Raghavan Varadarajan

Development of a thermostable and broadly neutralizing pan-sarbecovirus vaccine candidate

This paper develops a thermostable, broadly neutralizing pan-sarbecovirus vaccine candidate using stabilized RBD derivatives from multiple sarbecovirus clades, showing enhanced thermal stability and immunogenicity in mice.

Charged Scanning Mutagenesis as a High Throughput Approach for Epitope Mapping

This study introduces a high-throughput method for epitope mapping using charged scanning mutagenesis and flow cytometry, identifying epitopes in SARS-CoV-2 RBD targeted by polyclonal sera.

CcdA chaperones CcdB against irreversible misfolding and aggregation via a cotranslational folding mechanism

The paper shows that CcdA suppresses folding defects in CcdB mutants through cotranslational assembly, highlighting the importance of operon structure in protein complex formation.

Early 2022 breakthrough infection sera from India target the conserved cryptic class 5 epitope to counteract immune escape by SARS-CoV-2 variants

This study analyzes sera from Indian breakthrough infection patients vaccinated with ChAdOx, identifying broad neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 variants, primarily targeting a conserved cryptic class 5 epitope.

Ex Vivo Delivery of mRNA to Immune Cells Via a Non-Endosomal Route Obviates the Need for Nucleoside Modification

This study shows that unmodified mRNA can be effectively delivered to immune cells ex vivo via a non-endosomal route without needing nucleoside modifications.

Improved prediction of stabilizing mutations in proteins by incorporation of mutational effects on ligand binding

The paper improves stabilizing mutation prediction by combining computational methods with experimental data, achieving higher precision and thermal stability increases.

Molecular bases for strong phenotypic effects of single-site synonymous substitutions in the E.coli ccdB toxin gene

The paper assesses the phenotypic effects of synonymous mutations in the E. coli ccdB gene by analyzing their impact on translation initiation and protein folding.

The high mutational sensitivity of ccdA antitoxin is linked to codon optimality

The paper shows that ccdA antitoxin in E. coli is highly sensitive to mutations, including synonymous ones, due to codon usage and operonic context effects on translation efficiency.

A facile method of mapping HIV-1 neutralizing epitopes using chemically masked cysteines and deep sequencing

This paper introduces a method to map HIV-1 neutralizing epitopes using Cys labeling, neutralization assays, and deep sequencing, validated against known structural epitopes.

Loss of function from widely distributed, synonymous mutations at single codons

The paper shows that synonymous mutations can cause loss of function by altering RNA structure and gene expression ratios, validated in multiple operons.