IITKGP

Gayatri Mukherjee

Assistant Professor Grade-I

School of Medical Science and Technology

+91-3222-284902

gayatri.mukherjee@smst.iitkgp.ac.in

Looking for PhD candidates genuinely interested in the field of basic and translational Immunology, development of Immunotherapeutics and immunodiagnostic tools. Candidates must have M.Sc. in Life Sciences, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Physiology etc., or have B.tech./ M.Tech. in Biotechnology |

Research Areas

  • Immunology
  • Development of Immunetherapeutics
  • Biophysical characterization of T cells
  • Atypical T cells in inflammation
  • soluble immune checkpoint molecules
Ours is an Immunology laboratory that is interested in teasing out the intricacies of immune response and immune tolerance. To that end, we are interested in deciphering the molecular pathways that help maintain the balance between immune response and immune tolerance and utilize that knowledge to better understand autoimmune disease pathogenesis and cancer development.
Immunotherapy is the technique of utilizing one’s own immune system to treat various diseases by inducing, enhancing or suppressing an immune response. The final goal of immunotherapy is to be able to manipulate pertinent immune system components without disturbing the rest. Manipulation of a cellular compartment such as T cells in its entirety or systemic manipulation of immunogical pathways such as costimulatory molecules leads to deleterious side effects like rendering the individual immunocompromised. Therefore, targeted immunotherapeutic strategies which deal with specific cell populations instead of such big-hammer approaches, should be the way forward for the field. Conforming to that idea, we are working to develop T cell-based novel immunotherapeutic strategies in cancer and autoimmunity with the ultimate goal of the development of personalized medicine.
Another interest of the group is to investigate the contribution of skin-resident microflora in regulation of systemic immunity. This will help establish the role of skin-resident microflora on the pathogenesis of autoimmune skin diseases; and tease out the correlation of MHC class I alleles with skin-resident commensals that will help better understand the process of establishment of the microflora and to assess the impact of environmental factors on the colonization process. This is a very important factor in today’s world of extensive migration by the human population out of their native environment. Parallely, in-depth study of the T cell repertoire will be undertaken to understand how the immune system is educated by the skin-resident commensals.
  • Peptide-MHC complexes: dressing up to manipulate T cells against autoimmunity and cancer. Sahoo A., Mukherjee D. , Mahata D. , Mahata D. , Mukherjee G. By Immunotherapy - (2022)
  • Structural and functional characterization of a single-chain peptide-MHC molecule that modulates both naive and activated CD8+ T cells. Samanta D*, Mukherjee G*, Ramagopal UA, Chaparro RJ, Nathenson SG, DiLorenzo TP, Almo SC. (* Contributed equally) By Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A 108 - (2011)
  • Therapeutic potential of curcumin in endometrial disorders: Current status and future perspectives. Singh A., Dasgupta S. , Bhattacharya A. , Mukherjee G. , Chaudhury K. By Drug Discovery Today - (2022)
  • Structural Insights into N-terminal IgV Domain of BTNL2, a T Cell Inhibitory Molecule, Suggests a Non-canonical Binding Interface for Its Putative Receptors Basak A. J., Maiti S. , Hansda A. , Mahata D. , Duraivelan K. , Kundapura . V., Lee . , Mukherjee G. , De S. , Samanta D. By Journal of Molecular Biology 432 5938-5950 (2020)
  • Soluble immune checkpoint molecules: Serum markers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis Chakrabarti R., Kapse B. , Mukherjee G. By Cancer reports 2 - (2019)
  • Delivery of siRNAs to dendritic cells using DEC205-targeted lipid nanoparticles to inhibit immune responses Katakowski JA, Mukherjee G, Wilner SE, Maier K, Harrison MT, DiLorenzo TP, Levy M, and Palliser D By Mol. Ther. 24(1) - (2016)
  • Glucagon-reactive islet infiltrating CD8 T cells in NOD mice. **Mukherjee G, Chaparro RJ, Schloss C, Smith C, Bando CD ,**DiLorenzo TP (** corresponding author) By Immunology 144(4) - (2015)
  • Generation of  cell-specific human T cells by lentiviral transduction and their survival in immunodeficient HLA-transgenic mice Babad J, Mukherjee G, Follenzi A, Ali R, Shultz L, Santamaria P, Yang O, Roep B, Goldstein H, Greiner D, DiLorenzo TP. By . Clin. Exp. Immunol. 179 - (2015)
  • Compensatory mechanisms allow undersized anchor-deficient Class I MHC ligands to mediate pathogenic autoreactive T-cell responses. (Selected by Faculty 1000 for exceptional impact) Lamont D*, Mukherjee G*, Prakash RK, Samanta D, McPhee CG, Kay TWH, Almo SC, DiLorenzo TP, Serreze DV.(* Contributed equally) By J Immunol. 193(5) - (2014)

Principal Investigator

  • Label-Free Detection Of Circulating Exhausted CD8+ T Cells Using Raman Spectroscopy In Murine Models Of Metastatic And Non-Metastatic Cancer

Co-Principal Investigator

  • Mechanistic investigation of the complex inter-relationship between HbE/Beta-thalassemia and protozoan parasite infections with HLA association Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)

Ph. D. Students

Anita Hansda

Area of Research: Immunology

Apoorva Singh

Area of Research: Systems Biology

Debangshu Mukherjee

Area of Research: Immunology

Debarati Biswas

Area of Research: Immunology

Debolina Manna

Area of Research: Infectious disease and immunology

Dhrubajyoti Mahata

Area of Research: Immunology

Kanta Chakraborty

Area of Research: Immunology and Biomaterials

Krishna Dixit

Area of Research: Tissue Enginnering

Mitali Mishra

Area of Research: Ayurvedic Biololgy

Nidhi Pandey

Area of Research: Development of Immune sensors to detect soluble immune markers of inflammation from different body fluids

Partha Sarathi Mohanty

Area of Research: Immunology

Pooja C Asani

Area of Research: Development of a multiplexed autoantibody sensor for Type 1 Diabetes diagnostics

Rituparna Chakrabarti

Area of Research: Immune system involvement in cardiac and vascular remodeling

Sanjukta Dasgupta

Area of Research: Respiratory health

Sriya Bose

Area of Research: Immunology