Sukumaran, Bindu

Research Interests:

Despite the rapid advances in modern molecular medicine, bacterial pathogens are still a major threat to human health in the 21st century. Although effective antibiotics or vaccines that can protect humans against a number of these pathogens are successfully identified, several infectious bacteria remain at large, including those with epidemic potential. Problems such as the re-emergence/emergence of bacterial pathogens with altered virulence, drug resistance etc. further increases the concern, and form significant challenge to infectious disease research. These facts highlight the need for developing new anti-bacterial agents or improving the existing ones.

Our laboratory aims to:

(1) Characterize the molecular mechanisms by which medically important bacterial pathogens infect human cells. (2) Epidemiological studies on Rickettsiaceae bacteria in Asia. (3) Investigate the role and regulation of innate immune systems in bacterial infection and inflammatory disorders.

Selected Publications:

Sukumaran B, Mastronunzio JE, Narasimhan S, Fankhauser S, Uchil PD, Levy R, Graham M, Colpitts TM, Lesser CF, Fikrig E. Anaplasma phagocytophilum AptA modulates Erk1/2 signaling. Cellular Microbiology, 2010 (in press)

Krishnan MN, Ng A, Sukumaran B, Gilfoy FD, Uchil PD, Sultana H, Brass AL, Adametz R, Tsui M, Qian F, Montgomery RR, Lev S, Mason PW, Koski RA, Elledge SJ, Xavier RJ, Agaisse H, Fikrig E. RNA interference screen for human genes associated with West Nile virus infection. Nature. 2008; 455 (7210):242-5

Narasimhan, S, Sukumaran B, Bozdogan, U, Thomas V, Liang X, DePonte K, Marcantonio N, Koski RA, Anderson JF, Kantor F and Fikrig E. A Tick Antioxidant Facilitates the Lyme Disease Agent’s Successful Migration from the Mammalian Host to the Arthropod Vector. Cell Host & Microbe, 2007;2(1):7-18

Pedra JH, Sutterwala FS, Sukumaran B, Ogura Y, Qian F, Montgomery RR, Flavell RA, Fikrig E. ASC/PYCARD and caspase-1 regulate the IL-18/IFN-gamma axis during Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection. J Immunol. 2007;179(7):4783-91.

Krishnan MN, Sukumaran B, Pal U, Agaisse H, Murray JL, Hodge T and Fikrig E, Rab 5 is required for the infection of Dengue and West Nile viruses. J. Virol, 2007; 81(9):4881-5.

Sukumaran B, Narasimhan S, Anderson JF, DePonte K, Marcantonio N, Krishnan MN, Fish D, Telford SR, Kantor FS, Fikrig E (2006). An Ixodes scapularis protein required for survival of Anaplasma phagocyophilum in tick salivary glands. J Exp Med 2006; 203(6):1507-17.

Sukumaran B, Carlyon JA, Cai J, Berliner N and Fikrig E (2005). Early transcriptional response of human neutrophils to Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection. Infect Immun 2005; 73(12):8089-99.

Pedra JH, Sukumaran B, Carlyon JA, Berliner N and Fikrig E (2005). Modulation of NB4 promyelocytic leukemic cell machinery by Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Genomics. 2005; 86(3):365-77.

Sukumaran B, Tewary P, Saxena S, Madhubala R. Vaccination with DNA encoding ORFF antigen confers protective immunity in mice infected with Leishmania donovani. Vaccine. Mar 7;21(11-12):1292-9, 2003.