Utkarsh Raj

Dr. Utkarsh Raj


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

12Years (2015-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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7 October 2016 in Scientific Reports
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IAImlimaong Aier
Imlimaong Aier
PVPRITISH VARADWAJ
PRITISH VARADWAJ
URUtkarsh Raj
Utkarsh Raj
Polycomb group (PcG) proteins have been observed to maintain the pattern of histone by methylation of the histone tail responsible for the gene expression in various cellular processes, of which enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) acts as tumor suppressor. Overexpression of EZH2 results in hyper activation found in a variety of cancer. Point mutation on two important residues were induced and the results were compared between the wild type and mutant EZH2. The mutation of Y641 and A677 present in the active region of the protein alters the interaction of the top ranked compound with the newly modeled binding groove of the SET domain, giving a GLIDE score of −12.26 kcal/mol, better than that of the wild type at −11.664 kcal/mol. In depth analysis were carried out for understanding the underlying molecular mechanism using techniques viz. molecular dynamics, principal component analysis, residue interaction network and free energy landscape analysis, which showed that the mutated residues changed the overall conformation of the system along with the residue-residue interaction network. The insight from this study could be of great relevance while designing new compounds for EZH2 enzyme inhibition and the effect of mutation on the overall binding mechanism of the system.

19 August 2015 in Interdisciplinary Sciences: Computational Life Sciences
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URUtkarsh Raj
Utkarsh Raj
PVPRITISH VARADWAJ
PRITISH VARADWAJ

14 May 2020 in Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology
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ASAditya Saxena
Aditya Saxena
UCUma Chaudhary
Uma Chaudhary
ABAlok Bhardwaj
Alok Bhardwaj
NWNitin Wahi
Nitin Wahi
JKJitender Reddy Kalli
Jitender Reddy Kalli
URUtkarsh Raj
Utkarsh Raj
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) rose without precedent for Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It is a kind of exceptionally pathogenic human coronavirus (HCoV) which causes zoonotic sicknesses and represents a significant risk to general wellbeing. Recognizing the hidden biology and pathogenesis of this novel coronavirus is extremely critical to comprehend as well as boosting the treatment of this deadly pandemic. The point of this study is to recognize key genes which show significant expression in the SARS-CoV-2 infected lungs as compared to healthy ones. Our analysis uncovered 149 gene-signatures that show substantial up-regulation in COVID-19 lungs. Out of these, top ten dysregulated genes STAP1, CASP5, FDCSP, CARD17, ST20, AKR1B10, CLC, KCNJ2-AS1, RNASE2 and FLG are found to be significant based on various crucial statistical factors and may end up being acceptable helpful drug targets.

23 January 2020 in Current Genomics
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NRNimisha Roy
Nimisha Roy
URUtkarsh Raj
Utkarsh Raj
SRSneha Rai
Sneha Rai
PVPRITISH VARADWAJ
PRITISH VARADWAJ
Background: Even after decades of research, cancer, by and large, remains a challenge and is one of the major causes of death worldwide. For a very long time, it was believed that cancer is simply an outcome of changes at the genetic level but today, it has become a well-established fact that both genetics and epigenetics work together resulting in the transformation of normal cells to cancerous cells. Objective: In the present scenario, researchers are focusing on targeting epigenetic machinery. The main advantage of targeting epigenetic mechanisms is their reversibility. Thus, cells can be reprogrammed to their normal state. Graph theory is a powerful gift of mathematics which allows us to understand complex networks. Methodology: In this study, graph theory was utilized for quantitative analysis of the epigenetic network of hepato-cellular carcinoma (HCC) and subsequently finding out the important vertices in the network thus obtained. Secondly, this network was utilized to locate novel targets for hepato-cellular carcinoma epigenetic therapy. Results: The vertices represent the genes involved in the epigenetic mechanism of HCC. Topological parameters like clustering coefficient, eccentricity, degree, etc. have been evaluated for the assessment of the essentiality of the node in the epigenetic network. Conclusion: The top ten novel epigenetic target genes involved in HCC reported in this study are cdk6, cdk4, cdkn2a, smad7, smad3, ccnd1, e2f1, sf3b1, ctnnb1, and tgfb1.

6 February 2015 in Interdisciplinary Sciences: Computational Life Sciences
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URUtkarsh Raj
Utkarsh Raj
PVPRITISH VARADWAJ
PRITISH VARADWAJ

13 February 2020 in Letters in Drug Design & Discovery
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SGSarvesh Kumar Gupta
Sarvesh Kumar Gupta
KCKamal Kumar Chaudhary
Kamal Kumar Chaudhary
URUtkarsh Raj
Utkarsh Raj
NMNidhi Mishra
Nidhi Mishra
Erratum For Computational Identification of Inhibitors Against DPP-IV for Checking Type-2 Diabetes