Behdad (Ben) Afzali, M.D., Ph.D., F.R.C.P., Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator

• Section Chief: Immunoregulation Section, Kidney Diseases Branch
• Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator: Clinical Nephrology Section, Kidney Diseases Branch

Scientific Focus Areas: Cell Biology, Immunology, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Genetics and Genomics, Computational Biology

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Publications

A selection of recent and significant publications can be viewed below.

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C5a-licensed phagocytes drive sterilizing immunity during systemic fungal infection.

Desai JV, Kumar D, Freiwald T, Chauss D, Johnson MD, Abers MS, Steinbrink JM, Perfect JR, Alexander B, Matzaraki V, Snarr BD, Zarakas MA, Oikonomou V, Silva LM, Shivarathri R, Beltran E, Demontel LN, Wang L, Lim JK, Launder D, Conti HR, Swamydas M, McClain MT, Moutsopoulos NM, Kazemian M, Netea MG, Kumar V, Köhl J, Kemper C, Afzali B, Lionakis MS.

Cell (2023 Jun 22) 186:2802-2822.e22. Abstract/Full Text

Autocrine vitamin D signaling switches off pro-inflammatory programs of T(H)1 cells.

Chauss D, Freiwald T, McGregor R, Yan B, Wang L, Nova-Lamperti E, Kumar D, Zhang Z, Teague H, West EE, Vannella KM, Ramos-Benitez MJ, Bibby J, Kelly A, Malik A, Freeman AF, Schwartz DM, Portilla D, Chertow DS, John S, Lavender P, Kemper C, Lombardi G, Mehta NN, Cooper N, Lionakis MS, Laurence A, Kazemian M, Afzali B.

Nat Immunol (2022 Jan) 23:62-74. Abstract/Full Text

SARS-CoV-2 drives JAK1/2-dependent local complement hyperactivation.

Yan B, Freiwald T, Chauss D, Wang L, West E, Mirabelli C, Zhang CJ, Nichols EM, Malik N, Gregory R, Bantscheff M, Ghidelli-Disse S, Kolev M, Frum T, Spence JR, Sexton JZ, Alysandratos KD, Kotton DN, Pittaluga S, Bibby J, Niyonzima N, Olson MR, Kordasti S, Portilla D, Wobus CE, Laurence A, Lionakis MS, Kemper C, Afzali B, Kazemian M.

Sci Immunol (2021 Apr 7) 6. Abstract/Full Text

Diapedesis-Induced Integrin Signaling via LFA-1 Facilitates Tissue Immunity by Inducing Intrinsic Complement C3 Expression in Immune Cells.

Kolev M, West EE, Kunz N, Chauss D, Moseman EA, Rahman J, Freiwald T, Balmer ML, Lötscher J, Dimeloe S, Rosser EC, Wedderburn LR, Mayer-Barber KD, Bohrer A, Lavender P, Cope A, Wang L, Kaplan MJ, Moutsopoulos NM, McGavern D, Holland SM, Hess C, Kazemian M, Afzali B, Kemper C.

Immunity (2020 Mar 17) 52:513-527.e8. Abstract/Full Text

Human retinoic acid-regulated CD161(+) regulatory T cells support wound repair in intestinal mucosa.

Povoleri GAM, Nova-Lamperti E, Scottà C, Fanelli G, Chen YC, Becker PD, Boardman D, Costantini B, Romano M, Pavlidis P, McGregor R, Pantazi E, Chauss D, Sun HW, Shih HY, Cousins DJ, Cooper N, Powell N, Kemper C, Pirooznia M, Laurence A, Kordasti S, Kazemian M, Lombardi G, Afzali B.

Nat Immunol (2018 Dec) 19:1403-1414. Abstract/Full Text

Additional Publications

Unbiased discovery of cancer pathways and therapeutics using Pathway Ensemble Tool and Benchmark.

Wang L, Pattnaik A, Sahoo SS, Stone EG, Zhuang Y, Benton A, Tajmul M, Chakravorty S, Dhawan D, Nguyen MA, Sirit I, Mundy K, Ricketts CJ, Hadisurya M, Baral G, Tinsley SL, Anderson NL, Hoda S, Briggs SD, Kaimakliotis HZ, Allen-Petersen BL, Tao WA, Linehan WM, Knapp DW, Hanna JA, Olson MR, Afzali B, Kazemian M.

Nat Commun (2024 Aug 24) 15:7288. Abstract/Full Text

The Role of Interferon-γ in Autoimmune Polyendocrine Syndrome Type 1.

Oikonomou V, Smith G, Constantine GM, Schmitt MM, Ferré EMN, Alejo JC, Riley D, Kumar D, Dos Santos Dias L, Pechacek J, Hadjiyannis Y, Webb T, Seifert BA, Ghosh R, Walkiewicz M, Martin D, Besnard M, Snarr BD, Deljookorani S, Lee CR, DiMaggio T, Barber P, Rosen LB, Cheng A, Rastegar A, de Jesus AA, Stoddard J, Kuehn HS, Break TJ, Kong HH, Castelo-Soccio L, Colton B, Warner BM, Kleiner DE, Quezado MM, Davis JL, Fennelly KP, Olivier KN, Rosenzweig SD, Suffredini AF, Anderson MS, Swidergall M, Guillonneau C, Notarangelo LD, Goldbach-Mansky R, Neth O, Monserrat-Garcia MT, Valverde-Fernandez J, Lucena JM, Gomez-Gila AL, Garcia Rojas A, Seppänen MRJ, Lohi J, Hero M, Laakso S, Klemetti P, Lundberg V, Ekwall O, Olbrich P, Winer KK, Afzali B, Moutsopoulos NM, Holland SM, Heller T, Pittaluga S, Lionakis MS.

N Engl J Med (2024 May 30) 390:1873-1884. Abstract/Full Text

The role of transcription factors in shaping regulatory T cell identity.

Trujillo-Ochoa JL, Kazemian M, Afzali B.

Nat Rev Immunol (2023 Dec) 23:842-856. Abstract/Full Text

Preexisting Autoimmunity Is Associated With Increased Severity of Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Retrospective Cohort Study Using Data From the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C).

Yadaw AS, Sahner DK, Sidky H, Afzali B, Hotaling N, Pfaff ER, Mathé EA.

Clin Infect Dis (2023 Sep 18) 77:816-826. Abstract/Full Text

Loss of CD4(+) T cell-intrinsic arginase 1 accelerates Th1 response kinetics and reduces lung pathology during influenza infection.

West EE, Merle NS, Kamiński MM, Palacios G, Kumar D, Wang L, Bibby JA, Overdahl K, Jarmusch AK, Freeley S, Lee DY, Thompson JW, Yu ZX, Taylor N, Sitbon M, Green DR, Bohrer A, Mayer-Barber KD, Afzali B, Kazemian M, Scholl-Buergi S, Karall D, Huemer M, Kemper C.

Immunity (2023 Sep 12) 56:2036-2053.e12. Abstract/Full Text

Transcription factor EGR2 controls homing and pathogenicity of T(H)17 cells in the central nervous system.

Gao Y, Wang Y, Chauss D, Villarino AV, Link VM, Nagashima H, Spinner CA, Koparde VN, Bouladoux N, Abers MS, Break TJ, Chopp LB, Park JH, Zhu J, Wiest DL, Leonard WJ, Lionakis MS, O'Shea JJ, Afzali B, Belkaid Y, Lazarevic V.

Nat Immunol (2023 Aug) 24:1331-1344. Abstract/Full Text

A comprehensive single cell data analysis of lymphoblastoid cells reveals the role of super-enhancers in maintaining EBV latency.

Yan B, Wang C, Chakravorty S, Zhang Z, Kadadi SD, Zhuang Y, Sirit I, Hu Y, Jung M, Sahoo SS, Wang L, Shao K, Anderson NL, Trujillo-Ochoa JL, Briggs SD, Liu X, Olson MR, Afzali B, Zhao B, Kazemian M.

J Med Virol (2023 Jan) 95:e28362. Abstract/Full Text

Non-coding RNAs in immunoregulation and autoimmunity: Technological advances and critical limitations.

Kumar D, Sahoo SS, Chauss D, Kazemian M, Afzali B.

J Autoimmun (2023 Jan) 134:102982. Abstract/Full Text

A central role for STAT5 in the transcriptional programing of T helper cell metabolism.

Villarino AV, Laurence AD, Davis FP, Nivelo L, Brooks SR, Sun HW, Jiang K, Afzali B, Frasca D, Hennighausen L, Kanno Y, O'Shea JJ.

Sci Immunol (2022 Nov 25) 7:eabl9467. Abstract/Full Text

Systematic single-cell pathway analysis to characterize early T cell activation.

Bibby JA, Agarwal D, Freiwald T, Kunz N, Merle NS, West EE, Singh P, Larochelle A, Chinian F, Mukherjee S, Afzali B, Kemper C, Zhang NR.

Cell Rep (2022 Nov 22) 41:111697. Abstract/Full Text

EBV-associated diseases: Current therapeutics and emerging technologies.

Chakravorty S, Afzali B, Kazemian M.

Front Immunol (2022) 13:1059133. Abstract/Full Text

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 suppresses CD4(+) T-cell effector functionality by inhibition of glycolysis.

Bishop EL, Gudgeon NH, Mackie GM, Chauss D, Roberts J, Tennant DA, Maslowski KM, Afzali B, Hewison M, Dimeloe S.

Immunology (2022 Jul) 166:299-309. Abstract/Full Text

Folic acid-mediated fibrosis is driven by C5a receptor 1-mediated activation of kidney myeloid cells.

Sahu RK, Xavier S, Chauss D, Wang L, Chew C, Taylor R, Stallcup WB, Ma JZ, Kazemian M, Afzali B, Köhl J, Portilla D.

Am J Physiol Renal Physiol (2022 Jun 1) 322:F597-F610. Abstract/Full Text

The state of complement in COVID-19.

Afzali B, Noris M, Lambrecht BN, Kemper C.

Nat Rev Immunol (2022 Feb) 22:77-84. Abstract/Full Text

Reply to Grigoriev et al., "Sequences of SARS-CoV-2 'Hybrids' with the Human Genome: Signs of Non-coding RNA?".

Yan B, Chakravorty S, Mirabelli C, Wang L, Trujillo-Ochoa JL, Chauss D, Kumar D, Lionakis MS, Olson MR, Wobus CE, Afzali B, Kazemian M.

J Virol (2022 Jan 26) 96:e0169021. Abstract/Full Text

Mitochondrial C5aR1 activity in macrophages controls IL-1β production underlying sterile inflammation.

Niyonzima N, Rahman J, Kunz N, West EE, Freiwald T, Desai JV, Merle NS, Gidon A, Sporsheim B, Lionakis MS, Evensen K, Lindberg B, Skagen K, Skjelland M, Singh P, Haug M, Ruseva MM, Kolev M, Bibby J, Marshall O, O'Brien B, Deeks N, Afzali B, Clark RJ, Woodruff TM, Pryor M, Yang ZH, Remaley AT, Mollnes TE, Hewitt SM, Yan B, Kazemian M, Kiss MG, Binder CJ, Halvorsen B, Espevik T, Kemper C.

Sci Immunol (2021 Dec 24) 6:eabf2489. Abstract/Full Text

Response to Comments on "Aberrant type 1 immunity drives susceptibility to mucosal fungal infections".

Break TJ, Oikonomou V, Dutzan N, Desai JV, Swidergall M, Freiwald T, Chauss D, Harrison OJ, Alejo J, Williams DW, Pittaluga S, Lee CR, Bouladoux N, Swamydas M, Hoffman KW, Greenwell-Wild T, Bruno VM, Rosen LB, Lwin W, Renteria A, Pontejo SM, Shannon JP, Myles IA, Olbrich P, Ferré EMN, Schmitt M, Martin D, Genomics and Computational Biology Core16, Barber DL, Solis NV, Notarangelo LD, Serreze DV, Matsumoto M, Hickman HD, Murphy PM, Anderson MS, Lim JK, Holland SM, Filler SG, Afzali B, Belkaid Y, Moutsopoulos NM, Lionakis MS.

Science (2021 Sep 17) 373:eabi8835. Abstract/Full Text

Host-Virus Chimeric Events in SARS-CoV-2-Infected Cells Are Infrequent and Artifactual.

Yan B, Chakravorty S, Mirabelli C, Wang L, Trujillo-Ochoa JL, Chauss D, Kumar D, Lionakis MS, Olson MR, Wobus CE, Afzali B, Kazemian M.

J Virol (2021 Jul 12) 95:e0029421. Abstract/Full Text

A functional map of genomic HIF1α-DNA complexes in the eye lens revealed through multiomics analysis.

Disatham J, Brennan L, Chauss D, Kantorow J, Afzali B, Kantorow M.

BMC Genomics (2021 Jul 3) 22:497. Abstract/Full Text

Fibroblast tissue priming-not so nice to C you!

Afzali B, Kemper C.

Immunity (2021 May 11) 54:847-850. Abstract/Full Text

Author Correction: BACH2 enforces the transcriptional and epigenetic programs of stem-like CD8(+) T cells.

Yao C, Lou G, Sun HW, Zhu Z, Sun Y, Chen Z, Chauss D, Moseman EA, Cheng J, D'Antonio MA, Shi W, Shi J, Kometani K, Kurosaki T, Wherry EJ, Afzali B, Gattinoni L, Zhu Y, McGavern DB, O'Shea JJ, Schwartzberg PL, Wu T.

Nat Immunol (2021 Apr) 22:530. Abstract/Full Text

MicroRNA-221 and -222 modulate intestinal inflammatory Th17 cell response as negative feedback regulators downstream of interleukin-23.

Mikami Y, Philips RL, Sciumè G, Petermann F, Meylan F, Nagashima H, Yao C, Davis FP, Brooks SR, Sun HW, Takahashi H, Poholek AC, Shih HY, Afzali B, Muljo SA, Hafner M, Kanno Y, O'Shea JJ.

Immunity (2021 Mar 9) 54:514-525.e6. Abstract/Full Text

BACH2 enforces the transcriptional and epigenetic programs of stem-like CD8(+) T cells.

Yao C, Lou G, Sun HW, Zhu Z, Sun Y, Chen Z, Chauss D, Moseman EA, Cheng J, D'Antonio MA, Shi W, Shi J, Kometani K, Kurosaki T, Wherry EJ, Afzali B, Gattinoni L, Zhu Y, McGavern DB, O'Shea JJ, Schwartzberg PL, Wu T.

Nat Immunol (2021 Mar) 22:370-380. Abstract/Full Text

Host-virus chimeric events in SARS-CoV2 infected cells are infrequent and artifactual.

Yan B, Chakravorty S, Mirabelli C, Wang L, Trujillo-Ochoa JL, Chauss D, Kumar D, Lionakis MS, Olson MR, Wobus CE, Afzali B, Kazemian M.

bioRxiv (2021 Feb 17) Abstract/Full Text

Aberrant type 1 immunity drives susceptibility to mucosal fungal infections.

Break TJ, Oikonomou V, Dutzan N, Desai JV, Swidergall M, Freiwald T, Chauss D, Harrison OJ, Alejo J, Williams DW, Pittaluga S, Lee CR, Bouladoux N, Swamydas M, Hoffman KW, Greenwell-Wild T, Bruno VM, Rosen LB, Lwin W, Renteria A, Pontejo SM, Shannon JP, Myles IA, Olbrich P, Ferré EMN, Schmitt M, Martin D, Genomics and Computational Biology Core, Barber DL, Solis NV, Notarangelo LD, Serreze DV, Matsumoto M, Hickman HD, Murphy PM, Anderson MS, Lim JK, Holland SM, Filler SG, Afzali B, Belkaid Y, Moutsopoulos NM, Lionakis MS.

Science (2021 Jan 15) 371. Abstract/Full Text

Renal diseases and the role of complement: Linking complement to immune effector pathways and therapeutics.

Freiwald T, Afzali B.

Adv Immunol (2021) 152:1-81. Abstract/Full Text

Epstein-Barr Virus Episome Physically Interacts with Active Regions of the Host Genome in Lymphoblastoid Cells.

Wang L, Laing J, Yan B, Zhou H, Ke L, Wang C, Narita Y, Zhang Z, Olson MR, Afzali B, Zhao B, Kazemian M.

J Virol (2020 Nov 23) 94. Abstract/Full Text

An autocrine Vitamin D-driven Th1 shutdown program can be exploited for COVID-19.

McGregor R, Chauss D, Freiwald T, Yan B, Wang L, Nova-Lamperti E, Zhang Z, Teague H, West EE, Bibby J, Kelly A, Malik A, Freeman AF, Schwartz D, Portilla D, John S, Lavender P, Lionakis MS, Mehta NN, Kemper C, Cooper N, Lombardi G, Laurence A, Kazemian M, Afzali B.

bioRxiv (2020 Jul 19) Abstract/Full Text

Interleukin-22 orchestrates a pathological endoplasmic reticulum stress response transcriptional programme in colonic epithelial cells.

Powell N, Pantazi E, Pavlidis P, Tsakmaki A, Li K, Yang F, Parker A, Pin C, Cozzetto D, Minns D, Stolarczyk E, Saveljeva S, Mohamed R, Lavender P, Afzali B, Digby-Bell J, Tjir-Li T, Kaser A, Friedman J, MacDonald TT, Bewick GA, Lord GM.

Gut (2020 Mar) 69:578-590. Abstract/Full Text

Integrated Pan-Cancer Map of EBV-Associated Neoplasms Reveals Functional Host-Virus Interactions.

Chakravorty S, Yan B, Wang C, Wang L, Quaid JT, Lin CF, Briggs SD, Majumder J, Canaria DA, Chauss D, Chopra G, Olson MR, Zhao B, Afzali B, Kazemian M.

Cancer Res (2019 Dec 1) 79:6010-6023. Abstract/Full Text

Complement receptor CD46 co-stimulates optimal human CD8(+) T cell effector function via fatty acid metabolism.

Arbore G, West EE, Rahman J, Le Friec G, Niyonzima N, Pirooznia M, Tunc I, Pavlidis P, Powell N, Li Y, Liu P, Servais A, Couzi L, Fremeaux-Bacchi V, Placais L, Ferraro A, Walsh PR, Kavanagh D, Afzali B, Lavender P, Lachmann HJ, Kemper C.

Nat Commun (2018 Oct 10) 9:4186. Abstract/Full Text

STAT5B: A Differential Regulator of the Life and Death of CD4(+) Effector Memory T Cells.

Majri SS, Fritz JM, Villarino AV, Zheng L, Kanellopoulou C, Chaigne-Delalande B, Grönholm J, Niemela JE, Afzali B, Biancalana M, Pittaluga S, Sun A, Cohen JL, Holland SM, O'Shea JJ, Uzel G, Lenardo MJ.

J Immunol (2018 Jan 1) 200:110-118. Abstract/Full Text

Unexpected Roles for Intracellular Complement in the Regulation of Th1 Responses.

West EE, Afzali B, Kemper C.

Adv Immunol (2018) 138:35-70. Abstract/Full Text

BACH2 immunodeficiency illustrates an association between super-enhancers and haploinsufficiency.

Afzali B, Grönholm J, Vandrovcova J, O'Brien C, Sun HW, Vanderleyden I, Davis FP, Khoder A, Zhang Y, Hegazy AN, Villarino AV, Palmer IW, Kaufman J, Watts NR, Kazemian M, Kamenyeva O, Keith J, Sayed A, Kasperaviciute D, Mueller M, Hughes JD, Fuss IJ, Sadiyah MF, Montgomery-Recht K, McElwee J, Restifo NP, Strober W, Linterman MA, Wingfield PT, Uhlig HH, Roychoudhuri R, Aitman TJ, Kelleher P, Lenardo MJ, O'Shea JJ, Cooper N, Laurence ADJ.

Nat Immunol (2017 Jul) 18:813-823. Abstract/Full Text

Anti-myeloperoxidase antibodies attenuate the monocyte response to LPS and shape macrophage development.

Popat RJ, Hakki S, Thakker A, Coughlan AM, Watson J, Little MA, Spickett CM, Lavender P, Afzali B, Kemper C, Robson MG.

JCI Insight (2017 Jan 26) 2:e87379. Abstract/Full Text

T helper 1 immunity requires complement-driven NLRP3 inflammasome activity in CD4⁺ T cells.

Arbore G, West EE, Spolski R, Robertson AAB, Klos A, Rheinheimer C, Dutow P, Woodruff TM, Yu ZX, O'Neill LA, Coll RC, Sher A, Leonard WJ, Köhl J, Monk P, Cooper MA, Arno M, Afzali B, Lachmann HJ, Cope AP, Mayer-Barber KD, Kemper C.

Science (2016 Jun 17) 352:aad1210. Abstract/Full Text

Developing in vitro expanded CD45RA+ regulatory T cells as an adoptive cell therapy for Crohn's disease.

Canavan JB, Scottà C, Vossenkämper A, Goldberg R, Elder MJ, Shoval I, Marks E, Stolarczyk E, Lo JW, Powell N, Fazekasova H, Irving PM, Sanderson JD, Howard JK, Yagel S, Afzali B, MacDonald TT, Hernandez-Fuentes MP, Shpigel NY, Lombardi G, Lord GM.

Gut (2016 Apr) 65:584-94. Abstract/Full Text

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5) paralog dose governs T cell effector and regulatory functions.

Villarino A, Laurence A, Robinson GW, Bonelli M, Dema B, Afzali B, Shih HY, Sun HW, Brooks SR, Hennighausen L, Kanno Y, O'Shea JJ.

Elife (2016 Mar 21) 5. Abstract/Full Text

Impact of immunosuppressive drugs on the therapeutic efficacy of ex vivo expanded human regulatory T cells.

Scottà C, Fanelli G, Hoong SJ, Romano M, Lamperti EN, Sukthankar M, Guggino G, Fazekasova H, Ratnasothy K, Becker PD, Afzali B, Lechler RI, Lombardi G.

Haematologica (2016 Jan) 101:91-100. Abstract/Full Text

EZH2 is crucial for both differentiation of regulatory T cells and T effector cell expansion.

Yang XP, Jiang K, Hirahara K, Vahedi G, Afzali B, Sciume G, Bonelli M, Sun HW, Jankovic D, Kanno Y, Sartorelli V, O'Shea JJ, Laurence A.

Sci Rep (2015 Jun 19) 5:10643. Abstract/Full Text

Complement Regulates Nutrient Influx and Metabolic Reprogramming during Th1 Cell Responses.

Kolev M, Dimeloe S, Le Friec G, Navarini A, Arbore G, Povoleri GA, Fischer M, Belle R, Loeliger J, Develioglu L, Bantug GR, Watson J, Couzi L, Afzali B, Lavender P, Hess C, Kemper C.

Immunity (2015 Jun 16) 42:1033-47. Abstract/Full Text

Regulatory T-cell therapy in the induction of transplant tolerance: the issue of subpopulations.

Edozie FC, Nova-Lamperti EA, Povoleri GA, Scottà C, John S, Lombardi G, Afzali B.

Transplantation (2014 Aug 27) 98:370-9. Abstract/Full Text

Intracellular complement activation sustains T cell homeostasis and mediates effector differentiation.

Liszewski MK, Kolev M, Le Friec G, Leung M, Bertram PG, Fara AF, Subias M, Pickering MC, Drouet C, Meri S, Arstila TP, Pekkarinen PT, Ma M, Cope A, Reinheckel T, Rodriguez de Cordoba S, Afzali B, Atkinson JP, Kemper C.

Immunity (2013 Dec 12) 39:1143-57. Abstract/Full Text

CD161 expression characterizes a subpopulation of human regulatory T cells that produces IL-17 in a STAT3-dependent manner.

Afzali B, Mitchell PJ, Edozie FC, Povoleri GA, Dowson SE, Demandt L, Walter G, Canavan JB, Scotta C, Menon B, Chana PS, Khamri W, Kordasti SY, Heck S, Grimbacher B, Tree T, Cope AP, Taams LS, Lechler RI, John S, Lombardi G.

Eur J Immunol (2013 Aug) 43:2043-54. Abstract/Full Text

Thymic versus induced regulatory T cells - who regulates the regulators?

Povoleri GA, Scottà C, Nova-Lamperti EA, John S, Lombardi G, Afzali B.

Front Immunol (2013) 4:169. Abstract/Full Text