Research Interests

The extraordinary success of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb), the etiologic agent of human tuberculosis (TB), has been attributed to its ability to modulate host immune responses, facilitating its long term persistence. We believe that understanding the basic biology of the pathogen and its interactions with the host, is the best way forward towards the development of improved diagnostic reagents, vaccines and novel anti-TB drugs. Research in our laboratory is focussed towards the identification of bacillary virulence factors, characterising the events at the host-pathogen interface, and the discovery of novel antibiotic resistance mechanisms.

Selected Publications

Viswanathan, G., Md. Jafurulla, Kumar, G. A., Raghunand, T. R* and Chattopadhyay, A*(2018) Macrophage sphingolipids are essential for the entry of mycobacteria. Chem Phys Lipids 213:25-31

Viswanathan, G., Yadav S and Raghunand, T. R. (2017) Identification of mycobacterial genes involved in ?-lactam sensitivity - Implications in treatment of tuberculosis with ?-lactam containing regimens. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 61(7) e00425-17. https://doi .org/10.1128/AAC.00425-17

Viswanathan, G., Yadav, S., Joshi, S. V., and Raghunand, T. R. (2017) Insights into the function of FhaA, a cell-division associated protein in mycobacteria. FEMS Microbiology Letters 364 (2):fnw294

Yeruva, V. C., Savanagouder, M., Khandelwal, R., Kulkarni, A. M., Sharma, Y. and Raghunand, T.R. (2016). The Mycobacterium tuberculosis desaturase DesA1 (Rv0824c) is a Ca2+ binding protein Biochem Biophys Res Comm 480(1):29-35

Yeruva, V. C., Kulkarni, A. M., Khandelwal, R., Sharma, Y. and Raghunand, T. R. (2016). The PE_PGRS proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are Ca2+ binding mediators of host-pathogen interaction. Biochemistry (ACS) 55(33):4675-87