Dr. Somnath Dutta
Centre/Department: Molecular Biophysics Unit
Email: somnath@iisc.ac.in
Area of Research: The overarching goal of our laboratory is structural and functional characterization of biological macromolecules, which are associated with infectious diseases. My group targets to understand the role of virulence factors and their translocation mechanism through the secretion systems of the pathogenic bacteria, like M. tuberculosis, B. subtilis, S. aureus, and V. cholerae. Precisely, we target bacterial secretion system from M. tuberculosis and S. aureus, interactions of pore-forming toxin with lipid-membrane and receptors from S. aureus and V. cholerae, efflux of antibiotics through RND (Resistance-nodulation-division) pumps of drug-resistant bacteria (P. aeruginosa and E. coli).
We employ protein biochemistry, biophysical techniques, and cryo-EM techniques to characterize these biological macromolecules and visualize the crosstalk between various cellular protein components.
Lab website: https://somnath92.wixsite.com/website