Faculty & Staff

Indranil Banerjee
Assistant Professor
PhD (2011) Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), Switzerland
Room No. 5F6; AB-2
Sector 81
IISER Mohali

Phone:
Email: indranil[at]iisermohali.ac.in


Indranil Banerjee

Research summary

Overview

Every year, infectious diseases caused by emerging human pathogenic viruses such as influenza, dengue, HIV, hepatitis, Ebola etc. kill millions of people worldwide. The current strategy to treat most of the viral diseases is based on targeting the infectious agents. However, relentless emer- gence of drug-resistant viral strains and the lack of ideal vaccines stand as major impediments to combat the diseases effectively. A promising approach to circumvent the viral drug resistance related challenges is to target the host cell factors that the viruses manipulate with their molecular “hack-codes” for their entry and propagation. Therefore, to identify new class of cellular antiviral drug targets, a thorough understanding of host cell machineries that provide support to the viral life cycle is essential.
In our laboratory, we aim to advance our understanding of the infection mechanisms of two emerg- ing human viruses, influenza and dengue. Employing variety of techniques including cell and molecular biology, high-content imaging, RNAi, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing etc., we seek to investigate the molecular underpinnings of the viral infection processes in the host cells. Using human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology, we also aim to develop new cellular and organoid models to study influenza and dengue virus infections. With our approaches, we hope to shed new light on the cellular and molecular processes supporting virus infections, and ultimately use the knowledge to design novel therapeutic strategies.

 

Visit our group page for more details

Selected Publications

  • Sorce B, Escobedo C, Toyoda Y, Stewart M, Cattin C, Newton R, Banerjee I, Stettler A, Roska B, Eaton S, Hyman T, Hierlemann A, Muller D (2015) Mitotic cells contract actomyosin cortex and generate pressure to round up against or to escape epithelial confinement. Nature Communications Nov 25;6:8872.
  • Banerjee I, Miyake Y, Nobs SP, Schneider C, Horvath P, Kopf M, Matthias P, Helenius A, Yamauchi Y (2014) Influenza A virus uses the aggresome processing machinery for host cell entry. Science. 346(6208):473-7
  • Banerjee I, Yamauchi Y, Helenius A, Horvath P (2013) High-content analysis of sequential events during the early phase of influenza A virus infection. PLoS One. 8(7):e68450.
  • Yamauchi Y, Boukari H, Banerjee I, Sbalzarini IF, Horvath P, Helenius A (2011) Histone deacety- lase 8 is required for centrosome cohesion and influenza A virus entry. PLoS Pathogens. Oct;7(10):e1002316.

Group

 

Dr. Isha Monga (Postdoctoral Fellow)

 

Mr. Nirmal Kumar (PhD student)

 

Ms. Suchitra Prabhu (BS-MS student)