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. 2021 Dec 8;13(6):821–824. doi: 10.1007/s12551-021-00898-3

Biophysical Reviews’ “Meet the Councilor Series”—a profile of Kandala V. R. Chary

Kandala V R Chary 1,✉
PMCID: PMC8724384  PMID: 35059000

Abstract

It gives me great pleasure to introduce myself to the readers of Biophysical Reviews. I share a brief account of my career and experiences in biophysical research spanning four decades. For the most of this period, I have worked at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai and Hyderabad.

Research in biophysics

During the last four decades, the technology of NMR spectroscopy has undergone unparalleled advances resulting in enormous enhancements in sensitivity and resolution. To spearhead this research, the National Facility for High Field NMR was established at TIFR, Mumbai, in 1983, where I began my research career immediately after the PhD and was associated with this facility since its inception.

At the National Facility for High Field NMR (TIFR), I have contributed to the development of rapid NMR methods, which speed up both the acquisition and analysis of multidimensional NMR data by several orders of magnitude and simultaneously resolve chemical-shift degeneracy, thus expanding the capability of NMR. These methods render information about various redundant chemical shifts, pseudo-contact shifts and coupling constants with high precision and accomplish stereo-specific resonance assignments in proteins (Chary and Modi 1988; Chary et al. 1991, 1994; Atreya et al. 2000; Atreya and Chary 2001; Atreya et al. 2003a, b; Barnwal et al. 2008a; Barnwal et al. 2008b; Barnwal et al. 2008c; Singh et al. 2013).

Besides contributing to development of NMR methodology, I have been interested in employing the same in understanding biological phenomena. I have explored the structure–function paradigm in several systems through structural investigations of DNA and protein molecules. My early work on biologically rare forms of DNA yielded insights into sequence-dependent structural variations in duplex DNAs (Chary and Modi 1988; Chary et al. 1988, 1989), duplex mismatches, hair-pin bends and strand disproportionation in adopting triplex and parallel stranded DNA structures (Bhaumik et al. 1995, 1998; Rani Parvathy et al. 2002). A very important finding was that triplexes are subject to strand slippages in one setting, while in another the same act as a rigid hindrance for incoming DNA replication (an un-anticipated DNA dynamics; Karthikeyan et al. 1999).

Apart from the studies of polynucleotides, I have worked on the behaviour of calcium-binding proteins from Entamoeba, archaea and human (Sahu et al. 1999; Atreya et al. 2001). Ca2+ signalling is involved in exocytosis and phagocytosis and plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of Entamoeba histolytica (Atreya et al. 2003a, b; Mukherjee et al. 2005; Mustafi et al. 2009; Rout et al. 2011, 2013). With structural characterisation of four Ca2+-binding proteins from E. histolytica, my group has enhanced our understanding of the Ca2+ signalling in this organism. I along with my collaborators discovered that the localisation of one such protein, EhCaBP6, in the nucleus is dependent on its ability to bind Ca2+. This work also characterised EhCaBP6 as a functional equivalent of calmodulin in E. histolytica (Verma et al. 2017). Extending my interests on other calcium sensors, my work on neuronal calcium sensor-1 protein demonstrated that the plasticity and signalling in neurons are affected by myristoylation of this protein (Jeromin et al. 2004; Aravind et al. 2008; Rajanikanth et al. 2015).

In the pursuit of understanding the evolution of lens βγ-crystallins, I have noticed peculiar properties in homologous proteins from bacteria and archaea (Barnwal et al. 2009; Srivastava et al. 2010; Srivastava and Chary 2011; Patel et al. 2014). I have also studied mutants of human lens γS-crystallin to unravel their roles in cataract formation. In one such study, we found unusually solvent-exposed Trp in γS-crystallin, causing aggregation (Bari et al. 2019). My group has also studied metabolic changes of live Chlamydomonas reinhardtii for an understanding of differential accumulation and mobilisation of starch or/and lipids in this organism (Singh et al. 2016).

Involvement in scientific interactions and education

I have been highly enthusiastic about exchanging scientific ideas. As a result, I have conducted or been invited to several such platforms like conferences and workshops of international level. I was one of the faculty at the International Workshop on “High throughput NMR structure determination of proteins and peptides in the post-genomic era”, held in Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan (2003), and the IUPAB and JASS sponsored Winter School (2004) on “NMR Spectroscopy at the Frontier of Progress in the Life Sciences”, held at the Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, Japan, (2004). A few more examples of events where I was an invited speaker are the International Union for Pure and Applied Biophysics (IUPAB) sponsored workshop on “Education and Capacity Building in Biophysics” held at IIT Roorkee (February 2002), symposia of Asian Biophysics Association and the International Conferences on Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems (ICMRBS). I have been an Elected Chairperson (2012–2014), International Council on Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems; an International Advisory Board Member, ICMRBS (2005–2016); an Elected Chairman, Royal Society of Chemistry, West India Sect. (2010–2012); a Member of the International Union for Pure and Applied Biophysics (IUPAB) “Task Force on NMR of Biological Systems” (2002–2014); an Elected Vice-President of “National Magnetic Resonance Society, India” (2021-); Executive Council Member, NASI, Allahabad (2016–2018) and elected as the President of “Indian Biophysical Society” (2011–2013).

My academic interactions with scientists from many institutes within the country and abroad have led to several fruitful collaborations. One of them is the link with the European Union Large Scale Facility for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in life sciences (CERM) at Florence, Italy. I was part of the Marie Curie International Research Staff Exchange Scheme under the Seventh Framework Programme of European Union (2010–2014). This programme enabled TIFR to attract many distinguished scientists from different parts of the world, to spend some time at TIFR for carrying out their own research and also to involve in scientific collaborations. Considering the need, I also authored a text book on NMR, useful for university students and researchers (Chary and Govil 2008).

I have had the privilege of interacting with various brilliant researchers within India and abroad. Dr. Todd Miles (NIH, Bethesda, USA), Late Professor Girjesh Govil from TIFR, Professor Kurt Wüthrich (ETH, Zurich, Switzerland), Professor Claudio Luchinat (CERM, Florence, Italy), Professor Alok Bhattacharya now at the Ashoka University, Professor Umesh Varshney (IISc, Bangalore) and Dr. Yogendra Sharma (CCMB, Hyderabad), who is presently the Deputy Director of IISER Berhampur, are a few such examples. I consider these associations one of the most prized gifts of my profession.

While at TIFR, I took leadership roles in outreach activities of the National Facility for High-Field NMR (TIFR), Chemistry Department (TIFR), Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (Mumbai), Indian Academies and Visiting Students Research Programmes. As the Vice-Chairman (2005–2009), the Chairman (2010–2012) and ex-officio of RSC West India Sect. (2012–2018), I endeavoured to disseminate information on scientific research and its outcome. I extensively lectured at undergraduate and post-graduate colleges in the West India and continue to do now in the East India. I like to encourage young minds to take up science as a profession. I have taught in India, Europe, China, Japan and Taiwan in several capacities. These education and outreach activities are in addition to eighteen PhD students and several interns mentored by me.

Establishment of new institutions

As a scientist, I understand the significance of a value-based scientific institution and creation of such environment very well. I was actively involved in the development of the new academic-cum-residential campuses of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Hyderabad (TIFR; 2007–2017) and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Berhampur, India (2017–present). Since its inception in 1945, TIFR has always taken novel initiatives in diverse emerging areas of basic sciences. In 2007, when the Mumbai campus of TIFR was brimming with high intellectual density, a new location had to be found for extending the campus. Then, I conceptualised, procured the site and was involved in the development of the new campus of TIFR, at Hyderabad (presently named as TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Science (TCIS)). Much of my research work during this period was carried out at TCIS. As aspired by me, in these years, the new TIFR Hyderabad campus has grown up to be a Centre of Excellence in basic sciences.

In 2017, the erstwhile Ministry of Human Resource Development (recently named as Ministry of Education), Government of India, entrusted me with the responsibility of developing, nurturing and navigating the new Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Berhampur Campus as its founding director. It is the youngest and the seventh Centre of Excellence in the family of IISER institutions in India, dedicated to teaching and research in basic sciences, located at Berhampur, Odisha. For the last 4 years, I have been dedicated to developing IISER Berhampur into an ideal organisation, with its up-to-date curriculum, advanced research laboratories and a world-class faculty.

Acknowledgements

The facilities provided by the National Facility for High-Field NMR at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, supported by Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, are acknowledged. Thanks to DST(GOI) for the JC Bose National Fellowship bestowed on me. My research supported by the Ministry of Education (Government of India) is acknowledged.

Declarations

Conflict of interest

The author declares no competing interests.

Footnotes

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

References

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