Saumen Sarkar, PhD
- Academic Title: Professor
- Primary Appointment: Microbiology and Immunology
- Additional Title: Professor, Program in Oncology
- Email: ssarkar@som.umaryland.edu
- Phone (Primary): 410-706-0921
Education and Training
- PhD in Molecular Biophysics, Indian Institute of Science
- MSc in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, University College of Science and Technology, University of Calcutta (India)
- BSc Presidency College, University of Calcutta (India)
Research/Clinical Keywords
Type I Interferon (IFN), IFN-Stimulated Genes (ISG), Oligoadenylate Synthetase, Innate Immune Signaling Anti-viral innate immunity, Tumor microenvironment, IFN Signaling, Interferon Regulatory Factor (IRF),
Highlighted Publications
Zhu, J., Zhang, Y., Ghosh, A., Cuevas, R. A., Forero, A., Dhar, J., Ibsen, M. S., Schmid-Burgk, J. L., Schmidt, T., Ganapathiraju, M. K., Fujita, T., Hartmann, R., Barik, S., Hornung, V., Coyne, C. B., and Sarkar, S. N. (2014) Antiviral Activity of Human OASL Protein Is Mediated by Enhancing Signaling of the RIG-I RNA Sensor. Immunity. 40, 936-948.
Ghosh, , Shao, L., Sampath, P., Zhao, B., Patel, N. V., Zhu, J., Behl, B., Parise, R. A., Beumer, J. H., O'Sullivan, R. A., Deluca, N. A., Thorne, S. H., Rathinam, V. A., Li, P., and Sarkar, S. N. (2019) OASL inhibits Interferon induction by inhibiting cGAS activity during DNA virus infection. Immunity. 50, 51-63.e5.
Harioudh, M.K., Perez, J., Chong, Z., Nair, S., So, L., McCormick, K.D., Ghosh, A., Shao, L., Srivastava, R., Soveg, F., Ebert, T.S., Atianand, M., Hornung, V., Savan, R., Diamond, M.S. and Sarkar, S.N. (2024) Oligoadenylate Synthetase 1 displays dual antiviral mechanisms in driving translational shutdown and protecting interferon production. Immunity. 57, 446-461.e7.
Harioudh, K., Perez, J., So, L., Maheshwari, M., Ebert, T.S., Atianand, M., Hornung, V., Savan, R., Diamond, M.S., Rathinam, V.A. and Sarkar, S.N. (2024) Oligoadenylate Synthetase 1 protects from bacterial infection by enhancing IRF1 translation. Immunity. 57, 1812–1827.
Preview in the August 13, 2024, issue of Immunity.
Additional Publications
Research Interests
Innate immunity of an organism is the inborn protection against invading pathogens. We are interested in the host innate immune response during virus infection and cancer. Although several basic principles of virus detection and host signaling have been identified, the specific mechanisms by which these pathways are modulated by host components during microbial infection or tumor progression remains poorly understood. Following are some of the specific research topic we are interested:
- Signaling mechanisms of type I Interferon (IFN) induction and modulation during DNA and RNA virus infection.
- Mechanism of antiviral and antibacterial activity of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs), such as IFN-inducible Oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS) family genes.
- Differential roles of IFN-regulatory factors (IRFs) in tumor progression and immunotherapy of cancer.