Prof. Orly Avni
CV
Prof. Orly Avni is the Dean of the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine.
1986-1989, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel - Biology, B.Sc
1990-1992, The Hebrew University, Faculty of Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel - Immunology, M.Sc
1993-1998, The Hebrew University, Faculty of Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel - Immunology, Ph.D
Doctoral Thesis: Identification and characterization of a novel protein associated with macrophage Complement Receptor 3
Supervisor: Prof. Eitan Yefenof and Prof. Michal Baniyash
Post doctorate research: Gene regulation in the immune system
Supervisor: Prof. Anjana Rao, Harvard Medical School
Positions Held:
1998-2003, Harvard Medical School, Gene regulation in the immune system, Post-doctoral fellow
2003-2011, Technion, Faculty of Medicine, Gene regulation in the immune system, PI, Senior Lecturer
2012-2022, BIU, Faculty of Medicine, Gene regulation in the immune system, PI, Senior Lecturer
2022- BIU, Faculty of Medicine, Gene regulation in the immune system, PI, Associate professor
Research
Regulation of gene expression in the immune system in health and disease
The immune system distinguishes between self and non-self but also between different types of non-self such as viruses and worms. T helper (Th) cells (CD4+) have a fundamental role in that challenge; following their first interaction with a pathogen, Th cells can differentiate into regulatory or effector lineages that differentially express cytokine genes. The effector lineages Th1, Th2, and Th17 are characterized by the expression of the signature cytokines Interferon g (IFNg), Interleukin-4 (IL-4), and Interleukin-17 (IL-17), respectively. IFNg exerts protective functions in microbial infections and is observed clinically in cases of autoimmune diseases. IL-4 is strongly apparent in parasitic infections, and is associated with allergic reactions. IL-17 plays a role in eradication of extracellular pathogens, but inappropriate responses can lead to autoimmunity
Following differentiation, Th cells may enter a resting state, in which they do not express cytokines; nonetheless, they ‘remember’ their transcriptional program and express the appropriate set of cytokines in response to subsequent antigen stimulation. However, this process is more flexible than previously appreciated and under specific circumstances, Th cells can gain the expression of the opposing cytokines or even re-differentiate toward other Th lineages. This plasticity probably assists the immune system to cope with new immunological challenges
Since immunological diseases such as autoimmunity and allergy are associated with aberrant expression of cytokines in Th cells, elucidation of the epigenetic regulation of these genes can facilitate the development of novel therapies. We study the epigenetic regulation of differentiated murine and human Th cells, especially as regard to the function of the polycomb group proteins. Disregulation of the immune function is associated with many other human diseases, and we are also interested in some aspects of the connections between the immune system and the brain
Publications
Selected list of Publications
Agarwal S*, Avni O*, Rao A. Cell-type-restricted binding of the transcription factor NFAT to a distal IL-4 enhancer in vivo. Immunity. 2000;12:643-652.
*Equal contribution.
Avni O, Rao A. T cell differentiation: a mechanistic view. Curr Opin Immunol. 2000;12:654-659.
Rao A, Avni O. Molecular aspects of T-cell differentiation. Br Med Bull. 2000;56:969-984.
Avni O, Lee D, Macian F, Szabo SJ, Glimcher LH, Rao A. T(H) cell differentiation is accompanied by dynamic changes in histone acetylation of cytokine genes. Nat Immunol. 2002;3:643-651.
Lee DU, Avni O, Chen L, Rao A. A distal enhancer in the interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) locus revealed by genome sequence comparison. J Biol Chem. 2004;279:4802-4810.
Jacob E, Hod-Dvorai R, Schif-Zuck S, Avni O. Unconventional association of the polycomb group proteins with cytokine genes in differentiated T helper cells. J Biol Chem. 2008;283:13471-13481.
Scheinman E, Avni O. Transcriptional regulation of Gata3 in T helper cells by the integrated activities of transcription factors downstream of the interleukin-4 receptor and T cell receptor. J Biol Chem 2009;284:3037-3048.
Jacob E, Hod-Dvorai R, Ben-Mordechai O.L, Boyko Y, Avni O. Dual function of polycomb group proteins in T helper (CD4+) cells. Journal of Molecular Signaling. 2011; 6:5.
Hod-Dvorai R, Jacob E, Boyko Y, and Avni O. The binding activity of Mel-18 at the Il17a promoter is regulated by the integrated signals of the TCR and polarizing cytokines. Eur. J. Immunol. 2011;41:2424-2435.
Shamriz O, Mizrahi H, Werbner M, Shoenfled Y, Avni O,* and Koren O*. Microbiota at the crossroads of autoimmunity. Autoimmun Rev 2016; 15(9).
*Corresponding authors.
T. C. Falik-Zaccai*, Y. Barsheshet, H. Mandel, M. Segev, A. Lorber, S. Gelberg, L. Kalfon, S. Ben Haroush, A. Shalata, L.Gelernter-Yaniv, S. Chaim, D. Raviv Shay, M. Khayat, M. Werbner, I. Levia, Y. Shovala, G. Talc, S. Shalevd, E. Reuveni, E. Avitan-Hershi, E. Vlodavsky, L. Appl-Sarid, D. Goldsher, R. Bergman, Z. Segal, O. Bitterman-Deutsch, and O. Avni*. Sequence variation in PPP1R13L results in a novel form of cardio-cutaneous syndrome. EMBO Mol Med. 2017 9(3):319-336.
*Corresponding authors.
Avni, O*. and Koren, O*. Molecular (Me)micry? Cell Host Microbe. 2018. 23, 576-578.
*Corresponding authors.
H. Neuman, P. Forsythe, A. Uzan, O. Avni* and O. Koren*. Antibiotics in early life: dysbiosis and the damage done. FEMS Microbiol Rev. 2018. 1:42(4): 489-499.
*Corresponding authors.
Nuriel-Ohayon M, Neuman H, Ziv O, Belogolovski A, Barsheshet Y, Bloch N, Uzan A, Lahav R, Peretz A, Frishman S, Hod M, Hadar E, Louzoun Y, Avni O, Koren O. Progesterone increases Bifidobacterium relative abundance during late pregnancy.
Cell Rep. 2019 Apr 16;27(3):730-736.
Werbner M, Barsheshet Y, Werbner N, Zigdon M, Averbuch I, Ziv O, Brant B, Elliott E, Gelberg S, Titelbaum M, Koren O, Avni O. Social stress-responsive microbiota induces stimulation of self-reactive effector T helper cells. mSystems. 2019 May 14;4(4).
Meningher T, Barsheshet Y, Ofir-Birin Y, Gold D, Brant B, Dekel E, Sidi Y, Schwartz E*, Regev-Rudzki N*, Avni O*, and Avni D*. Schistosomal extracellular vesicle-enclosed miRNAs modulate host T helper (CD4+) cell differentiation. EMBO Rep. 2020 Jan 7;21(1)
*Corresponding authors.
Dror Avni* and Orly Avni*. Extracellular vesicles: Schistosomal long-range precise weapon to manipulate the immune response. Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol March 11:1 2021.
*Corresponding authors.
Moran Titelbaum, Boris Brant, Daniel Baumel, Alina Burstein-Willensky, Shira Perez, Yiftah Barsheshet, and Orly Avni. Ezh2 harnesses the intranuclear actin cytoskeleton to remodel chromatin in differentiating Th cells. iScience 2021. 9;24(10):103093.
Last Updated Date : 05/08/2024
