The Molecular Structure and Immunology (MSI) Lab at the University of Chittagong combines structural protein engineering, peptide tag chemistry, and immunological evaluation to address major viral health challenges.
University of Chittagong
HEAT Project
World Bank
UGC Bangladesh
Govt. of Bangladesh
Chittagong Medical College & Hospital
Chittagong Ma-O-Shishu Hospital
Head of MSI Lab · Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology · University of Chittagong
“The Molecular Structure and Immunology Laboratory (MSI Lab) is a flagship research facility situated within the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Chittagong. Under the leadership of Professor Dr. M. Monirul Islam, the MSI Lab dedicatedly pursues fundamental and applied questions at the intersection of protein chemistry, structural biophysics, and viral immunology.”
Dr. M. Monirul Islam earned his PhD under Professor Yutaka Kuroda, establishing fundamental principles regarding the structure, folding, and immunogenicity of protein variants. Since establishing the MSI Lab, Dr. Islam has mentored over two dozen postgraduate thesis researchers (MS, PhD, and Post-Doctoral fellows). His pioneering work led to the invention and characterization of SEP-tags and SCP-tags for protein solubilization and controlled immunogenicity, as well as extensive mapping of Dengue domain 3 (ED3) serospecificity and SARS-CoV-2 RBD cross-protection.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Islam served as Lab-In-Charge of the University of Chittagong COVID-19 Testing Facility, directing over 100,000 real-time molecular diagnostics. He also heads the Animal Ethics Review Board at the University of Chittagong.
Integrated bench-to-bedside experimental pipeline: from recombinant construct expression to cellular immunology.
Construct design in pET vectors, transformation in E. coli strains (JM109, DH5α, and T7 SHuffle for disulfide bond formation), low-temperature and IPTG induction.
GuHCl denaturation, air oxidation of cysteines, Ni-NTA affinity chromatography, thrombin/CNBr tag cleavage, and Reverse-Phase HPLC (YMC-Pack PROTEIN-RP).
ESI-TOF and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, analytical RP-HPLC, Ellman's assay for free thiol quantification, and SDS-PAGE purity validation.
Mice artificial immunization models (Swiss albino), indirect and sandwich ELISA, intracellular cytokine staining (IFN-γ, IL-4), and sensitized lymphocyte cultures.
HADDOCK 2.4 molecular docking, PRODIGY binding affinity thermodynamics, and epitope structural modeling in PyMOL and UCSF ChimeraX.
Standardized, bench-verified protocols developed and utilized by MSI Lab researchers across viral surveillance, clinical serology, in vivo challenge, molecular docking, and phytochemical extractions. Available for open academic download.
Standard operating procedure for one-step real-time reverse transcription PCR, covering RNase-free glassware preparation, primer-probe mastermix assembly, and thermal cycling parameters for viral pathogen surveillance.
Phase-by-phase extraction protocol isolating high-purity total and viral genomic RNA from human clinical whole blood samples with beta-mercaptoethanol lysis optimization.
Comprehensive guide covering molarity and buffer math (% w/v, mM mass, C1V1=C2V2, RPM vs. RCF), antigen coating, blocking, serial serum dilution, and optical density (OD450) sigmoid curve fitting.
End-to-end computational pipeline for structural preparation in PyMOL/ChimeraX, PDB cleaning, active/passive restraint definition, rigid-body docking, semi-flexible refinement, and PRODIGY binding free energy analysis.
Field-ready protocol developed by the MSI Lab for the vegetative clonal propagation and rooting induction of critically endangered agarwood (Aquilaria malaccensis) stem cuttings.
Standard flow cytometry procedure for blood sample preparation, red blood cell ammonium chloride lysis, cell suspension washing, fluorophore-conjugated antibody staining, and cytometer gating.
Structural biology & patented solubility tags
Advanced viral immunology grant & genomics
Clinical cohort bio-specimen acquisition & Dengue diagnostics
Maternal-neonatal sero-epidemiology & clinical immunology trials
COVID-19 diagnostics & Dengue serology
R&D fellowship allocations & reagents
Antiviral secondary metabolites & plant extracts
Animal Ethics Review Board testing suites
Openings available for Doctoral Fellows, Postgraduate (MSc) Thesis Researchers, and Undergraduate Fellows. Visit our dedicated application portal.
