Research Groups
Mammalian Biology: Malaria
Principal Investigator / Staff Research Scientist
Research Interests and Description
Group Members
Chetan Chitnis
International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
Aruna Asaf Ali Marg
110 067 New Delhi, India
E-mail: cchitnis@icgeb.res.in, cchitnis@gmail.com
Office tel/fax: +91-11-26742895
Education
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India, MSc (Physics), 1983
Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA, MA (Physics), 1985
University of California, Berkeley, California, USA, PhD (Biophysics), 1990
Career History
Since 2007, Staff Research Scientist, Malaria Research Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi, India
1996-2007, Staff Research Scientist, ICGEB, New Delhi, India
1991-1995, Visiting Fellow, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, USA
Awards
2011, Infosys Prize in Life Sciences
2009, Distinguished Alumnus Award, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
2008, Fellow, Indian Academy for Science, Bangalore
2007-2010, TATA Innovation Fellow, Department of Biotechnology, India
2004, Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award in Medical Sciences, CSIR, India
2000-2005, International Research Scholar, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, USA and International Senior Research Fellow, The Wellcome Trust, UK
2000, MOT Iyengar Award for Research on Malaria, ICMR, India
1997, BN Singh Memorial Award, Indian Society of Parasitology
1995, Young Investigator Award, American Society of Microbiology
1991-1995, Fogarty International Fellow, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda
1990-1991, Abraham Rosenberg Research Fellow, University of California, Berkeley
1989-1990, University of California Regents' Fellow
1989-1990, Henry Kaiser Fellow, University of California, Berkely
Scientific Activity
Research interests are in malaria vaccine and drug development research. Work is focused on receptor-ligand interactions involved in erythrocyte invasion, receptor ligand interactions involved in cytoadherence and malaria vaccine development.
Selected Publications
Srivastava, A., Singh, S., Dhawan, S., Mahmood Alam, M., Mohmmed, A., Chitnis, C.E. 2010. Localization of apical sushi protein in Plasmodium falciparum merozoites. Mol Biochem Parasitol. 174, 66-69 PubMed link
Gill, J., Chitnis, C.E., Sharma, A. 2009. Structural insights into chondroitin sulphate A binding Duffy-binding-like domains from Plasmodium falciparum: implications for intervention strategies against placental malaria. Malar J. 8, 67 PubMed link
Mayor, A., Rovira-Vallbona, E., Srivastava, A., Sharma, S.K., Pati, S.S., Puyol, L., Quinto, L., Bassat, Q., Machevo, S., Mandomando, I., Chauhan, V.S., Alonso, P.L., Chitnis, C.E. 2009. Functional and immunological characterization of a Duffy binding-like alpha domain from Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 that mediates rosetting. Infect Immun. 77, 3857-3863
Doerig, C., Baker, D., Billker, O., Blackman, M.J., Chitnis, C.E., Dhar Kumar, S., Heussler, V., Holder, A.A., Kocken, C., Krishna, S., Langsley, G., Lasonder, E., Menard, R., Meissner, M., Pradel, G., Ranford-Cartwright, L., Sharma, A., Sharma, P., Tardieux, T., Tatu, U., Alano, P. 2009. Signalling in malaria parasites. The MALSIG consortium. Parasite. 16, 169-182 PubMed link
Biswas, A.K., Hafiz, A., Banerjee, B., Kim, K.S., Datta, K., Chitnis, C.E. 2008. Plasmodium falciparum uses gC1qR/HABP1/p32 as a receptor to bind to vascular endothelium and for platelet-mediated clumping. PLoS Pathogens. 3, e130
Chitnis, C.E., Sharma, A. 2008. Targeting the Plasmodium vivax Duffy-binding protein. Trends Parasitol. 24, 29-34
King, C.L., Michon, P., Shakri A.R., Marcotty, A., Stanisic, D., Zimmerman, P.A., Cole-Tobian, J.L., Mueller, I., C.E. Chitnis. 2008. Naturally acquired Duffy-binding protein-specific binding inhibitory antibodies confer protection from blood-stage Plasmodium vivax infection. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 105, 8363-8368
Moreno, A., Caro-Aguilar, I., Yazdani, S.S., Shakri, A.R., Lapp, S., Strobert, E., McClure, H., Chitnis, C.E., Galinski, M.R. 2008. Preclinical assessment of the receptor-binding domain of Plasmodium vivax Duffy-binding protein as a vaccine candidate in rhesus macaques. Vaccine 26, 4338-4344
Singh S.K., Hora R., Belrhali H., Chitnis C.E., Sharma. A. 2006. Structural basis for Duffy recognition by malaria parasite Duffy-binding-like domain. Nature 439, 741-744
Quelhas D, Puyol L, Quintó L, Serra-Casas E, Nhampossa T, Macete E, Aide P, Mayor A, Mandomando I, Sanz S, Aponte JJ, Chauhan VS, Chitnis CE, Alonso PL, Menéndez C, Dobaño C. 2008. Impact of intermittent preventive treatment with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine on antibody responses to erythrocytic-stage Plasmodium falciparum antigens in infants in Mozambique. Clin Vaccine Immunol. 15, 1282-1291
Grimberg BT, Udomsangpetch R, Xainli J, McHenry A, Panichakul T, Sattabongkot J, Cui L, Bockarie M, Chitnis C, Adams J, Zimmerman PA, King CL. 2007. Plasmodium vivax invasion of human erythrocytes inhibited by antibodies directed against the Duffy binding protein. PLoS Med 4, e337
Devi Y. S., Mukherjee P., Yazdani S. S., Shakri A. R., Mazumdar S., Pandey S., Chitnis C. E. and V. S. Chauhan. 2007. Immunogenicity of Plasmodium vivax combination subunit vaccine formulated with human compatible adjuvants in mice. Vaccine. 25, 5166-5174
Barbedo M. B., Ricci R., Jimenez M. C., Cunha M. G., Yazdani S. S., Chitnis C. E., Rodrigues M. M. and I. E. Soares. 2007. Comparative recognition by human IgG antibodies of recombinant proteins representing three asexual erythrocytic stage vaccine candidates of Plasmodium vivax. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 102, 335-339
Pati S., Mishra S., Mohanty S., Sahu P. K., Priyadarshi N., Kumar S., Sharma S. K., Tyagi P. K., Chitnis C. E. and B. S. Das. 2007. Pfcrt haplotypes and in-vivo chloroquine response in Sundergarh district, Orissa, India. Trans R Soc Med Hyg. 101, 650-654
Pattnaik P., Shakri A. R., Singh S., Goel S., Mukherjee P. and C. E. Chitnis. 2007. Immunogenicity of a recombinant malaria vaccine based on receptor binding domain of Plasmodium falciparum EBA-175. Vaccine 25, 806-813
Yazdani S., Shakri A. R., Pattnaik P., Rizvi M. M. A. and C. E. Chitnis. 2006. Improvement in yield and purity of a recombinant malaria vaccine candidate based on the receptor-binding domain of Plasmodium vivax Duffy binding protein by codon optimization. Biotech Lett. 28, 1109-1114
Bir N., Yazdani S. S., Avril M., Layez C., Gysin J. and C. E. Chitnis. 2006. Immunogenicity of Duffy-binding-like domains that bind chondroitin sulfate A and protection against pregnancy associated malaria. Infect Immun. 74, 5955-5963
Mamillapalli A., Pattnaik P., Sharma M., Sharma S. K., Tyagi P. K., Joshi H and C. E. Chitnis. 2006. Sequence polymorphisms in the receptor-binding domain of Plasmodium falciparum EBA-175: Implications for malaria vaccine development. Mol Biochem Parasitol. 146, 120-123
Sharma S. K., Tyagi P. K., Padhan K., Upadhyay A. K., Haque M., Joshi H., Biswas S., Nanda N., Adak T., Chauhan V. S., Chitnis C. E. and S. K. Subbarao. 2006. Epidemiology of malaria in forest and plain ecotypes of Sundergarh District, Orissa, India. Trans R Soc Trop Med. 100, 917-925
Yazdani S. S., Mukherjee P., Chauhan V. S. and C. E. Chitnis. 2006. Immune responses to asexual blood-stages of malaria parasites. Curr Mol Med. 6, 187-20
Mayor A., Bir N., Sawhney R., Singh S., Pattnaik P., Singh S. K., Sharma A. and C. E. Chitnis. 2005. Receptor-binding domains lie in central regions of Duffy-binding-like domains involved in red cell invasion and cytoadherence by malaria parasites. Blood 105, 2557-2563
Choe H., Moore M. J., Wright P. L., Vasilieva N., Li W., Singh A. P., Shakri A. R., Chitnis C. E. and M. Farzan. 2005. A Duffy Antigen/Receptor for Chemokines (DARC) Sulfate Group is Essential for its Association with the Plasmodium vivax Duffy-binding Protein. Mol Microbiol. 55, 1413-1421
Hans D., Pattnaik P., Bhattacharyya A., Shakri A. R., Yazdani S. S., Sharma M., Choe H., Farzan M. and C. E. Chitnis. 2005. Mapping binding residues in the Plasmodium vivax domain that binds Duffy antigen during red cell invasion. Mol Microbiol. 55, 1423-1434
Singh A. P., Ozawara H., Kocken C., Puri S. K., Thomas A. W. and C. E. Chitnis. 2005. Targeted disruption of Plasmodium knowlesi Duffy binding protein confirms its role in junction formation during red cell invasion. Mol Microbiol. 55, 1925-1934
Arevalo-Herrera M., Castellanos A., Yazdani S. S., Shakri A. R., Chitnis C. E., Dominik R., and S. Herrera. 2005. Immunogenicity and protective efficacy of recombinant vaccine based on the receptor-binding domain of the P. vivax Duffy binding protein in Aotus monkeys. Amer J Trop Med Hyg. 73, 25-31
Herrera S., Gomez A., Vera O., Vergara J., Valderrama-Aguirre A., Maestre A., Mendez F., Wang R., Chitnis C. E. and Yazdani S. S., Arevalo-Herrera M. 2005. Antibody response to Plasmodium vivax antigens in Fy-negative individuals from the Colombian Pacific coast. Amer J Trop Med Hyg. 73, 44-49
Tran T. M., Oliviera-Ferreira J., Moreno A., Santos F., Yazdani S. S., Chitnis C. E., Altman J, D., Meyer E. V., Barnwell J. W. and M. R. Galinski. 2005. Comparison of IgG reactivities to Plasmodium vivax merozoite invasion antigens in a Brazilian Amazon population. Amer J Trop Med Hyg. 73, 244-255
Mehra P., Biswas A. K., Gupta A., Gourinath S., Chitnis C. E. and S. K. Dhar. 2005. Expression and characterization of human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum origin recognition complex subunit 1. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 337, 955-966
Tran T. M., Moreno A., Yazdani S. S., Chitnis C. E., Barnwell J. W. and M. R. Galinski. 2005. Detection of a Plasmodium vivax erythrocyte binding protein by flow cytometry. Cytometry A. 63, 59-66
Yazdani S. S., Shakri A. R. and C. E. Chitnis. 2004. A high cell density fermentation strategy to produce recombinant malarial antigen in E. coli. Biotech Lett. 26, 1891-1895
Sharma S. K., Chattopadhyay R., Chakrabarti K., Pati S, Srivastava V., Tyagi P., Mahanty S., Misra S., Adak T., Das B. S. and C. E. Chitnis. 2004. Epidemiology of malaria transmission and development of natural immunity in a malaria endemic village, San Dulakudar, in Orissa state, India. Amer J Trop Med Hyg. 71, 457-465
Yazdani S. S., Ahmad R. S., Mukherjee P., Baniwal S. K and C. E. Chitnis. 2004. Evaluation of immune responses elicited in mice against a recombinant malaria vaccine based on Plasmodium vivax Duffy binding protein. Vaccine 22, 3727-3737
Chattopadhyay R., Taneja T. K.., Chakrabarti K., Pillai C. R. and C. E. Chitnis. 2004. Molecular analysis of the cytoadherence phenotype of a Plasmodium falciparum field isolate that binds intercellular adhesion molecule – 1. Mol Biochem Parasitol. 133, 255-265
Bharara R., Singh S., Pattnaik P., Chitnis C. E. and A. Sharma. 2004. Structural analogs of sialic acid interfere with the binding of erythrocyte binding antigen-175 to glycophorin A, an interaction crucial for erythrocyte invasion by Plasmodium falciparum. Mol Biochem Parasitol. 138, 123-129
Tse M. T., Chakrabarti K., Gray C., Chitnis C. E. and A. Craig. 2004. Divergent binding sites on intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) for variant Plasmodium falciparum isolates. Molec Microbiol. 59, 1039-1049
Singh S. K., Singh A. P., Pandey S., Yazdani S. S., Chitnis C. E. and A. Sharma. 2003. Definition of structural elements in Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium knowlesi Duffy binding domains necessary for erythrocyte invasion. Biochem J. 374, 193-198
Chattopadhyay R., Sharma A., Srivastava V. K., Pati S. S., Sharma S. K., Das B. S. and C. E. Chitnis. 2003. Plasmodium falciparum infection elicits both variant-specific and cross-reactive antibodies against parasite variant surface antigens. Infect Immun. 71, 597-604
Prasad C. D., Singh A., Chitnis C. E. and Sharma A. 2003. A Plasmodium yoelii yoelii erythrocyte binding protein that uses Duffy binding-like domain for invasion: a rodent model for studying erythrocyte invasion. Mol Biochem Parasitol. 128, 101-105
Xianli J., Cole-Tobian J. L., Baisor M., Kastens W., Bockarie M., Yazdani S. S., Chitnis C. E., Adams J. H. and C. L. King. 2003. Epitope-specific humoral immunity to Plasmodium vivax Duffy binding protein. Infect Immun. 71, 2508-2515
Pandey K. C., S. Singh, P. Pattnaik, C. R. Pillai, U. Pillai, A. Lynn, S. K. Jain and C. E. Chitnis. 2002. Bacterially expressed and refolded receptor binding domain of Plasmodium falciparum EBA-175 elicits invasion inhibitory antibodies. Mol Biochem Parasitol 123, 23-33
Singh A. P., S. K. Puri and C. E. Chitnis. 2002. Antibodies raised against receptor-binding domain of Plasmodium knowlesi Duffy binding protein inhibit erythrocyte invasion. Mol Biochem Parasitol. 121, 21-31
Singh S., K. Pandey, R. Chattopadhayay, S. Yazdani, A. Lynn, A. Bharadwaj, A. Ranjan and C. E. Chitnis. 2001. Biochemical, biophysical and functional characterization of bacterially expressed and refolded receptor binding domain of Plasmodium vivax Duffy binding protein. J Biol Chem. 276, 17111-17116
C. E. Chitnis. 2001. Molecular insights into receptors used for erythrocyte invasion by malaria parasites. Curr Opin Hematol. 8, 85-91
C. E. Chitnis and M. E. Blackman. 2000. Host cell invasion by malaria parasites. Parasitol Today. 16, 411-415
Patents
Co-inventor: Patent application 1814/DEL/2009 – An anti-malarial vaccine
Co-inventor: US5993827, US5849306, WO9507353, WO9640766 - Binding domains from Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte binding proteins.
Co-inventor, PCT Application: PCT/EP/09023 – Method of polypeptide renaturation.
