V., Sinha, S., and Verma, B (2022). Role of small non-coding RNAs in Reproductive Health (invited review). Indian Society for Study of Reproduction and Fertility (ISSRF) 28^th Newsletter (ISSN # 2395-2806).


3. Madhrey, D., Pandey, K. K., Malvankar, S., Kumar, S., Singh, A., Ravikumar Y. S., Srivastava, R., and Verma, B (2021). Various Transcriptomic approaches & their applications to study small non-coding RNAs in Dengue and other viruses. Book Chapter in press (Springer Nature book titled "Integrated-omics approaches to infectious disease")


4. Singh, A., Malvankar, S., Pandey, K.K., Kumar, S., Srivastava, R., and Verma, B. (2021). Transcriptomics Approaches To Study Role Of Ncrnas In Reproductive Health (invited review). Indian Society for Study of Reproduction and Fertility (ISSRF) 27^{th Newsletter (ISSN # 2395-2806).}


5. Malvankar, S., Madhrey, D., and Verma, B (2020). Nano-delivery of small non-coding RNA as a therapeutic approach to treat Reproductive Diseases (invited review). Indian Society for Study of Reproduction and Fertility (ISSRF) 25^th Newsletter (ISSN # 2395-2806).


6. Madhrey, D., Ravikumar Y. S. and Verma, B (2019). tRNA derived RNA fragments: ncRNAs and reproductive health, (invited review). Indian Society for Study of Reproduction and Fertility (ISSRF) 24^th Newsletter (2019, Sep., 24, 52-54), (ISSN # 2395-2806).


7. Invited blog article in Nature India (April 2013).
   Away from home: Coping with Northern lights & darkness: Blog talking about my own scientific research and life as a postdoctoral researcher in Finland. url: http://blogs.nature.com/indigenus/2013/04/away-from-home-coping-with-northern-lights-darkness.html

Fellowships and Awards:

• Academy of Finland funding for postdoctoral researcher 2014 for project "Mechanistic analysis of human diseases affecting U12-type splicing"

• Henning Andersen Prize. For the best abstract 2013 in Clinical science:                    
"A new molecular mechanism for severe familial isolated growth hormone deficiency (IGHD) type I due to mutations in the RNPC3 gene encoding the minor spliceosome 65KDa protein".

9^th Joint meeting of Paediatric Endocrinology. September 19-22, Milan, Italy. Sponsored by Nova Nordisk.

•  Qualified NET-JRF, Conducted by CSIR-UGC in December 2003

I am open to discussing and supporting self-motivated, diligent, and talented candidates who are seeking Post-doctoral fellowships or scientist positions funded by agencies such as DBT/DST and ICMR. Prospective candidates are encouraged to reach out via email, providing a 1-page write-up, CV, and three references.

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