Prof. Amit Prasad (PI) has significantly contributed to our understanding of the cellular immunology of the helminthic parasite Taenia solium. This parasite causes infections in the muscle and central nervous system and remains a leading cause of acquired epilepsy in India. His research group focuses specifically on innate immune cell biology during parasitic infections.
The parasite possesses a complex life cycle and induces both Th1 and Th2 immune responses through the secretion of a wide array of products. Prof. Prasad’s group has identified Excretory-Secretory Products (ESPs) from the parasite and established their role in immune suppression. Furthermore, the group has successfully isolated exosomes from cultured cysts, demonstrating that they decrease mTOR in macrophages; these exosomes show promise as therapeutic agents for colitis treatment.
By employing reverse vaccinology approaches, his group has generated several multi-subunit chimeric vaccine candidates for taeniasis and cysticercosis. They also actively utilize high-throughput proteomics to identify helminthic antigens as novel therapeutic targets.