Purushottam Jha, Ph.D.

Education:

• University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
  Ph.D., Microbology and Immunology
• Post-doctoral Training, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY

Academic Appointments:

Instructor, Department of Ophthalmology

Research Interests:

The complement system is an integral part of innate immune system. It facilitates immune responses through a cascade of protein activations involving more than 30 proteins which results in a variety of phenomena including immune adherence, antigen identification, phagocytosis and cell lysis. Because of its potent proinflammatory and destructive capabilities the complement system is tightly regulated by complement regulatory proteins (CRPs) to protect the host from the inadvertent activation of complement on its own tissues during an inflammatory response.  Complement system is involved in immunopathogenesis of many human diseases.
In past few years I have been involved in study which has shown a central role of complement system and CRPs in intraocular inflammation in experimental autoimmune anterior uveitis in EAAU (EAAU) in rats as well as laser-induced choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in mice. The inflammatory response in EAAU involves the local activation of complement, which is responsible for the sequence of events leading to intraocular up-regulation of cytokines, chemokines and adhesion molecules and recruitment of inflammatory cells to the eye. The results from these studies demonstrated that the direct interference with the complement system blocks the inflammation in EAAU and CNV and local activation of complement may serve as a mechanism to target the inflammatory response to the eye.  My goal is to expand my research to find the role of complement system in immunopathogenesis of various other ocular diseases such as glaucoma, keratitis, uveal melanoma and others.

Peer Review Publications:

Jha P and Kotwal GJ, Vaccinia Virus Complement control protein: Multi -functional protein and a Wonder Drug. J Biosci. 2003; 28(3): 265-271.

Jha P, Smith SA, Justus DE and Kotwal GJ. Prolonged retention of vaccinia virus complement control protein following I.P. injection: implications in blocking xenorejection. Transplant Proc. 2003 ;35(8):3160-2.

Scott MJ, Burch PT, Jha P, Peyton JC, Kotwal GJ and Cheadle WG, Inhibition of complement increases early bacterial clearance after polymicrobial sepsis. Surg Infect (Larchmt). 2003; 4(4):317-326.

Bora PS, Sohn JH, Cruz JM, Jha P, Nishihori H, Wang Y, Kaliappan S, Kaplan HJ, Bora NS. Role of complement and complement membrane attack complex in laser-induced choroidal neovascularization. J Immunol. 2005; 174(1):491-497.

Jha P, Smith SA, Justus DE and Kotwal GJ, Vaccinia virus complement control protein ameliorates the collagen-induced arthritis. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 2005; 1056: 55–68.

Jha, P., Sohn, J.H., Xu, Q., Nishihori, H., Wang, Y., Nishihori, S., Manickam, B., Kaplan, H.J., Bora, P.S., and Bora, N.S. Complement System Plays a Critical Role in the Development of Experimental Autoimmune Aterior Ueitis (EAAU). Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2006; 47 (3): 1030-1038.

Jha, P., Sohn, J.H., Qin X, Wang, Y., Kaplan, H.J., Bora P.S., and Bora, N.S..  Suppression of Complement Regulatory Proteins (CRPs) Exacerbates Experimental Autoimmune Anterior Uveitis (EAAU). J of Immunology, 176: 7221-7231, 2006. 

Bora, N.S., Kaliappan, S., Jha, P., Qin, X. Sohn, J. H., Dhaulakhandi, D.B., Kaplan  H.J. and Bora, P.S. Complement Activation via Alternative Pathway is Critical in the  Development of Laser-Induced Choroidal Neovascularization: Role of Factor B and Factor H. J of Immunology, 177: 1872-1878, 2006.

Jha, P., Bora, P.S., Sohn, J.H., Kaplan, H.J and Bora, N.S.Complement system the eye (Review article).  Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, 586: 53-62, 2006.    

Bora, N.S., Kaliappan, S., Jha, P., Xu, Q., Sivasankar, B., Harris, C.L., Morgan, B.P. and Bora, P.S. CD59, a Complement Regulatory Protein, Controls Choroidal Neovascularization in Wet-type Age-related Macular Degeneration. Journal of  Immunology, 2006 (In Press).

Sohn, J.H., Bora, P.S., Jha, P., Kaplan, H.J. and Bora, N.S.:"Immunosuppressive Intraocular Microenvironments: Complement, Innate Immunity and Ocular Disease" Niederkorn JY, Kaplan HJ (eds): Chem Immunol, Allergy, Basel, Karger, vol 92, pp 105 – 114, 2007.

Patents Pending: 1