https://dspace.nii.res.in//https://dspace.nii.res.in/handle/123456789/622 Principal Investigator- Dr. Nimesh Gupta 2026-04-27T15:59:13Z https://dspace.nii.res.in//https://dspace.nii.res.in/handle/123456789/1273 Title: A haemagglutination test for rapid detection of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 Authors: Gupta, Nimesh; Townsend, Alain; Rijal, Pramila; Xiao, Julie; Tan, Tiong Kit; Huang, Kuan-Ying A; Schimanski, Lisa; Huo, Jiandong; Rahikainen, Rolle; Matthews, Philippa C; Crook, Derrick; Hoosdally, Sarah; Dunachie, Susanna; Barnes, Eleanor; Street, Teresa; Conlon, Christopher P; Frater, John; Arancibia-Cárcamo, Carolina V; Rudkin, Justine; Stoesser, Nicole; Karpe, Fredrik; Neville, Matthew; Ploeg, Rutger; Oliveira, Marta; J Roberts, David; Lamikanra, Abigail A; Tsang, Hoi Pat; Bown, Abbie; Vipond, Richard; Mentzer, Alexander J; Knight, Julian C; Kwok, Andrew J; Screaton, Gavin R; Mongkolsapaya, Juthathip; Dejnirattisai, Wanwisa; Supasa, Piyada; Klenerman, Paul; Dold, Christina; Baillie, J Kenneth; Moore, Shona C; Openshaw, Peter J M; Semple, Malcolm G; Turtle, Lance C W; Ainsworth, Mark; Allcock, Alice; Beer, Sally; Bibi, Sagida; Skelly, Donal; Stafford, Lizzy; Jeffrey, Katie; O'Donnell, Denise; Clutterbuck, Elizabeth; Espinosa, Alexis; Mendoza, Maria; Georgiou, Dominique; Lockett, Teresa; Martinez, Jose; Perez, Elena; Sanchez, Veronica Gallardo; Scozzafava, Giuseppe; Sobrinodiaz, Alberto; Thraves, Hannah; Joly, Etienne Abstract: Serological detection of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 is essential for establishing rates of seroconversion in populations, and for seeking evidence for a level of antibody that may be protective against COVID-19 disease. Several high-performance commercial tests have been described, but these require centralised laboratory facilities that are comparatively expensive, and therefore not available universally. Red cell agglutination tests do not require special equipment, are read by eye, have short development times, low cost and can be applied at the Point of Care. Here we describe a quantitative Haemagglutination test (HAT) for the detection of antibodies to the receptor binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. The HAT has a sensitivity of 90% and specificity of 99% for detection of antibodies after a PCR diagnosed infection. We will supply aliquots of the test reagent sufficient for ten thousand test wells free of charge to qualified research groups anywhere in the world. 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://dspace.nii.res.in//https://dspace.nii.res.in/handle/123456789/1272 Title: Immune Memory in Mild COVID-19 Patients and Unexposed Donors Reveals Persistent T Cell Responses After SARS-CoV-2 Infection Authors: Gupta, Nimesh; Ansari, Asgar; Arya, Rakesh; Sachan, Shilpa; Jha, Someshwar Nath; Kalia, Anurag; Lall, Anupam; Sette, Alessandro; Grifoni, Alba; Weiskopf, Daniela; Coshic, Poonam; Sharma, Ashok Abstract: Understanding the causes of the diverse outcome of COVID-19 pandemic in different geographical locations is important for the worldwide vaccine implementation and pandemic control responses. We analyzed 42 unexposed healthy donors and 28 mild COVID-19 subjects up to 5 months from the recovery for SARS-CoV-2 specific immunological memory. Using HLA class II predicted peptide megapools, we identified SARS-CoV-2 cross-reactive CD4+ T cells in around 66% of the unexposed individuals. Moreover, we found detectable immune memory in mild COVID-19 patients several months after recovery in the crucial arms of protective adaptive immunity; CD4+ T cells and B cells, with a minimal contribution from CD8+ T cells. Interestingly, the persistent immune memory in COVID-19 patients is predominantly targeted towards the Spike glycoprotein of the SARS-CoV-2. This study provides the evidence of both high magnitude pre-existing and persistent immune memory in Indian population. By providing the knowledge on cellular immune responses to SARS-CoV-2, our work has implication for the development and implementation of vaccines against COVID-19 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://dspace.nii.res.in//https://dspace.nii.res.in/handle/123456789/1271 Title: CD8+ T cells are crucial for humoral immunity establishment by SA14-14-2 live attenuated Japanese encephalitis vaccine in mice Authors: Gupta, Nimesh; Kalia, Anurag; Agrawal, Mona Abstract: The live attenuated SA14-14-2 Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine is a historical vaccine that protects against JE. Despite its extensive use, the mechanism of protective immunity conferred by the SA14-14-2 vaccine is not well established. Here, we used mouse models to understand the mechanism of the development of humoral immunity against the vaccine. The vaccine induces robust GC responses within a week postimmunization. In lethal virus challenge, we show that CD4+ T cells alone, but not CD8+ T cells, are sufficient to confer vaccine-mediated protection. However, the CD4-mediated protection was potentiated in the presence of vaccine-primed CD8+ T cells. Employing CD8-deficient mice, we show that both the protective traits of CD4+ T cells and the quality of antibody response to the vaccine are impaired in absence of CD8+ T cells. We further demonstrate that the poor protective immune response induced by the vaccine in absence of CD8+ T cells is mainly due to the impaired differentiation and function of follicular Th cells, leading to suboptimal GC reaction. Our study highlights an unprecedented role of CD8+ T cells in the establishment of humoral responses to the vaccine. By elucidating underlying cellular determinants of vaccine-induced protective immunity, our work has implications for rational design of vaccines against JE virus and related flaviviruses. 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://dspace.nii.res.in//https://dspace.nii.res.in/handle/123456789/1109 Title: CD8 T cells are crucial for humoral immunity establishment by SA14-14-2 live attenuated Japanese encephalitis vaccine in mice. Authors: Gupta, Nimesh; Agrawal, Mona; Kalia, Anurag Abstract: The live attenuated SA14-14-2 Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine is a historical vaccine that protects against JE. Despite its extensive use, the mechanism of protective immunity conferred by the SA14-14-2 vaccine is not well established. Here, we used mouse models to understand the mechanism of the development of humoral immunity against the vaccine. The vaccine induces robust GC responses within a week postimmunization. In lethal virus challenge, we show that CD4+ T cells alone, but not CD8+ T cells, are sufficient to confer vaccine-mediated protection. However, the CD4-mediated protection was potentiated in the presence of vaccine-primed CD8+ T cells. Employing CD8-deficient mice, we show that both the protective traits of CD4+ T cells and the quality of antibody response to the vaccine are impaired in absence of CD8+ T cells. We further demonstrate that the poor protective immune response induced by the vaccine in absence of CD8+ T cells is mainly due to the impaired differentiation and function of follicular Th cells, leading to suboptimal GC reaction. Our study highlights an unprecedented role of CD8+ T cells in the establishment of humoral responses to the vaccine. By elucidating underlying cellular determinants of vaccine-induced protective immunity, our work has implications for rational design of vaccines against JE virus and related flaviviruses. 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z