Department of Cellular and
Molecular Medicine

Jafari group

The focus of our lab is to understand the mechanisms that regulate differentiation of skeletal stem cells to osteoblast and adipocyte lineages, and to investigate the relevance of these regulatory mechanisms to pathogenesis of bone loss in the context of inflammation, cancer, and aging.

Current project areas

Regulatory mechanisms of skeletal (mesenchymal) stem cell (MSC) fate specification
Role of lysosomal proteases in regulation of bone and systemic energy homeostasis
Role of MSC-secreted factors in pathogenesis of bone loss in the context of aging, cancer, and inflammation
Role of bone marrow adipose tissue in regulation of skeletal homeostasis

Teaching

Our group has been engaged in teaching activities at different levels (medical students, bachelor, Master, PhD programs) and research training of post docs and international researchers.

Selected publications

Ali D, Tencerova M, Figeac F, Kassem M, Jafari A. The pathophysiology of osteoporosis in obesity and type 2 diabetes in aging women and men: The mechanisms and roles of increased bone marrow adiposity (IF: 6.1). Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022 Sep 15;13:981487. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.981487.
Nordgaard C, Vind A, Brown A, Kjøbsted R, Snieckute G, Blasius M, Reinert M, Bekker-Jensen D, Del Val A, Haahr P, Antas P, Falk S, Perrier-Goult E, Tiedje C, Li X, Jørgensen N, Wojtaszewski J, Mallein-Gerin F, Andersen J, Pennisi C, Clemmensen C, Li V, Jafari A, Brummelkamp B, Olsen J, Blanco G, Bekker-Jensen S. ZAK-beta is activated by cell compression and mediates contraction-induced MAPK signaling in muscle (IF: 13.8). EMBO J. 2022 Sep 1;41(17):e111650. doi: 10.15252/embj.2022111650. Epub 2022 Jul 28.
Jafari A, Fairfield H, Andersen TL, Reagan MR. Myeloma-bone marrow adipocyte axis in tumor survival and treatment response (IF: 9.1). Br J Cancer 2021 Sep;125(6):775-777. doi: 10.1038/s41416-021-01371-4. Epub 2021 Apr 15.
Skov-Jeppesen K, Hepp N, Oeke J, Hansen MS, Jafari A, Svane MS, Balenga N, Olson J, Frost M, Kassem M, Madsbad S, Jensen JB, Holst JJ, Rosenkilde MM, Hartmann B. The antiresorptive effect of GIP, but not GLP-2, is preserved in patients with hypoparathyroidism (IF: 6.3). J Bone Miner Res. 2021 Aug;36(8):1448-1458.
Fairfield H, Dudakovic A, Khatib CM, Farrell M, Costa S, Falank C, Hinge M, Murphy C, DeMambro V, Pettitt JA, Lary CW, Driscoll H, McDonald M, Kassem M, Rosen C, Andersen TL, Van Wijnen A, Jafari A, Reagan M. Myeloma-modified adipocytes exhibit metabolic dysfunction and a senescent-associated secretory phenotype (IF: 13.3). Cancer Res. 2021 Feb 1;81(3):634-647. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-20-1088. Epub 2020 Nov 20.
Morsing M, Kim J, Villadsen R, Goldhammer N, Jafari A, Kassem M, Petersen OW, Ronnov-Jessen L. Fibroblast cell lines direct lobular-like and ductal-like differentiation of human breast epithelial progenitors (IF: 8.4). Breast Cancer Res. 2020, 2020 Sep 29;22(1):102. doi: 10.1186/s13058-020-01344-0.
Barrio-Hernandez I, Jafari A, Rigbolt KTG, Hallenborg P, Sanchez-Quiles V, Skovrind I, Akimov V, Kratchmarova I, Dengjel J, Kassem M, Blagoev B. Phosphoproteomic profiling reveals a defined genetic program for osteoblastic lineage commitment of human bone marrow-derived stromal stem cells (IF: 12.0). Genome Res. 2020 Jan;30(1):127-137.
Jafari A, Isa A, Chen L, Ditzel N, Zaher W, Harkness L, Johnsen HE, Abdallah BM, Clausen C, Kassem M. TAFA2 induces skeletal (stromal) stem cell migration through activation of Rac1-p38 signaling (IF: 6.0). Stem Cells. 2019 Mar;37(3):407-416.
Jafari A, Qanie D, Andersen TL, Zhang L, Chen L, Postert B, Parsons S, Ditzel N, Khosla S, Johansen HT, Kjærsgaard-Andersen P, Delaisse JM, Abdallah BM, Hesselson D, Solberg R, Kassem M. Legumain regulates differentiation fate of human bone marrow stromal cells and is altered in postmenopausal osteoporosis (IF: 7.2). Stem Cell Reports. 2017 Feb 14;8(2):373-386.