Dr. Dey received his bachelor’s degree in Veterinary Sciences from West Bengal University of Animal & Fishery Sciences, Kolkata and Master’s in Animal Genetics and Breeding from CCS-Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. Subsequently, he joined the Mycobacteriology laboratory of Prof. Anil K. Tyagi at the University of Delhi South Campus for his PhD and his doctoral work was focused on immunology and vaccine development against Tuberculosis.
Following completion of his PhD in Biochemistry in 2010, he continued his research in the same laboratory initially as a research associate and later as a Scientist-C until he moved to the USA as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Prof. William R. Bishai at the Center for Tuberculosis Research, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore in 2011. He continued research in the area of Tuberculosis host-pathogen signaling and immunology until 2016 and subsequently, he joined as a Senior Research Scientist at the National Emerging Infectious Disease Laboratories (NEIDL), Boston University, Boston, USA. Dr. Dey joined NIAB in December 2017.
Selected awards, honors and fellowships:
1. Ramanujan Fellowship (DST-SERB, Govt. of India, 2017)
2. UGC-Faculty Recharge Program (UGC-FRP, Govt. of India) Assistant Professor Selectee (Cycle IV, 2017)
3. Post-doctoral fellowship: Johns Hopkins University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, MD, USA (2011-2016)
4. Junior (2004-2005) and Senior Research Fellowship (2006-2009): Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Govt. of India
5. Member, American Society for Microbiology, Society of Biological Chemist, Association of Microbiologists of India and Veterinary Council of India
Dr. Dey’s group works on Tuberculosis (TB), Paratuberculosis, and other zoonotic bacterial diseases of livestock in the broad area of molecular pathogenesis, host-pathogen signaling, molecular diagnosis, engineered vaccines and therapies. Dey-lab is exploring new strategies to combat the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by identifying alternative drug targets involved in biofilm formation and peptidoglycan homeostasis. In addition, his group is also probing the potential of engineered autologous organ specific probiotics as novel prophylactic and therapeutic agent against mono and polymicrobial infections.
Summary of Selected Research Articles:
1. Dey RJ*, Dey B*, Singh AK, Praharaj M, Bishai W. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Overexpressing an Endogenous Stimulator of Interferon Genes Agonist Provides Enhanced Protection Against Pulmonary Tuberculosis. DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiz116. Joint First Author.
Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is a key cytosolic receptor for small nucleotides and plays a key role in anticancer and antiviral immunity. Cyclic dinucleotide STING agonists may comprise a novel class of vaccine adjuvants capable of inducing cellular immune responses and protective efficacy against intracellular pathogens. We report a strategy of delivering a STING agonist from within live BCG. Overproduction of the STING agonist c-di-AMP significantly enhanced the protective efficacy of BCG against pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Our findings support the development of BCG-vectored STING agonists as a tuberculosis vaccine strategy.
2. Dey RJ*, Dey B*, Zheng Y, et al. Inhibition of innate immune cytosolic surveillance by an M. tuberculosis phosphodiesterase. DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.2254. Joint First Author.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection leads to cytosolic release of the bacterial cyclic dinucleotide (CDN) c-di-AMP and a host-generated CDN, cGAMP, both of which trigger type I interferon (IFN) expression in a STING-dependent manner. Here we report that M. tuberculosis has developed a mechanism to inhibit STING activation and the type I IFN response via the bacterial phosphodiesterase (PDE) CdnP, which mediates hydrolysis of both bacterial-derived c-di-AMP and host-derived cGAMP. This study reveals a crucial role of CDN homeostasis in governing the outcome of M. tuberculosis infection as well as a unique mechanism of subversion of the host’s cytosolic surveillance pathway (CSP) by a bacterial PDE that may serve as an attractive antimicrobial target.
3. Dey B, Dey RJ, Cheung LS, et al. A bacterial cyclic dinucleotide activates the cytosolic surveillance pathway and mediates innate resistance to tuberculosis. DOI: 10.1038/nm.3813
In this study, we show that resistance to tuberculosis requires CSP-mediated detection of c-di-AMP produced by M. tuberculosis and that levels of c-di-AMP modulate the fate of infection. We show that c-di-AMP-mediated IFN-β induction and autophagy during M. tuberculosis infection requires stimulator of interferon genes (STING)-signaling. We observed that c-di-AMP induction of IFN-β is independent of the cytosolic nucleic acid receptor cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP) synthase (cGAS), but cGAS nevertheless contributes substantially to the overall IFN-β response to M. tuberculosis infection. These findings suggest that modulating the levels of this small molecule may lead to novel immunotherapeutic strategies against tuberculosis.
Publications & Patents:
1. Saini P, Ayyanna R, Kumar R, Bhowmick SK, Bhaskar V, and Dey B (2024). Restriction of the growth and biofilm formation of ESKAPE pathogens by caprine gut-derived probiotic bacteria. Front. Microbiol. 15:1428808. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1428808
2. Kumar R, Gandham S, Rana A, Maity HK, Sarkar U and Dey B (2023) Divergent proinflammatory immune responses associated with the differential susceptibility of cattle breeds to tuberculosis. Front. Immunol. 14:1199092. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1199092
3. Dey RJ, Dey B, Harriff M, Canfield ET, Lewinsohn DM, Bishai WR. Augmentation of the Riboflavin-Biosynthetic Pathway Enhances Mucosa-Associated Invariant T (MAIT) Cell Activation and Diminishes Mycobacterium tuberculosis Virulence. mBio.February 2022, 15:e0386521. doi:10.1128/mbio.03865-21. PMID: 35164552.
4. Dey RJ*, Dey B*, Singh AK, Praharaj M, Bishai W. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Overexpressing an Endogenous Stimulator of Interferon Genes Agonist Provides Enhanced Protection Against Pulmonary Tuberculosis. J Infect Dis. 2020;221(7):1048-1056. doi:10.1093/infdis/jiz116. .*Joint first author.
5. Inventor: Bishai WR. Dey RJ, Dey B and Cheung L. Bacteria over-expressing c-di-AMP and therapeutic methods. U.S. Patent Application granted, No. 10130663, Date of Patent Granted: November 20, 2018.
6. Inventors: WR. Dey RJ, Dey B and Cheung L. Methods of treating cancer using bacteria expressing c-di-AMP. U.S. Patent Application Publication number: 20190030091, Filed: October 1, 2018.
7. Dannenberg AM, Dey B. Perspectives for Developing New Tuberculosis Vaccines Derived from the Pathogenesis of Tuberculosis. In Tuberculosis and Non-Tuberculous Mycobacterial Infections, Seventh Ed. edited by David Schlossberg, 2017, ASM Press, Washington DC, USA.
8. Dey RJ*, Dey B*, Zheng Y*, Cheung L, Zhou J , Sayre D, Kumar P, Guo H, Lamichhane G, Sintim HO, Bishai WR. Inhibition of innate immune cytosolic surveillance by a M. tuberculosis phosphodiesterase. Nature Chemical Biology. 2017 Feb. 13: 210-217.*Joint first author.
9. Xu Z, Bagci U, Mansoor A, Kramer-Marek G, Luna B, Kubler A, Dey B, Foster B, Papadakis GZ, Camp JV, Jonsson CB, Bishai WR, Jain S, Udupa JK, Mollura DJ. Computer-aided pulmonary image analysis in small animal models. Med Phys. 2015 Jul;42(7):3896.
10. Dey B, Dey RJ., Cheung SL, Pokkali S, Guo H, Lee JH and Bishai WR. A bacterial cyclic dinucleotide activates the cytosolic surveillance pathway and mediates innate resistance to tuberculosis. Nature Medicine. 2015 Apr;21(4):401-6.
11. Dey B, Bishai WR. Crosstalk between Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the host cell. Semin Immunol. Dec 2014; 26(6):486-496.
12. Foster B, Bagci U, Ziyue Xu, Dey B, Luna B, Bishai W, Jain S, Mollura DJ. Segmentation of PET images for computer-aided functional quantification of tuberculosis in small animal models. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2014 Mar;61(3):711-24.
13. Bagci U, Foster B, Miller-Jaster K, Luna B, Dey B, Bishai WR, Jonsson CB, JainS, Mollura DJ. A computational pipeline for quantification of pulmonary infections in small animal models using serial PET-CT imaging. EJNMMI Res. 2013 Jul 23;3(1):55.
14. Dannenberg AM, Dey B. Perspectives for Developing New Tuberculosis Vaccines Derived from the Pathogenesis of Tuberculosis: I. Basic Principles, II. Preclinical Testing, and III. Clinical Testing. Vaccines 2013; 1 (1), 58-76.
15. Chauhan P, Jain R, Dey B, Tyagi AK. Adjunctive immunotherapy with α-crystallin based DNA vaccination reduces Tuberculosis chemotherapy period in chronically infected mice. Sci Rep. 2013;3:1821.
16. Jain R*, Dey B, Tyagi AK. Development of the first oligonucleotide microarray for global gene expression profiling in guinea pigs: defining the transcription signature of infectious diseases. BMC Genomics. 2012 Oct 2;13:520.
17. Jain R, Dey B, Tyagi AK. Response of the authors to the letter entitled, “Warning: Differences in the copy number of duplication unit 2 (DU2) within BCG Danish 1331 may influence findings involving genetically-modified BCG Danish strains” by Dr. Douglas S. Kernodle. Vaccine. 2012; 30 (42), 6015.
18. Dey B*, Jain R*, Gupta UD, Katoch VM, Ramanathan VD, Tyagi AK. A booster vaccine expressing a latency-associated antigen augments BCG induced immunity and confers enhanced protection against tuberculosis. PLoS One. 2011;6(8):e23360.
19. Jain R*, Dey B*, Khera A, Srivastav P, Gupta UD, Katoch VM, Ramanathan VD, Tyagi AK. Over-expression of superoxide dismutase obliterates the protective effect of BCG against tuberculosis by modulating innate and adaptive immune responses. Vaccine. 2011 Oct 19;29(45):8118-25.
20. Dey B*, Jain R*, Khera A, Gupta UD, Katoch VM, Ramanathan VD, Tyagi AK. Latency antigen α-crystallin based vaccination imparts a robust protection against TB by modulating the dynamics of pulmonary cytokines. PLoS One. 2011 Apr18;6(4):e18773.
21. Inventor: Tyagi AK, Dey B, Jain R, Khera A, Ramanathan VD, Gupta UD and Katoch VM. Patent application No. 473/DEL/2009. Published on 2010-09-17: Published in J. No.: 38/2010. Alpha-crystallin based immunization against mycobacterium and methods thereof.
22. Inventor: Tyagi AK, Jain R, Dey B, Khera A, Ramanathan VD, Gupta UD and Katoch VM.Patent application No. 2639/DEL/2008. Published on: 2010-05-28. International Classification: A61K39/00; A61P31/00. Recombinant BCG-Ag85C based immunization against tuberculosis.
23. Dey B*, Jain R*, Khera A, Rao V, Dhar N, Gupta UD, Katoch VM, Ramanathan VD, Tyagi AK. Boosting with a DNA vaccine expressing ESAT-6 (DNAE6) obliterates the protection imparted by recombinant BCG (rBCGE6) against aerosol Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in guinea pigs. Vaccine. 2009 Dec 10;28(1):63-70.
24. Jain R*, Dey B*, Dhar N, Rao V, Singh R, Gupta UD, Katoch VM, Ramanathan VD, Tyagi AK. Enhanced and enduring protection against tuberculosis by recombinantBCG-Ag85C and its association with modulation of cytokine profile in lung. PLoS One. 2008;3(12):e3869. *Joint first author
25. Jain R, Dey B and Tyagi AK. Role of Vaccines and Immuno-modulation in Tuberculosis. In: N. K. Mehra and S. K. Sharma and O. P. Sood (eds.), Challenges of MDR/XDR Tuberculosis in India. Round Table Conference Series. 2009. Ranbaxy Science Foundation, New Delhi, India.
26. Tyagi AK, Dey B and Jain R. Tuberculosis vaccine development: current status and future expectations. In S. K Sharma and A. Mohon (eds.), Tuberculosis 2nd edition. 2009. 918-946. Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers, New Delhi, India.
27. Dey B and J. S. Poonia. Estimates of phenotypic, genetic and environmental trends in a flock of Nali sheep The Indian J Small Ruminants.2006; 12(2) October:185 – 87.
28. Tyagi AK, Dey B and Jain R. Development of vaccine against tuberculosis. In: N. K. Mehra and S. K. Sharma and O. P. Sood (eds.), HIV and Tuberculosis: Co-infection. Round Table Conference Series. 2005. (15) 149-153. Ranbaxy Science Foundation, New Delhi, India.
29. Dey B and J. S. Poonia. Reproductive performance of Nali sheep. The Indian J Small Ruminants. 2005; 11(1) April: 10-13.
30. Dey B and J. S. Poonia. Factors affecting growth traits in Nali sheep. The Indian J Small Ruminants. 2005; 11(1) April: 77-79.
Current Lab Members:
PhD Students
Rishi Kumar
DBT-SRF
M.Sc. Biotechnology, Sambalpur University, Odisha
Current Research Interest: Bovine tuberculosis, Host-pathogen interaction, Immune biomarker discovery.
Prerna Saini
CSIR-SRF
M.Sc. Biotechnology, Rajasthan University, Rajasthan
Current Research Interest: Microbiome, Designer probiotic based therapeutic and vaccine development.
Niti Kumari
CSIR-SRF
M.Sc. Animal Biotechnology, Hyderabad Central University, Telangana
Current Research Interest: Bacterial virulence and signaling; Antimicrobial resistance and drug development.
Dr. Manas Ranjan Praharaj
CSIR-SRF
M.V.Sc. Animal Biotechnology, Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI)
Current Research Interest: Patho-genomics and computational biology, System biology.
Sripratyusha Gandham
DST INSPIRE-JRF
M.Sc. Microbiology, Panjab University
Current Research Interest: Immunity to mycobacterial diseases, biomarker, and vaccine development.
Sayan Kumar Bhowmick
UGC-JRF
M.Sc. Biotechnology, St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous) / University of Calcutta
Current Research Interest: Novel drug development to tackle Antimicrobial Resistance, Genomics assisted drug discovery.
Project Fellows
Vinay Bhaskar
DBT Project Associate-I
M.Sc. Animal Biotechnology, NDRI, Karnal, Haryana
Current Research Interest: Immunology and cell biology of Mycobacterial diseases, and Anti-mycobacterial vaccine development.
Avi Rana
DBT Project Associate-I
M.Sc. Biotechnology, Central University of Haryana
Current Research Interest: Immunity to mycobacterial diseases of human and bovine, and biomarker discovery.
Past Members
Project JRF/SRF/RA
Dr. Repally Ayyanna
ICMR Project SRF
MSc,PhD: Biotechnology, Pondicherry University.
Current Address: The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Chemical & Material Engineering, 301 Sparkman Drive, Huntsville, Alabama, USA 35899
Ms. Adapolu Banu Pallavi, MSc
ICMR Project SRF
Project Trainees:
Sayanya Bastian
MSc Project trainee, 2023
M. Sc. Biotechnology, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala
Ram Patel
MSc Project trainee, 2023
MSc Genetic Engineering, DAVV, Indore, MP
Bhavesh Patil
MSc project trainee, 2021
M.Sc. Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida, UP
Ketan Waigaonkar
MSc project trainee, 2021
M.Sc. Biotechnology, Rajarshi Shahu Mahavidyalaya, Latur
Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded, Maharashtra
Soumyadip Ghosh
MSc project trainee, 2020
M.Sc. Microbiology, Tripura University, Tripura
Rajesh Khatik
MSc project trainee, 2020
M.Sc. Biotechnology, Vinoba Bhave University, Jharkhand
Current Projects:
1. Development and evaluation of a recombinant BCG vaccine expressing chimeric multi-epitope antigens against bovine tuberculosis. 2024- 2027. SERB CRG. Govt. of India.
2. Development of an endogenous STING agonist adjuvanted Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccine to enhance efficacy against tuberculosis. – In collaboration with BITS Pilani Hyderabad, India and Johns Hopkins University, USA. Funding Agency: DBT-India USA VAP, 2021-2024 (3Y)
3. Development of 3D pulmospheres for superior ex vivo modelling of bovine tuberculosis. Funding: Intramural, NIAB, 2021-2024.
4. Multimodal approach towards developing effective vaccines against tuberculosis and paratuberculosis in cows and other domestic livestock. Funding: Intramural, NIAB, 2020-2025.
Past Projects:
1. A transcriptional approach to identify biomarkers of susceptibility and/or resistance to tuberculosis in native and crossbred cattle. Funding Agency: DBT, 2020-2023 (3.5Y)
2. Limiting antimicrobial resistance by inhibiting diadenylate cyclase (DAC) – a bacterial second messenger biosynthetic enzyme involved in biofilm formation and cell wall integrity. Funding Agency: ICMR, 2019-2022 (3Y)
3. Impact of altered host immunity on the pathogenesis of TB-Diabetes co-morbidities: molecular mechanisms and therapeutic potential. Funding Agency: SERB-DST, 2018-2023 (5Y)
4. Reducing major disease threat to the dairy sector and tackling AMR in South Asia: a multidisciplinary collaboration between University of Reading and NIAB.
Funding Agency: GCRF, University of Reading, UK, 2018-2019 (1Y)
5. Tiny Test Tubes to Tackle Antimicrobial Resistance in Dairy Farming in India.’ – In collaboration with University of Reading, UK. Funding Agency: UKRI-Innovate UK, 2020 (6M)
NIAB Campus, Main building, 2nd floor, Wing-C, Room -216
Survey No. 37, Extended Q City Road
Opp. Journalist Colony, Near Gowlidoddi
Gachibowli, Hyderabad, Telangana – 500032
Email: bdey[at]niab[dot]org[dot]in
Tel: +91-40-23120128
2. Tuberculosis virulence factor identified, may be target for new drug – Phys.org
5. Tuberculosis virulence factor identified, may be target for new drug – Today Topics
7. Key to tuberculosis resistance found – Science Daily
8. Team finds key to tuberculosis resistance – MedicalXpress
PubMed Link:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Bappaditya+Dey
Google Scholar Link:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7Bd6T-QAAAAJ&hl=en
As and when advertised in the NIAB-website (www.niab.res.in)
The lab is currently open for the research scholars (at all levels, Postdocs, SRF, JRF etc.).
An applicant with valid NET-JRF can contact the PI for PhD. I will be more than happy to assist in writing and submitting the grant proposals (based on my lab interest) to the candidate scholars who are willing to do Postdoctoral Research. Following are some of the opportunities:
1. SERB-National Post-Doctoral Fellowship (N-PDF)
2. DBT Research Associateship
3. INSPIRE Fellowship
4. UGC postdoctoral fellowship
5. SERB Women Scientist Fellowship
6. Or, Any other RA or SRF programme
The lab is always open to any new ideas by a student or a post-doc or a researcher, as long as it falls within the themes that drive research activities of the lab.
If interested, please send me an e-mail (bdey[at]niab[dot]org[dot]in) with your detailed CV with a brief area of research interest.
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