Vikram Misra

• PhD, University of British Columbia

Dr. Misra specializes in virology and molecular biology. His post-doctoral training was at the University of British Columbia and McGill University, with sabbatical projects in the laboratories of Mike Smith (University of British Columbia), Peter O'Hare (Marie Curie Cancer Research Institute, U.K) and the Division of Zoonoses and Special Pathogens, Canadian National Virology Laboratory, (Winnipeg).

Research in our laboratory focuses on two areas:

 1. University of Saskatchewan Bat Zoonoses Laboratory. The goal of the Laboratory is to define the molecular basis for the apparently benign relationship between north American bat species (Eptesicus fuscus or the Big Brown Bat, and Myotis lucifugus or the Little Brown Bat) and their autochthonous corona and herpesviruses. Our working hypothesis is that viruses are retained in their bat hosts in long-term non-pathogenic associations. Various stressors disrupt this balanced relationship allowing the viruses to reactivate of increase replication, thus enhancing the chances of spillover to other species.

2. The role of Luman (CREB3) and Zhangfei (CREBZF) in herpesvirus biology, stress responses and neuronal repair.

List of Publications (2012-2018)

Davy CM, Donaldson ME, Subudhi S, Rapin N, Warnecke L, Turner JM, Bollinger TK, Kyle CJ, Dorville NAS, Kunkel EL, Norquay KJO, Dzal YA, Willis CKR, Misra V. White-nose syndrome is associated with increased replication of a naturally persisting coronaviruses in bats. Nature-Sci Rep. 2018 Oct 19;8(1):15508. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-33975-x. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30341341

Banerjee A, Falzarano D, Misra V. Caution: choice of fixative can influence the visualization of the location of a transcription factor in mammalian cells. Biotechniques. 2018 Aug;65(2):65-69. doi: 10.2144/btn-2018-0060. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30091385

Davy CM, Donaldson ME, Willis CKR, Saville BJ, McGuire LP, Mayberry H, Wilcox A, Wibbelt G, Misra V, Kyle CJ. Environmentally persistent pathogens present unique challenges for studies of host-pathogen interactions, Reply to Field. Ecol Evol. 2018 May 8;8(11):5238-5241. doi: 10.1002/ece3.4035. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29938048

Banerjee A, Misra V, Schountz T, Baker ML. Tools to study pathogen-host interactions in bats. Virus Res. 2018 Mar 15;248:5-12. doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2018.02.013. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29454637

Subudhi S, Rapin N, Dorville N, Hill JE, Town J, Willis CKR, Bollinger TK, Misra V. Isolation, characterization and prevalence of a novel Gammaherpesvirus in Eptesicus fuscus, the North American big brown bat. Virology. 2018 Mar;516:227-238. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2018.01.024. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29407381

Subudhi S, Dakouo M, Sloan A, Stein DR, Grolla A, Jones S, Dibernardo A, Rosenke K, Sas M, Traore A, Lindsay R, Groschup MH, Misra V, Feldmann H, Sogoba N, Safronetz D, Niang M. Seroprevalence of Rift Valley Fever Virus Antibodies in Cattle in Mali, 2005-2014. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2018 Mar;98(3):872-874. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.17-0841. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29363462

Subudhi S, Rapin N, Bollinger TK, Hill JE, Donaldson ME, Davy CM, Warnecke L, Turner JM, Kyle CJ, Willis CKR, Misra V. A persistently infecting coronavirus in hibernating Myotis lucifugus, the North American little brown bat. J Gen Virol. 2017 Aug 25. doi: 10.1099/jgv.0.000898. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28840816

Davy CM, Donaldson MRE, Willis CKR, Saville BJ, McGuire LP, Mayberry H, Wilcox A, Wibbelt G, Misra V, Bollinger T, Kyle CJ. The other white-nose transcriptome: Tolerant and susceptible hosts respond differently to the pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans. Ecology and Evolution 2017. DOI 10.1002/ece3.3234 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28944007

Trivedi J, Vanderwolf K, Misra V, Willis CKR, Ratcliffe J, Anderson JB, Kohn LM. Fungus causing White-Nose-Syndrome in bats accumulates geneticx variability in North America and shows no sign of recombination. 2017. mSphere. 2017 Jul 12;2(4). pii: e00271-17. doi: 10.1128/mSphereDirect.00271-17 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28713859

Banerjee, A, Rapin N, Bollinger T, Misra V. Lack of inflammatory gene expression in bats: a unique role for a transcription repressor. 2017. Nature – Scientific Reports  7(1):2232. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-01513-w. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28533548

Banerjee A, Rapin N, Miller, M, Griebel, P, Zhou, Y, Munster V, Misra V. Generation and characterization of Eptesicus fuscus (Big brown bat) kidney cell lines immortalized using the Myotis polyomavirus large T-antigen. 2016. J. Virol Methods. 237:166-173 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27639955

Bohn SJ, Turner JM, Warnecke L, Mayo C,  McGuire LP, Misra V, Bollinger TK, Willis CKR. Evidence of ‘sickness behaviour’ in bats with white-nose syndrome. 2016. Behaviour 153(8):981-1003.

Miller M, McMinn R, Misra V, Schountz T, Muller M, Kurth A, Munster VJ. Broad and temperature independent replication potential of Filoviruses on cell derived from old and new world bat species. J. Inf. Dis 2016 Epub ahead of print DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiw199 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27354372

McGuire LP, Turner JM, Warnecke L, McGregor G, Bollinger TK, Misra V, Foster JT, Frick WF, Kilpatrick AM, Willis CK. White-Nose Syndrome Disease Severity and a Comparison of Diagnostic Methods. Ecohealth. 2016 Mar 8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26957435

Ying Z, Zhai R, McLean NA, Johnston JM, Misra V, Verge VM. The Unfolded Protein Response and Cholesterol Biosynthesis Link Luman/CREB3 to Regenerative Axon Growth in Sensory Neurons. J Neurosci. 2015 Oct 28;35(43):14557-70. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0012-15.2015. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26511246

Rui Zhang, Douglas, H. Thamm, Misra V. The effect of Zhangfei/CREBZF on growth, differentiation, apoptosis, migration and the Unfolded Protein Response in several canine osteosarcoma cell lines. 2015. BMC Vet. Res BMC Vet Res 11:22, DOI: 10.1186/s12917-015-0331-y. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25890299

Denk, V. Misra, L.E. Sandmeyer, B. Bauer, J. Singh, G.W. Forsyth, B. Grahn. Development and characterization of a murine retinal explant culture system as an in vitro model of retinal gene transfer. 2015. Can. Jn. Vet. Res. 79(1):31-8https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25673906

Craig Stephen, John Berezowski, Misra V. Surprise is a Neglected Aspect of Emerging Infectious Disease. 2014. Ecohealth. Epub 2014 Dec 12. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25503051

James M Turner, Lisa Warnecke, Alana Wilcox, Dylan Baboon, Trent K Bollinger, Misra V, Craig K R Willis. .Conspecific disturbance contributes to altered hibernation patterns in bats with white-nose syndrome. 2014. Physiol. Behav. 140C:71-78. Epub 2014 Dec 4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25484358

Zhengxin Ying, Misra V, Valerie M K Verge. Sensing nerve injury at the axonal ER: activated Luman/CREB3 serves as a novel axonally synthesized retrograde regeneration signal. 2014. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Nov 27;111(45):16142-7. Epub 2014 Oct 27. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25349404

Noreen Rapin, Kirk Johns, Lauren Martin, Lisa Warnecke, James M Turner, Trent K Bollinger, Craig K R Willis, Jamie Voyles, Vikram Misra. Activation of innate immune-response genes in little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) infected with the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans. 2014. PLoS One 2014 12;9(11):e112285. Epub 2014 Nov 12. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25391018

Muhammad Irfan-Ur-Rehman Khan, Fernanda Caminha Faustino Dias, Isabelle Dufort, Vikram Misra, Marc-Andre Sirard, Jaswant Singh. Stable reference genes in granulosa cells of bovine dominant follicles during follicular growth, FSH stimulation and maternal aging. 2014. Reprod Fertil Dev Nov 27. Epub 2014 Nov 27. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25426842

K. Eliott, V. MacDonald, K. Linn, E. Simko and V. Misra. Increase in transcripts for components of the unfolded protein response (UPR) in spontaneous canine tumours. 2014. Can J Vet Res 2014 Jul;78(3):161-7

Y. Ying, R. Zhang, V.M.K. Verge, V. Misra. Cloning and characterization of rat Luman/CREB3, a transcription factor highly expressed in nervous system tissue. 2014. J. Mol. Neurosci. DOI 10.1007/s12031-014-0330-7. Epub 2014 June 5 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24894591

Wilcox, L. Warnecke, J. Turner, L.P. McGuire, J.W. Jameson, V. Misra, T.C. Bollinger and C.K.R. Willis. Behaviour of hibernating little brown bats experimentally inoculated with the pathogen that causes white-nose syndrome. 2014. Animal Behaviour 88:157-164.

R. Zhang and V. Misra. Effects of cAMP response element binding protein-Zhangfei (CREBZF) on the unfolded protein response and cell growth are exerted through the tumor suppressor p53. 2014. Cell Cycle 13:1-14 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24200963

R. Zhang, N. Rapin, Z. Ying, E. Shklanka, T. Bodnarchuk, V.M.K. Verge and V. Misra. Zhangfei/CREBZF – a potential regulator of the Unfolded Protein Response. 2013. PLoS One 8(10):e77256 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24155933

Warnecke L, Turner JM, Bollinger TK, Misra V, Cryan PM, Blehert DS, Wibbelt G, Willis CK. 2013, Pathophysiology of white-nose syndrome in bats: a mechanistic model linking wing damage to mortality. Biol Lett. 2013 May 29;9(4):20130177. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2013.0177. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23720520

T. Bergeron, R. Zhang, K. Elliot, N. Rapin, V. MacDonald, K. Linn, E. Simko and V. Misra. The Effect of Zhangfei on the Unfolded Protein Response and growth of cells derived from canine and human tumours. Vet. And Comp. Oncology 2013. 11(2):140-150 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Bergeron+Zhang+Misra

T.W. Bodnarchuk, S. Napper, N. Rapin, V. Misra. Mechnism for the induction of cell death in ONS-76 medulloblastoma cells. Journal of Neurooncology. 2012. 109:485-501 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22798206

L. Warnecke, J.M. Turner, T.K. Bollinger, J.M. Lorch, V. Misra, P.M. Cryan, G. Wibbely, D.S. Blehert and C.K.R. Willis. Inoculation of bats with European Geomyces destructans supports the novel pathogen hypothesis for the origin of white-nose syndrome. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2012. 109:6999-7003. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22493237