ACADEMICS

Dr. Akhtar Hussain

Designation: Assistant Professor

Address for correspondence:

Department of Chemistry

Handique Girls’ College, Guwahati 781001, Assam, India

Email: akhtariisc@gmail.com 

h-index = 21

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6742-3321   

ResearcherID: H-7523-2014

Scopus ID: 55112534300

Citations: 1221

EDUCATION

Ph.D.: Medicinal Inorganic Chemistry at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India                 2007-2012

M.Sc.: Chemistry (Specialization in Inorganic Chemistry) at Gauhati University, Guwahati, India         2004-2006

B.Sc.: Chemistry (Major), Physics, and Mathematics at Gauhati University, Guwahati, India               2001-2004

RESEARCH EXPERIENCES

❖ Synthetic expertise: Design and multistep synthesis of organic ligands and their metal complexes. Design and synthesis of receptor-targeted organic ligands and metal complexes. Separation and purification of organic compounds and metal complexes. Crystallization of organic compounds and metal complexes by various techniques. Manipulations of air and moisture-sensitive compounds using Schlenk techniques.

❖ X-ray crystallography: Structure solution and refinement using SHELXTL, SHELX, WINGX, and other crystallographic software.

❖ Spectroscopy: Operation and handling of IR, UV-visible, and fluorescence spectrometers. Analysis and interpretation of IR, electronic and mass, EPR, NMR spectral, and magnetic moment data for the characterization of ligands and metal complexes.

❖ Electrochemistry: Studies of redox properties of metal complexes by cyclic and differential pulse voltammetry.

❖ DNA and protein binding studies: Studies of the binding of small molecules to DNA and protein by various techniques such as emission spectroscopy, absorption spectroscopy, DNA melting, and viscosity studies.

❖ DNA and protein cleavage studies: Studies of the cleavage of plasmid supercoiled DNA by metal complexes via oxidative (chemical nuclease and photonuclease) and hydrolytic pathways using agarose gel-electrophoresis technique. Protein cleavage studies by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Mechanistic investigations of cleavage pathways. Operation of various kinds of lasers and photoreactors for photobiochemical reactions.

❖ Cellular studies: Tissue culture and cytotoxicity studies using various cancer and normal cell lines and multicellular tumor spheroids (MCTSs). Mechanistic studies of cell death induced by cytotoxic organic compounds and metal complexes using fluorescence microscopic techniques such as Flow cytometry, EB/AO dual staining, DNA laddering, and DCF assay. Investigations of the cellular uptake and localization behavior of compounds by fluorescence confocal microscopy. In Vivo anticancer efficacy of metallodrugs.

❖ Theoretical Studies: Density Functional Theory (DFT) with energy minimization, and HOMO-LUMO calculations.

EQUIPMENT SKILLS

Bruker and Perkin Elmer FT-IR, Perkin-Elmer, Varian Cary Bio, Hitachi UV-visible spectrophotometers with Peltier system, Perkin Elmer Luminescence spectrophotometer, EG & G PAR and CH Instruments, Biologic France electrochemical systems, UVITECH Gel documentation system, Spectra-Physics made Water-Cooled Mixed-Gas Ion CW Laser, Photoreactor (UV as well as visible light), Waldman PDT 1200L model Germany, Diode lasers, CW He-Ne laser (Scientifica-Cook Ltd. make, UK), Schott Gerate AVS 310 Automated Viscometer, Maintenance of various other analytical instruments.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

1. Organelle-specific transition metal-based drugs as cancer phototheranostic agents.

2. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) using metal complexes to fight drug resistance.

3. Anticancer metal complexes with improved selectivity and bioavailability to overcome drug resistance.

4. Ferrocene conjugated metal complexes as anticancer and antibacterial agents.

5. Lanthanide complexes as bimodal agents for imaging and therapy.

MAJOR RESEARCH PROJECTS

1. Studies on some novel mixed ligand transition metal complexes showing near IR and visible light-induced PDT effect and anticancer activity.

Funding agency: Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of India.      

Duration: 2014-2017 (completed)

Role: PI 

Amount: 86.13 lakhs

2. Synthesis, characterization, and evaluation of anticancer activity of novel bioessential transition metal complexes having tumor targeting and antitumor active ligands 

Funding agency: Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of India.

Duration: 2015-2018 (completed)

Role: PI   

Amount: 113.40 lakhs

 

3. Development of novel rationally designed ferrocene, glucose, and folic acid conjugated lanthanide(III), iron(III), and cobalt(III) complexes as antibacterial and theranostic anticancer agents

Funding agency: Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of India.

Duration: 2020-2023 (completed)

Role: PI    

Amount: 100.40 lakhs

4. Development of novel gallium-based metallodrugs as chemotherapeutic anticancer agents

Funding agency: Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of India.

Duration: 2021-2024 (Ongoing)

Role: PI    

Amount: 50.00 lakhs

5. Targeting bacterial biofilms with polyphenol loaded and silver doped ZnO nanoparticles: Prospects for agro-horticultural applications 

Funding agency: Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of India.

Duration: 2022-2026 (Ongoing)

Role: Co-PI    

Amount: 57.76 lakhs

 

Research Publications

29. B. Deka, T. Sarkar, A. Bhattacharyya, R. J. Butcher, S. Banerjee, S. Deka, K. K. Saikia, and A. Hussain Synthesis, characterization, and cancer cell-selective cytotoxicity of mixed-ligand cobalt(III) complexes of 8-hydroxyquinolines and phenanthroline bases. Dalton Trans., 53, 4952-4961, 2024 (Cover page and HOT article)

28. T. Sarkar, S. Sahoo, S. Neekhra, M. Paul, Swati Biswas, B. N. Babu, R. Srivastava, and A. Hussain A Dipyridophenazine Ni(II) Dithiolene Complex as a Dual-Acting Cancer Phototherapy Agent Activatable Within the Phototherapeutic Window. Eur. J. Med. Chem., 261, 115816, 2023

27. T. Sarkar, A. Kumar, S. Sahoo, and A. Hussain Mixed-Ligand Cobalt(III) Complexes of a Naturally Occurring Coumarin and Phenanthroline Bases as Mitochondria-Targeted Dual-Purpose Photochemotherapeutics. Inorg. Chem., 60, 6649–6662, 2021

26. T. Sarkar, A. Bhattacharyya, S. Banerjee, and A. Hussain LMCT Transition-Based Red-Light Photochemotherapy by Using a Tumour-Selective Ferrocenyl Iron(III) Coumarin Conjugate Chem. Commun., 56, 7981–7984, 2020

25. B. Deka, A. Bhattacharyya, S. Mukherjee, T. Sarkar, K. Soni, S. Banerjee, K. K. Saikia, S. Deka, and A. Hussain Ferrocene Conjugated Copper(II) Complexes of Terpyridine and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Anticancer Ligands Showing Selective Toxicity Towards Cancer Cells, Appl. Organometal. Chem., 32, e4287, 2018

24. B. Deka, T. Sarkar, S. Banerjee, A. Kumar, S. Mukherjee, S. Deka, K. K. Saikia, and A. Hussain Novel Mitochondria Targeted Copper(II) Complexes of Ferrocenyl Terpyridine and Anticancer Active 8- Hydroxyquinolines Showing Remarkable Cytotoxicity, DNA and Protein Binding Affinity, Dalton Trans., 46, 396–409, 2017

23. T. Sarkar, S. Banerjee, S. Mukherjee, and A. Hussain Mitochondrial Selectivity and Remarkable Photocytotoxicity of a Ferrocenyl Neodymium(III) Complex of Terpyridine and Curcumin in Cancer Cells, Dalton Trans., 45, 6424–6438, 2016

22. T. Sarkar, R. J. Butcher, S. Banerjee, S. Mukherjee, and A. Hussain Visible Light-Induced Cytotoxicity of a Dinuclear Iron(III) Complex of Curcumin with Low-Micromolar IC50 Value in Cancer Cells, Inorg. Chim. Acta, 439, 8–17, 2016

21 T. Sarkar, S. Banerjee, and A. Hussain Significant Photocytotoxic Effect of an Iron(III) Complex of a Schiff Base Ligand Derived from Vitamin B6 and Thiosemicarbazide in Visible Light, RSC Adv., 5, 29276–29284, 2015

20. T. Sarkar, S. Banerjee, and  A. Hussain Remarkable Visible Light Triggered Cytotoxicity of Mitochondria Targeting Mixed-Ligand Cobalt(III) Complexes of Curcumin and Phenanthroline Bases Binding to Human Serum Albumin, RSC Adv., 5, 16641–16653, 2015

19. U. Basu, I. Pant, I. Khan, A. Hussain, P. Kondaiah, and A. R. Chakravarty Iron(III) Schiff Base Complexes of a Pyridoxal Derivative for Enhanced Cellular Uptake with Selectivity and Remarkable Photocytotoxicity Inorg. Chem., 54, 3748-3758, 2015

18. S. Banerjee, I. Pant, I. Khan, P. Prasad, A. Hussain, P. Kondaiah, and A. R. Chakravarty Remarkable Enhancement in Photocytotoxicity and Hydrolytic Stability of Curcumin on Binding to an Oxovanadium(IV) Moiety, Dalton Trans., 44, 4108-4122, 2015

17. U. Basu, I. Khan, A. Hussain, B. Gole, P. Kondaiah, and A. R. Chakravarty Carbohydrate-Appended Tumor Targeting Iron(III) Complexes Showing Photocytotoxicity in Red Light, Inorg. Chem., 53, 2152−2162, 2014

16. B. Banik, K. Somyajit, A. Hussain, G. Nagaraju, and A. R. Chakravarty Carbohydrate-Appended Photocytotoxic (Imidazophenanthroline)-Oxovanadium(IV) Complexes for Cellular Targeting and Imaging, Dalton Trans., 43, 1321-1331, 2014

15. A. Garai, U. Basu, I. Khan, I. Pant, A. Hussain, P. Kondaiah, and A. R. Chakravarty Iron(III) Benzhydroxamates of Dipicolylamines for Photocytotoxicity in Red Light and Cellular Imaging, Polyhedron, 73, 124–132, 2014

14. S. Banerjee, P. Prasad, I. Khan, A. Hussain, P. Kondaiah, and A. R. Chakravarty Mitochondria Targeting Photocytotoxic Oxidovanadium(IV) Complexes of Curcumin and (Acridinyl)Dipyridophenazine in Visible Light, Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem. (ZAAC), 640, 1195-1204, 2014

13. U. Basu, I. Pant, I. Khan, A. Hussain, P. Kondaiah, and A. R. Chakravarty Iron(III) Catecholates for Cellular Imaging and Photocytotoxicity in Red Light, Chem. Asian J., 9, 2494-2504 2014

12. S. Saha, R. Majumdar, A. Hussain, R. R. Dighe and A. R. Chakravarty Biotin-Conjugated Tumor-Targeting Photocytotoxic Iron(III) Complexes Philos. Trans. A Math. Phys. Eng. Sci. 371, 20120190, 2013

11. A. Hussain, K. Somyajit, B. Banik, G. Nagaraju, and A. R. Chakravarty Remarkable Photoactivated Anticancer Activity of Lanthanide(III) Complexes of Curcumin and Terpyridine Bases Dalton Trans., 42, 182–195, 2013

10. A. Hussain, and A. R.Chakravarty Photocytotoxic Lanthanide(III) Complexes, J. Chem. Sci., 124, 1327-1342, 2012

9. U. Basu, I. Khan, A. Hussain, P. Kondaiah, and A. R. Chakravarty Photodynamic Effect in Near-IR Light by a Remarkably Photocytotoxic Iron(III) Cellular Imaging Agent Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 51, 2658-2661, 2012

8. S. Banerjee, A. Hussain, P. Prasad, I. Khan, B. Banik, P. Kondaiah, and A. R. Chakravarty Photocytotoxic Oxidovanadium(IV) Complexes of Polypyridyl Ligands Showing DNA Cleavage Activity in Near-IR Light, Eur. J. Inorg. Chem., 3899-3908, 2012

7. S. Banerjee, A. Hussain, I. Khan, P. Prasad, P. Kondaiah, and A. R. Chakravarty Remarkable Photocytotoxicity of Curcumin in Hela Cells in Visible Light and Arresting its Degradation on Oxovanadium(IV) Complex Formation, Chem. Commun., 48, 7702-7704, 2012

6. A. Hussain, S. Gadadhar, T. K. Goswami, A. A. Karande, and A. R. Chakravarty: Photo-Induced DNA Cleavage Activity and Remarkable Photocytotoxicity of Lanthanide(III) Complexes of a Polypyridyl Ligand, Dalton Trans., 41, 885–895, 2012

5. A. Hussain, S. Gadadhar, T. K. Goswami, A. A. Karande, and A. R. Chakravarty Photoactivated DNA Cleavage and Anticancer Activity of Pyrenyl Terpyridine Lanthanide Complexes Eur. J. Med. Chem., 50, 319–331, 2012

4. A. Hussain, S. Saha, R. Majumdar, R. R. Dighe, and A. R. Chakravarty Photocytotoxicity and DNA Photocleavage Activity of La(III) and Gd(III) complexes of Phenanthroline Bases Ind. J. Chem. Sec. A, 2011, 50A, 519–530, 2011

3. A. Hussain, D. Lahiri, M. S. A. Begum, S. Saha, R. Majumdar, R. R. Dighe, and A. R. Chakravarty Photocytotoxic Lanthanum(III) and Gadolinium(III)Complexes of Phenanthroline Bases Showing Light-Induced DNA Cleavage Activity Inorg.Chem., 49, 4036–4045, 2010

2. M. S. A. Begum, S. Saha, A. Hussain, and A. R. Chakravarty Synthesis, Crystal Structure and DNA Cleavage Activity of (Aqua)Bis(Dipyridophenazine)

Copper(II) Complex, Ind. J. Chem. Sec. A, 48, 9–14, 2009

1. A. Hussain, M. Sarma, and D. K. Das Significant Effect of Egg Albumin on the Redox Potential of Vitamin K3, J. Assam Sci. Soc., 47, 11–14, 2006

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

1. Invited Resource Person in the One-week National Workshop on Intellectual Property Rights, Academic Ethics and Innovation for Entrepreneurship Development (NWIPR-2023), Handique Girls’ College, Guwahati, 2023

2. Invited Resource Person in the One-day workshop on Laboratory Safety Rangia College, Rangia, Assam, 2023

3. Invited Resource person in the Two-day workshop on Good Laboratory Practice, Chemical Safety, and Use of Scientific Softwares Handique Girls’ College, Guwahati, Assam 2023

4. Certified as an Outstanding Reviewer for the journal Chemical Communications Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), UK, London, 2023

5. Certified as an Outstanding Reviewer for the journal Chemical Communications Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), UK, London, 2020

6. Certified as one of the top 5% of the highly cited authors in 2019 for Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Journals, Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), UK, London, 2019

7. Completed Certificate Orientation course at UGC-HRDC, Guwahati University, UGC-HRDC, Gauhati University, 2018

8. Unit of Excellence Award (U-Excel) in the form of a research grant, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, 2013

9. Students Travel award in the 5th Asian Biological Inorganic Chemistry Conference” (AsBIC-V), held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, November 1-5, 2010, Society for Biological Inorganic Chemistry (SBIC), 2010

10. Awarded Senior Research Fellowship (SRF), CSIR, New Delhi, 2009

11. Awarded Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), CSIR, New Delhi, 2005

12. First Class 4th Position in MSc final examination, Gauhati University, 2006

13. First Class 6th Position in BSc final examination, Gauhati University, 2004

Professional and Administrative responsibilities 

1.  Director of the Research and Development Cell, Handique Girls’ College, 2022 to Present

2.  Member, Research Cell, Handique Girls’ College, 2017-2021

3.  Nodal Officer of the DST-sponsored CURIE program at Handique Girls’ College, Guwahati

4.  Nodal Officer for NIRF, Handique Girls’ College, Guwahati

5.  Member of Criteria-3 of NAAC at Handique Girls’ College, Guwahati

6.  Member of the CCS committee for the NEP 2020 Chemistry (BSc) Syllabus of Gauhati University

7.  Member of the website design committee at Handique Girls’ College, Guwahati

8.  Member of the Admission Committee at Handique Girls’ College, 2012 to present

9.  Teacher-in-Charge, College Magazine at Handique Girls’ College, 2022-2023

10. Member, Departmental Research Committee (DRC), Department of Chemistry, Gauhati University

11. Member, Chemical Society at Handique Girls’ College 

12. Reviewers for the following journals:

Chemical Communications (RSC), Dalton Transactions (RSC), RSC Medicinal Chemistry (RSC), RSC Advances (RSC), New Journal of Chemistry (RSC), Toxicology Research (RSC), RSC Open Science (RSC), Toxicology        Research (RSC), Inorganic Chemistry (ACS), Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (ACS), Bioconjugate Chemistry (ACS), ACS Omega (ACS), Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters (ACS), ACS Applied Biomaterials (ACS), Chemical Biology and Drug Design (Wiley), ChemBioChem (Wiley), Applied Organometallic Chemistry (Wiley), Chemistry Select (Wiley), Nucleosides, Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids (Tayler & Francis), European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (Elsevier), Journal of Organometallic Chemistry (Elsevier), Fuel (Elsevier), Applied Surface Science (Elsevier), Diamond and Related Materials (Elsevier). 

Mentoring and Guidance

1. Ph.D. Students (Under Gauhati University); Degree Obtained: 01, Enrolled: 04 

2. M.Sc. final semester project/dissertation students guided: 15

3. B.Sc. final semester dissertation students guided: 30

RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS Held

1. Prof. K. Saikia, Department of Bioengineering and Technolgy, GUIST, Gauhati University.

2. Prof. S. Deka, Department of Chemistry, Delhi University.

3. Dr. M. V. Satish Kumar, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (MBBT), Tezpur University.

4. Dr. S. Ramakrishna, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad.

5. Prof. R. J. Butcher, Howard University, USA.

6. Dr. Eliana Gianolio, University of Turin, Italy

6. Dr. S. Banerjee, IIT, BHU (UP), India

7. Prof. Swati Biswas, BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad 

8. Prof. Rohit Srivastava, IIT Bombay

CONFERENCES AND SYMPOSIUM ATTENDED

1. Symposium on Advanced Biological Inorganic Chemistry (SABIC) January 7-11, 2017, Kolkata.

2. Symposium of the Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI) 2016, Mohali.

3. National Seminar on Emerging Trends in Chemical Sciences (ETICS) May 27, 2016, Gauhati University.

4. Workshop on Advanced Molecular Biology Techniques, sponsored by DBT, GOI, November 19-25, 2012.

5. Assam Science Society 57th Annual Technical Session, 16th March, 2012.

6. Assam Science Technology and Environment Council, 17th August, R & D demonstrative projects, 2012.

7. Presented poster in “The 5th Asian Biological Inorganic Chemistry Conference” (AsBIC-V), held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, November 1-5, 2010.

8. Presented poster in “National Symposium on Frontiers in Main-Group and Organometallic Chemistry (NSFMOC)”, held at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India, 2010.

9. Attended Modern Trends in Inorganic Chemistry-XII (MTIC-XIII) conference, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India, 2009.

10. Attended and presented a poster in “Symposium on Advanced Biological Inorganic Chemistry (SABIC- 2009)”, held at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, India, 2009.

11. Attended IISc Centenary Conference held at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India, 2008.

BOOK CHAPTERS PUBLISHED

1. “The Industry Inside” pp:41-80 in the book ‘World of Chemistry’ ISBN: 978-81-929471-0-5 published by Chemical Society, Handique Girls’ College.

2. “Relieving oneself” pp:190-207 in the book ‘World of Chemistry’ ISBN: 978-81-929471-0-5 published by Chemical Society, Handique Girls’ College.

3. “Nutritional and health need for children” pp: 61-62 in the book ‘Insight’ (UGC-HRDC, Gauhati University) ISBN: 978-81-92955-45-2

4. Edited two chapters for NCERT books of classes 11 and 12 (Assamese edition).

TEACHING

(a) Postgraduate (PG) Chemistry (MSc) 

Subjects: Inorganic Chemistry, Biochemistry, Molecular Symmetry, Spectroscopy

(b) Undergraduate (UG) Chemistry (BSc. Honours) 

Subjects: Inorganic Chemistry and General Chemistry

(c) Laboratory Chemistry at PG and UG levels 

Subjects: Inorganic and General Chemistry