University of the Punjab.

I am a protein chemist with specialisation in biological mass spectrometry. My research focuses on the production of recombinant proteins mainly biopharmaceuticals; insulin and its precursors, interferon, in vitro refolding, enzymes of biopharmaceutical importance, and serum amyloid proteins involved in amyloidosis and diseased conditions. My group also excels in expressing eukaryotic proteins with signal peptide, to explore the significance of signal peptide in expression and refolding of proteins. All these studies involve the structural elucidation of proteins using biophysical techniques mainly mass spectrometry which is indispensable for the characterization of any biological molecule or a chemical compound. I employ mass spectrometric approach on various structural problems of proteins which includes:
• Intact protein mass (unlabeled, 13C and 15N labelled, perdeuterio),
• Structural elucidation of properly refolded and misfolded proteins,
• N-terminal processing, post-translational and chemical modification of protein by proteomics and de novo sequencing,
• Enzyme kinetics in-conjunction to mass spectrometry,
• Proteomics and Glycoproteomics
I am an in charge of central mass spectrometric, protein purification facilities and radioactive laboratory. The maintenance of mass spectrometers is a big challenge especially when the warranty time has come to an end. With the help of our local distributor’s engineers, I have been fully involved in this challenging task and that our systems remain updated to produce amenable results. In this regard, looking at the good practices of running mass spectrometer and its usage, I have been awarded HEC grant for the maintenance of the MALDI mass spectrometer.
Research Interests:
Biological Mass Spectrometry,
Insulin and Proinsulin Production,
Enzymology, Amyloidosis and Fibrillation