Immunology & Molecular Biology Lab r

Name of Faculty Member: Dr. Alpana Sharma 

Designation: Professor 

Address: Room No. 3015, 3^rd Floor, Department of Biochemistry, AIIMS, New Delhi 

Official Phone: +91-11-26546665 

Email id: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Academic Details  

PhD in Biochemistry in 1987, JN Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh  

M.Phil. in Biochemistry in 1982, JN Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh  

M.Sc. in Biochemistry in 1980, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 

Positions held 

Notable Awards and Society Memberships (500 words max)

Awards:  

• Prof. Sohail Ahmad Award for excellence in basic science research (IABS) 2022
• AIIMS Excellence Award in basic science 2016
• Travel grant from IGCS Prague, Czeck Republic, 2010
• AACR-NCI International Investigator Opportunity Grant Awarded by American Association for Cancer Research, Philadelphia, USA (Dec 2009)
• Indo French Fellowship awarded in the year 1985-86.     
• Lady Tata Memorial Trust fellowship, Bombay 1983-1985
• Membership, National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad, 2014
• Membership, National Academy of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, 2010

Fellowships  

Fellow of NAMS (FAMS) 

Fellow of IABS (FIABS)

Research Focus of the Lab  

The primary goal of Dr. Alpana Sharma’s lab is to understand major biological processes at the molecular and immune level with the ultimate aim of alleviating human disease by identification of novel therapeutic agents/targets. To accomplish this, Dr. Sharma’s lab focuses on elucidating the diverse mechanisms of immune escape and exhaustion in solid tumors such as renal cell cancer and bladder cancer wherein the role of memory T cells, regulatory B cells and tumor associated macrophages is being explored. Furthermore, the immune-pathogenesis of autoimmune skin diseases is being studied in order to understand the T-cell biology and crosstalk between macrophages, dendritic cells and NK cells in Pemphigus Vulgaris and Vitiligo. Moreover, the impact of MDSCs and Tregs in atherosclerosis is also another field of interest. 

The other field of research is to explore the importance of bone marrow microenvironment in multiple myeloma and cancers of urinary bladder cancer. Her laboratory is interested in identifying biomarkers of diagnostic potential in cancer. In addition, the role of microRNAs in diagnostics and therapeutics of cancer is being studied. Dr. Sharma’s lab is also elucidating anti-cancer potential of natural products. The small molecule based therapeutic drug screening and identification is also an ongoing research work in lab.

Our most recent Research Goals:

1. Elucidating the role of memory T cells in Renal cell carcinoma
2. Study of B cell subsets and their immune regulatory function in urothelial carcinoma of bladder
3. Exploring Macrophages and Natural Killer cells and their interplay in Pemphigus Vulgaris
4. Study of autophagy and Tumor Associated Macrophages (TAMs) in Urothelial Carcinoma of Bladder
5. Phenotypic and functional characterization of myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and regulatory T cells (Tregs) in atherosclerosis.
6. Exploring macrophages in the pathogenesis of Vitiligo

List of Lab members (Including technicians and attendants)

Postdoctoral Fellows  

• Dr. Shamima Akhtar

Senior Demonstrator  

• Dr. Nidhi Gupta

PhD Students  

• Ashu
• K David Raja
• Vishakha Hooda
• Aishwarya Singh
• Komal Sagar

Project Staff  

• Shraddha Kapoor (ICMR-SRF)

M.Sc. Student  

• Nikita

Attendants  

• Jaipal Singh Rana
• Ashok Kumar

Key publications  

1. Gupta N, Nafees S, Rahman AU, Akhtar J, Khan AA, Sharma A. Itrifal-e-Aftimoon potentiates imatinib-induced anti-leukemic effect by influencing FAK/STAT/Akt/ERK signalling pathways against chronic myeloid leukaemia in vitro. J Pharm Pharmacol. 2022 Sep 1;74(9):1330-1341.
2. Singh P, Singh A, Gupta N, Raja KD, Singh P, Agarwal S, Sharma A. Non-invasive diagnostic potential of microRNA-203 in liquid biopsy of urothelial carcinoma of bladder. Mol Cell Biochem. 2022 Sep;477(9):2173-2182.
3. Singh A, Gupta N, Khandakar H, Kaushal S, Seth A, Pandey RM, Sharma A. Autophagy-associated HMGB-1 as a novel potential circulating non-invasive diagnostic marker for detection of Urothelial Carcinoma of Bladder. Mol Cell Biochem. 2022 Feb;477(2):493-505.
4. Akhtar S, Sharma A. Endothelial dysfunction sustains immune response in atherosclerosis: potential cause for ineffectiveness of prevailing drugs. Int Rev Immunol. 2022;41(2):123-134.
5. Singh A, Das D, Kurra S, Arava S, Gupta S, Sharma A. Dendritic cells and their associated pro-inflammatory cytokines augment to the inflammatory milieu in vitiligo skin. Cytokine. 2021 Dec;148:155598.
6. Das D, Singh A, Antil PS, Sharma D, Arava S, Khandpur S, Sharma A. Distorted frequency of dendritic cells and their associated stimulatory and inhibitory markers augment the pathogenesis of pemphigus vulgaris. Immunol Res. 2020 Dec;68(6):353-362.
7. Saini C, Srivastava RK, Tarique M, Kurra S, Khanna N, Ramesh V, Sharma A. Elevated IL-6R on CD4+ T cells promotes IL-6 driven Th17 cell responses in patients with T1R leprosy reactions. Sci Rep. 2020 Sep 15;10(1):15143.
8. Tarique M, Naz H, Saini C, Suhail M, Shankar H, Khanna N, Sharma A. Association of IL-10 Gene Polymorphism With IL-10 Secretion by CD4 and T Regulatory Cells in Human Leprosy. Front Immunol. 2020 Aug 6;11:1974.
9. Gupta N, Kumar R, Seth T, Garg B, Sharma A. Targeting of stromal versican by miR-144/199 inhibits multiple myeloma by downregulating FAK/STAT3 signalling. RNA Biol. 2020 Jan;17(1):98-111.
10. Anand V, Khandelwal M, Appunni S, Gupta N, Seth A, Singh P, Mathur S, Sharma A. CD44 splice variant (CD44v3) promotes progression of urothelial carcinoma of bladder through Akt/ERK/STAT3 pathways: novel therapeutic approach. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2019 Nov;145(11):2649-2661.

Any acknowledgements and other information  

Funding Source  

• Indian Council of Medical Research
• AIIMS, New Delhi (Collaborative)
• AYUSH
• CCRUM, AYUSH
• DHR