Dr. Munesh Kumar Harioudh is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at IISER Berhampur. His research focuses on innate immunity and host–pathogen interactions, with particular emphasis on understanding how interferon signaling and interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) shape early host defense against bacterial and viral infections. His broader interests include antimicrobial immunity, innate immune signaling, inflammatory responses, host genetic determinants of infection, and the development of host-directed therapeutic strategies. His training spans innate immunity, biochemistry, and antimicrobial peptide biology.
At IISER Berhampur, his
laboratory aims to understand how innate immune responses can be harnessed to
improve protection against infectious diseases, with a major focus on
antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacterial pathogens. A central direction of the
lab is to identify and mechanistically characterize protective ISG networks
that control bacterial infection and determine how these pathways can be
selectively exploited for host-directed therapy. This work integrates
transcriptomic and functional genetic approaches with mechanistic studies to
define conserved and pathogen-specific antimicrobial defense pathways.
1. Maheshwari, M. & Harioudh, M.K. Subcellular compartmentalization dependent
dichotomy of p21 in cancer. Molecular
Biology Reports 53, 848
(2026). DOI: 10.1007/s11033-026-12030-3. PMID: 42201575
2. Harioudh, M.K. & Sarkar, S.N. Context-Specific Diversity of Antimicrobial Functions
of Interferon-Stimulated Genes. Viruses 17, 1635 (2025). DOI: 10.3390/v17121635. PMID: 41472304
3. Harioudh, M.K., Perez, J., So, L., Maheshwari, M., Ebert, T.S., Hornung, V., Savan, R.,
Banday, A.R., Diamond, M.S., Rathinam, V.A. & Sarkar, S.N. The canonical antiviral protein oligoadenylate synthetase 1 elicits
antibacterial functions by enhancing IRF1 translation. Immunity 57, 1812-1827 (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2024.06.003. PMID: 38955184
4. 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.K., Hornung, V.,
Savan, R., Diamond, M.S. & Sarkar, S.N. Oligoadenylate Synthetase 1 displays dual antiviral mechanisms in driving
translational shutdown and protecting interferon production. Immunity
57, 446-461 (2024).
5. Chhibbar, P.*, Guha Roy, P.*, Harioudh,
M.K.*, McGrail, D.J., Yang, D., Singh, H., Hinterleitner, R., Gong, Y.N.,
Yi, S.S., Sahni, N., Sarkar, S.N. & Das, J. Uncovering cell-type-specific
immunomodulatory variants and molecular phenotypes in COVID-19 using
structurally resolved protein networks. Cell Reports 43, 114930 (2024). (* =
co-first authors) DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114930. PMID: 39504244
6. Tandon, A., Harioudh, M.K.,
Verma, N.K., Saroj, J., Gupta, A., Pant, G., Tripathi, J.K., Kumar, A., Kumari,
T., Mitra, K. & Ghosh, J.K. Characterization of a myeloid differentiation
factor 2-derived peptide that facilitates THP-1 macrophage-mediated
phagocytosis of Gram-negative bacteria. ACS Infectious Diseases 10, 845-857
(2024). DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.3c00274. PMID: 38363869
7. Sarkar, S.N., Harioudh,
M.K., Shao, L., Perez, J. & Ghosh, A. The Many Faces of Oligoadenylate
Synthetases. Journal
of Interferon & Cytokine Research 43, 487-494 (2023). DOI: 10.1089/jir.2023.0098. PMID: 37751211
8. Verma, N.K., Dewangan, R.P., Harioudh,
M.K. & Ghosh, J.K. Introduction of a β-leucine residue
instead of leucine9 and glycine10 residues in Temporin L for improved cell
selectivity, stability and activity against planktonic and biofilm of
methicillin resistant S. aureus. Bioorganic Chemistry 134, 106440 (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2023.106440. PMID: 36870201
9. Pal, S., Sayeed, M., Kumar, A., Verma, D.P., Harioudh, M.K., Verma, N.K., Porwal, K.,
Sharma, S., Kulkarni, C., Bandyopadhyay, A., Mugale, M.N., Mitra, K., Ghosh,
J.K. & Chattopadhyay, N. Self-Assembling Nano-Globular Peptide from Human
Lactoferrin Acts as a Systemic Enhancer of Bone Regeneration: A Novel Peptide
for Orthopedic Application. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
13, 17300-17315 (2021). DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c01513. PMID: 33830736
10.Singh, M., Kumar,
V., Sikka, K., Thakur, R., Harioudh, M.K.,
Mishra, D.P., Ghosh, J.K. & Siddiqi, M.I. Computational Design of
Biologically Active Anticancer Peptides and Their Interactions with
Heterogeneous POPC/POPS Lipid Membranes. Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling
60, 332-341 (2020). DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.9b00348. PMID: 31880450
11.Sharma, T., Harioudh, M.K., Kuldeep, J., Kumar, S.,
Banerjee, D., Ghosh, J.K. & Siddiqi, M.I. Identification of Potential
Inhibitors of Cathepsin-B using Shape & Pharmacophore-based Virtual
Screening, Molecular Docking and Explicit Water Thermodynamics. Molecular
Informatics 39, 1900023 (2020). DOI: 10.1002/minf.201900023. PMID: 31648416
12.Sinha, S., Harioudh, M.K., Dewangan, R.P., Ng, W.J.,
Ghosh, J.K. & Bhattacharjya, S. Cell-Selective Pore Forming Antimicrobial
Peptides of the Prodomain of Human Furin: A Conserved Aromatic/Cationic
Sequence Mapping, Membrane Disruption, and Atomic-Resolution Structure and Dynamics.
ACS Omega
3, 14650-14664 (2018). DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.8b01876. PMID: 30555984
13.Tandon, A., Pathak,
M., Harioudh, M.K., Ahmad, S., Sayeed,
M., Afshan, T., Siddiqi, M.I., Mitra, K., Bhattacharya, S.M. & Ghosh, J.K.
A TLR4-derived non-cytotoxic, self-assembling peptide functions as a vaccine
adjuvant in mice. Journal
of Biological Chemistry 293, 19874-19885 (2018). DOI: 10.1074/jbc.RA118.002768. PMID: 30385503
14.Tandon, A., Harioudh, M.K., Ishrat, N., Tripathi, A.K.,
Srivastava, S. & Ghosh, J.K. An MD2-derived peptide promotes LPS
aggregation, facilitates its internalization in THP-1 cells, and inhibits
LPS-induced pro-inflammatory responses. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences 75, 2431-2446 (2018). DOI: 10.1007/s00018-017-2735-2. PMID: 29313060
15.Harioudh, M.K., Sahai, R., Mitra, K. &
Ghosh, J.K. A short non-cytotoxic antimicrobial
peptide designed from Aβ29-40 adopts
nanostructure and shows in vivo anti-endotoxin activity. Chemical
Communications 53, 13079-13082 (2017). DOI: 10.1039/c7cc07547b. PMID: 29168511
16.Tripathi, A.K., Kumari, T., Harioudh,
M.K., Yadav, P.K., Kathuria, M., Shukla, P.K., Mitra, K. & Ghosh, J.K.
Identification of GXXXXG motif in Chrysophsin-1 and its implication in the
design of analogs with cell-selective antimicrobial and anti-endotoxin
activities. Scientific
Reports 7, 3384 (2017). DOI:
10.1038/s41598-017-03576-1. PMID: 28611397
17.Kumar, A., Mahajan, M., Awasthi, B.,
Tandon, A., Harioudh, M.K., Shree, S.,
Singh, P., Shukla, P.K., Ramachandran, R., Mitra, K., Bhattacharjya, S. &
Ghosh, J.K. Piscidin-1-analogs with double L- and D-lysine residues exhibited
different conformations in lipopolysaccharide but comparable anti-endotoxin
activities. Scientific
Reports 7, 39925 (2017). DOI: 10.1038/srep39925. PMID:
28051162
