Hasan Zaki, Ph.D.

Dr. Hasan Zaki studies molecular mechanism of inflammatory disorders. Dr. Zaki obtained BS and MS degrees from the Department of Microbiology at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. In 2002, obtaining Japanese Govt. Scholarship for PhD, he moved to Kumamoto University, Japan,  where he investigated the role of nitric oxide in host defense against bacterial infection under the supervision of Professor Takaaki Akaike, MD, PhD. For postdoctoral training, he joined Dr. Thirumala-devi Kanneganti's laboratory at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, in 2008. His postdoctoral studies were focused on understanding the role of NOD-like receptors (NLR), a group of cytosolic pathogen recognition receptor, in intestinal inflammatory disorders. Dr. Zaki became a tenure accruing Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at UT Southwestren Medical Center, Dallas, TX, in 2013 and has been promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure in 2022. 

Research in Dr. Zaki’s lab aims to explore the complex interplay between host immune system, diet, and gut microbiota in regulating inflammatory disorders including cancer. He made major contribution in understanding the physiological functions of several pattern recognition receptors (PRR) in health and diseases. He demonstrated that the inflammasome forming NOD-like receptors (NLRs) such as NLRP3 and AIM2 play a central role in maintaining intestinal homeostasis. Some other NLRs such as NOD2 and NLRP12 are critical regulators of intestinal inflamamtion and tumorigenesis, and their defects are associated with increased susceptibility to coltiis, colorectal tumorigenesis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. His laboratory made a seminal discovery that high sugar diet predisposes and enhances pathogenesis of colitis via modulaiton of gut microbiota composition. More recently, he discovered the mechanism of cytokine storm during COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2.  

Graduate School

Kumamoto University - Japan (2007), Microbiology

• Cell Signaling
• Diet and Metabolic Disorders
• Gastrointestinal Inflammation and Cancer
• Gut Microbiome
• Host Pathogen Interaction
• NOD-Like Receptors

Featured Publications

NLRP12 downregulates the Wnt/b-catenin pathway via interaction with STK38 to suppress colorectal cancer

Shahanshah Khan, Youn-Tae Kwak, Lan Peng, Shuiqing Hu, Brandi L. Cantarel, Cheryl M. Lewis, Yunpeng Gao, Ram S. Mani , Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti, and Hasan Zaki Journal of Clinical Investigation 2023

SARS-CoV-2 spike protein induces inflammation via TLR2-dependent activation of the NF-kB pathway

Shahanshah Khan, Mahnoush S. Shafiei, Christopher Longoria, John Schoggins, Rashmin C. Savani, Hasan Zaki eLife 2021 eLife 2021;10:e68563

The AIM2 and NLRP3 inflammasomes coordinately mediate the effect of radiation by facilitating IL-1 signaling in dendritic cells

Chuanhui Han, Victoria Godfrey, Zhida Liu, Yanfei Han, Longchao Liu, Hua Peng, Ralph W, Weichselbaum, Hasan Zaki*, Yang-Xin Fu*. * co-correspondence Science Immunology 2021 6 59

Dietary simple sugars alter microbial ecology in the gut and promote colitis in mice

Shahanshah Khan, Sumyya Waliullah, Victoria Godfrey, Md Abdul Wadud Khan, Rajalaksmy A Ramachandran, Brandi L. Cantarel, Cassie Behrendt, Lan Peng, Lora V. Hooper, and Hasan Zaki Science Translational Medicine 2020

NLRP12 suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma via downregulation of cJun N-terminal kinase activation in the hepatocyte

SM Nashir Udden, Youn-tae Kwak, Victoria Godfrey, Md Abdul Wadud Khan, Shahanshah Khan, Nicolas Loof, Lan Peng, Hao Zhu, Md Hasan Zaki eLIFE 2019

NOD2 Suppresses Colorectal Tumorigenesis via Downregulation of the TLR Pathways.

Udden SMN, Peng L, Gan JL, Shelton JM, Malter JS, Hooper LV, Zaki MH Cell Rep 2017 Jun 19 13 2756-2770

The DNA Sensor AIM2 Maintains Intestinal Homeostasis via Regulation of Epithelial Antimicrobial Host Defense.

Hu S, Peng L, Kwak YT, Tekippe EM, Pasare C, Malter JS, Hooper LV, Zaki MH Cell Rep 2015 Dec 13 9 1922-36

Salmonella exploits NLRP12-dependent innate immune signaling to suppress host defenses during infection.

Zaki MH, Man SM, Vogel P, Lamkanfi M, Kanneganti TD Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2014 Jan 111 1 385-90

The NOD-like receptor NLRP12 attenuates colon inflammation and tumorigenesis.

Zaki MH, Vogel P, Malireddi RK, Body-Malapel M, Anand PK, Bertin J, Green DR, Lamkanfi M, Kanneganti TD Cancer Cell 2011 Nov 20 5 649-60

The Nlrp3 inflammasome: contributions to intestinal homeostasis.

Zaki MH, Lamkanfi M, Kanneganti TD Trends Immunol. 2011 Apr 32 4 171-9

• American Cancer Society (ACS) Research Scholar Award (2021)
  
• Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Individual Investigator Award (2019)
  
• Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Individual Investigator Award (2016)
  
• Career Development Award, Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America (2012)
  
• Careers in Immunology Fellowship, American Association of Immunologists (AAI) (2018)
  
• MEXT Scholarship (2002)
  
• NIDDK, National Institute of Health (NIH), R01 Award (2021)
  
• NIDDK, National Institute of Health (NIH), R01 Award (2022)
  
• Trainee Award, American Association for Immunologists (2011)
  
• Travel Award, Keystone Meeting (2012)
  

• American Association for Advancement of Schience (2012)
• American Association of Immunologists (2012)
• Chron's and Colitis Foundation of America (2012)