Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology

The Chatterjee lab, a part of the Mycobacteria Research Laboratories, focuses on the glycomics and glycobiology of the mycobacterial cell wall glycans such as lipopolysaccharides, glycolipids, and neutral glycans – playing important roles in the physiology and/or pathogenicity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis/leprae or in non- tuberculous mycobacteria.

In early years, Dr. Chatterjee’s laboratory focused on glycomics, glycobiology, genetics and pathogenesis of lipoarabinomannan (LAM), a major cell wall component of mycobacteria, that has antigenic properties. A major portion of this work, that was funded by WHO for two years and NIH for thirteen years, contributed to our present understanding of the role of LAM in pathogenesis. This also provided the premise for investigating LAM as a biomarker for TB diagnostics.

Over the last decade, Dr. Chatterjee’s laboratory has made efforts to advance the knowledge and resources for the global mycobacteria research community and work with others in the field to continue efforts on developing a “field applicable” diagnostic platform that will have the potential to impact multiple populations and communities. This work was funded in initial years by Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and is currently being supported by NIH. The lab also extensively uses Mass Spectrometry (MS) and  recently methods have been developed to analyze oligosaccharides without any derivatization. The Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) has also been used in the lab for the validation of TB patients or suspects from different geographical locations to ascertain the presence or absence of LAM in urine for diagnostics and quantification. The lab has also worked on the metabolomics analysis of granuloma development in the lungs of animals infected with M. tuberculosis and showed for the first time that semi solid NMR i.e; High Resolution Magic Angle Spinning (HR-MAS) can be applied directly to TB infected granulomas.

Research Projects

Active Research Projects

Patents & IPs

Device and Methods for Diagnosis of Active Tuberculosis
Inventors: Delphi Chatterjee et al.
CSURF Ref. No. 2021-083 (US)

Methods of Detecting Lipoarabinomannan in Urine and Diagnosing Nontuberculosis Mycobacterial Infection
(CSU) Provisional Patent 2879-224-PROV