Klaus Ley Lab
Who We Are
The Ley lab studies atherosclerosis, the pathomechanism underlying most cardiovascular disease. We focus on the adaptive immune system. We work on the autoimmune aspect of atherosclerosis, mainly on the CD4 and CD8 T cell responses.
Klaus Ley, M.D.
Founding Co-Director, Immunology Center of Georgia (IMMCG)
Georgia Research Alliance Bradley Turner Eminent Scholar in Immunology
Professor, Department of Physiology
Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University
What We Study
The lab uses human samples from patients with the disease we study: cardiovascular disease including coronary artery disease. Major methods we use:
- Human blood leukocytes: single cell RNA sequencing with surface phenotype by CITE-Seq
- Spectral flow cytometry
- Bioinformatics: noise reduction methods, gene signatures
- T cell receptor sequencing
- Epitope identification
- Cell type discovery
- Lineage tracker mice
- Reporter mice
- Knockout and knockin mice
- Intravital microscopy
Contact Us
Immunology Center of Georgia (IMMCG)
Health Sciences Campus
Georgia Cancer Center - M. Bert Storey Research Building
1410 Laney Walker Blvd, CN4205
706-446-0296
Research Team
Anusha Bellapu
- Bioinformatician 2
India
Margaret Beddall
Pei Xiong Liew, PhD
- Senior Research Scientist
Singapore
Mikhail Fomin, MSc
- Senior Research Associate
United States of America
Lauren Fogel
Devadatta Ashok Gosavi
Smriti Parashar, PhD
- Postdoc
India
Yan Wang, PhD
- Postdoc
China
Megh Mehta
- Graduate Research Assistant
United States of America
Aderonke Fakayode
- Graduate Research Assistant
Nigeria
Xuemei Xie
Current Research Interests
- High-dimensional data generated by single-cell RNA sequencing
- Integrin activation in immune cells
- Autoimmune response to ApoB and the potential to apply this to develop a vaccine for atherosclerosis
- Understanding a newly discovered type of olfactory receptors in macrophages and their role in atherosclerosis
- Understanding differences in the immune response of diverse populations to atherosclerosis
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ER stress induced mitochondrial dysfunction drives Treg instability in coronary artery diseaseParashar, S., Oliaeimotlagh, M., Roy, P., Lyu, Q., Bellapu, A., Fomin, M., Kumar, S., Wang, Y., McSkimming, C. C., McNamara, C. A. & Ley, K., Dec 8 2025, In: EMBO Molecular Medicine. 17, 12, p. 3250-3274 25 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Nanoscopy reveals integrin clustering reliant on kindlin-3 but not talin-1Wu, Y., Cao, Z., Liu, W., Cahoon, J. G., Wang, K., Wang, P., Hu, L., Chen, Y., Moser, M., Vella, A. T., Ley, K., Wen, L. & Fan, Z., Dec 2025, In: Cell Communication and Signaling. 23, 1, 12.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
The protective role of γδ T cells in endometrial cancerMysona, D. P., Shah, A., Jaeger, N., Almadadi, A., Orr, B., McIndoe, R., Johnson, M., Higgins, R., Rungruang, B., Ghamande, S., Hedrick, C. & Ley, K., Oct 2025, In: Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy. 74, 10, 318.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Functional unfolding of the integrin αX transmembrane helixVu, H. N., Lee, M., Situ, A. J., An, W., Ley, K., Kim, C. & Ulmer, T. S., Sep 23 2025, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 122, 38, e2507966122.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
RhoA GAP Myo9b regulates β2-integrin activity and neutrophil recruitment during murine acute kidney injuryCappenberg, A., Oguama, M., Richter, M., Margraf, A., Amini, W., Lindental, P., Mersmann, S., Bardel, B., Block, H., Vogl, T., Soehnlein, O., Ley, K., Rossaint, J. & Zarbock, A., Sep 4 2025, In: Blood. 146, 10, p. 1194-1206 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Functional Role of Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms on IFNG and IFNGR1 in Humans with Cardiovascular DiseaseMehta, M., Li, Y., Parashar, S., Ramirez, C., McKay, H., Landay, A., Aherrahrou, R., Advani, A., Patel, R., Kaplan, R., Lazar, J., Anastos, K., Hanna, D. B., Qi, Q. & Ley, K., Sep 2025, In: International journal of molecular sciences. 26, 18, 8806.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Cardiac sarcoidosis diagnosed 7 years after detection of ventricular tachycardia during pharmacologic stress testingMansouri, S., Guha, A., Sorrentino, R. A., Sharma, G., Taskar, V., Ley, K., Ahlman, M. A., Westney, G. E., Ghali, J. & Weintraub, N. L., Aug 2025, In: HeartRhythm Case Reports. 11, 8, p. 804-807 4 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Automated denoising of CITE-seq data with ThresholdROliaeimotlagh, M., Kumar, S., Taraskin, A., Armstrong Suthahar, S. S., Suryawanshi, V., Chiang, A. W. T. & Ley, K., Jul 21 2025, In: Cell Reports Methods. 5, 7, 101088.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Loss of effector Treg signature in APOB-reactive CD4+ T cells in patients with coronary artery diseaseRoy, P., Bellapu, A., Suthahar, S. S. A., Oliaeimotlagh, M., Lyu, Q., Parashar, S., Makings, J., Wu, R., Kumar, S., Mehta, M., Chiang, A. W. T., Sette, A., McNamara, C. A. & Ley, K., Jul 2025, In: Nature Cardiovascular Research. 4, 7, p. 841-856 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Tertiary lymphoid organs in human atherosclerotic plaques: AtherosclerosisGosavi, D. & Ley, K., May 2025, In: Nature Cardiovascular Research. 4, 5, p. 500-502 3 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review |
CITE-Seq Analysis Reveals a Differential Natural Killer Cell SPON2 Expression in Cardiovascular Disease Patients Impacted by Human-Cytomegalovirus Serostatus and DiabetesArmstrong, S. S., Chen, D. G., Kumar, S., Heath, J. R., Feinstein, M. J., Greenland, J. R., Calabrese, D. R., Lanier, L. L., Ley, K. & Shemesh, A., Feb 2025, In: International journal of molecular sciences. 26, 3, 1369.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
PD-1 and CD73 on naive CD4+ T cells synergistically limit responses to selfNettersheim, F. S., Brunel, S., Sinkovits, R. S., Armstrong, S. S., Roy, P., Billitti, M., Kobiyama, K., Alimadadi, A., Bombin, S., Lu, L., Zoccheddu, M., Oliaeimotlagh, M., Benedict, C. A., Sette, A. & Ley, K., Jan 2025, In: Nature Immunology. 26, 1, p. 105-115 11 p., 812769.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Breaking tolerance: the autoimmune aspect of atherosclerosisKhan, A., Roy, P. & Ley, K., Sep 2024, In: Nature Reviews Immunology. 24, 9, p. 670-679 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Olfr2-positive macrophages originate from monocytes proliferate in situ and present a pro-inflammatory foamy-like phenotypeSuthahar, S. S. A., Nettersheim, F. S., Alimadadi, A., Wang, E., Billitti, M., Resto-Trujillo, N., Roy, P., Hedrick, C. C., Ley, K. & Orecchioni, M., Sep 1 2024, In: Cardiovascular Research. 120, 13, p. 1577-1589 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Immunotherapy for atherosclerosis by targeting pro-inflammatory T cellsKhan, A. & Ley, K., Jul 2024, In: Cell Research. 34, 7, p. 467-468 2 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Mild Hypoxia Accelerates Cerebral Cavernous Malformation Disease Through CX3CR1-CX3CL1 SignalingFrias-Anaya, E., Gallego-Gutierrez, H., Gongol, B., Weinsheimer, S., Lai, C. C., Orecchioni, M., Sriram, A., Bui, C. M., Nelsen, B., Hale, P., Pham, A., Shenkar, R., Debiasse, D., Lightle, R., Girard, R., Li, Y., Srinath, A., Daneman, R., Nudleman, E. & Sun, H. & 8 others, , Jun 1 2024, In: Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology. 44, 6, p. 1246-1264 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Dysregulated cellular metabolism in atherosclerosis: mediators and therapeutic opportunitiesStroope, C., Nettersheim, F. S., Coon, B., Finney, A. C., Schwartz, M. A., Ley, K., Rom, O. & Yurdagul, A., Apr 2024, In: Nature Metabolism. 6, 4, p. 617-638 22 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review |
Single Cell High Dimensional Analysis of Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Reveals Unique Intermediate Monocyte Subsets Associated with Sex Differences in Coronary Artery DiseaseChatterjee, N., Komaravolu, R. K., Durant, C. P., Wu, R., McSkimming, C., Drago, F., Kumar, S., Valentin-Guillama, G., Miller, Y. I., McNamara, C. A., Ley, K., Taylor, A., Alimadadi, A. & Hedrick, C. C., Mar 2024, In: International journal of molecular sciences. 25, 5, 2894.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Immune profiling and tracking of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides in cells and tissuesGazzi, A., Fusco, L., Orecchioni, M., Keshavan, S., Shin, Y., Grivel, J. C., Rinchai, D., Ahmed, E. I., Elhanani, O., Furesi, G., Rauner, M., Keren, L., Ley, K., Casiraghi, C., Bedognetti, D., Fadeel, B. & Delogu, L. G., Feb 2024, In: Nano Today. 54, 102084.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Identification of apolipoprotein B–reactive CDR3 motifs allows tracking of atherosclerosis-related memory CD4+T cells in multiple donorsRoy, P., Suthahar, S. S. A., Makings, J. & Ley, K., 2024, In: Frontiers in immunology. 15, 1302031.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Editorial: Adaptive immunity in atherosclerosisSlütter, B. & Ley, K., 2024, In: Frontiers in immunology. 15, 1440283.Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review |
Author Correction: Human circulating CD24hi marginal zone B cells produce IgM targeting atherogenic antigens and confer protection from vascular disease (Nature Cardiovascular Research, (2023), 2, 11, (1003-1014), 10.1038/s44161-023-00356-1)Pattarabanjird, T., Nguyen, A. T., McSkimming, C., Dinh, H. Q., Marshall, M. A., Ghosheh, Y., Gulati, R., Durant, C., Vallejo, J., Saigusa, R., Drago, F., Guy, T. V., Premo, K., Taylor, A. M., Paul, S., Kundu, B., Berr, S., Gonen, A., Tsimikas, S. & Miller, Y. & 4 others, , Dec 2023, In: Nature Cardiovascular Research. 2, 12, p. 1328 1 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review |
Human circulating CD24hi marginal zone B cells produce IgM targeting atherogenic antigens and confer protection from vascular diseasePattarabanjird, T., Nguyen, A. T., McSkimming, C., Dinh, H. Q., Marshall, M. A., Ghosheh, Y., Gulati, R., Durant, C., Vallejo, J., Saigusa, R., Drago, F., Guy, T. V., Premo, K., Taylor, A. M., Paul, S., Kundu, B., Berr, S., Gonen, A., Tsimikas, S. & Miller, Y. & 4 others, , Nov 2023, In: Nature Cardiovascular Research. 2, 11, p. 1003-1014 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Identification of human exTreg cells as CD16+CD56+ cytotoxic CD4+ T cellsFreuchet, A., Roy, P., Armstrong, S. S., Oliaeimotlagh, M., Kumar, S., Orecchioni, M., Ali, A. J., Khan, A., Makings, J., Lyu, Q., Winkels, H., Wang, E., Durant, C., Ghosheh, Y., Gulati, R., Nettersheim, F. & Ley, K., Oct 2023, In: Nature Immunology. 24, 10, p. 1748-1761 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
V4C3 MXene Immune Profiling and Modulation of T Cell-Dendritic Cell Function and InteractionFusco, L., Gazzi, A., Shuck, C. E., Orecchioni, M., Ahmed, E. I., Giro, L., Zavan, B., Yilmazer, A., Ley, K., Bedognetti, D., Gogotsi, Y. & Delogu, L. G., Aug 18 2023, In: Small Methods. 7, 8, 2300197.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Cell-autonomous regulation of complement C3 by factor H limits macrophage efferocytosis and exacerbates atherosclerosisKiss, M. G., Papac-Miličević, N., Porsch, F., Tsiantoulas, D., Hendrikx, T., Takaoka, M., Dinh, H. Q., Narzt, M. S., Göderle, L., Ozsvár-Kozma, M., Schuster, M., Fortelny, N., Hladik, A., Knapp, S., Gruber, F., Pickering, M. C., Bock, C., Swirski, F. K., Ley, K. & Zernecke, A. & 4 others, , Aug 8 2023, In: Immunity. 56, 8, p. 1809-1824.e10Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Mast cells must stickLyu, Q., Wang, Y. & Ley, K., Aug 2023, In: Journal of Leukocyte Biology. 114, 2, p. 109-110 2 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review |
Integrated single-cell analysis-based classification of vascular mononuclear phagocytes in mouse and human atherosclerosisZernecke, A., Erhard, F., Weinberger, T., Schulz, C., Ley, K., Saliba, A. E. & Cochain, C., Jun 1 2023, In: Cardiovascular Research. 119, 8, p. 1676-1689 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
HIV infection and cardiovascular disease have both shared and distinct monocyte gene expression features: Women’s Interagency HIV studyLin, J., Ehinger, E., Hanna, D. B., Qi, Q., Wang, T., Ghosheh, Y., Mueller, K., Anastos, K., Lazar, J. M., Mack, W. J., Tien, P. C., Berman, J. W., Cohen, M. H., Ofotokun, I., Gange, S., Liu, C., Heath, S. L., Tracy, R. P., Hodis, H. N. & Landay, A. L. & 2 others, , May 2023, In: PloS one. 18, 5 May, e0285926.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Pairing of single-cell RNA analysis and T cell antigen receptor profiling indicates breakdown of T cell tolerance checkpoints in atherosclerosisWang, Z., Zhang, X., Lu, S., Zhang, C., Ma, Z., Su, R., Li, Y., Sun, T., Li, Y., Hong, M., Deng, X., Rafiee Monjezi, M., Hristov, M., Steffens, S., Santovito, D., Dornmair, K., Ley, K., Weber, C., Mohanta, S. K. & Habenicht, A. J. R. & 1 others, , Mar 2023, In: Nature Cardiovascular Research. 2, 3, p. 290-306 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Kindlin2 enables EphB/ephrinB bi-directional signaling to support vascular developmentLi, W., Wen, L., Rathod, B., Gingras, A. C., Ley, K. & Lee, H. S., Mar 1 2023, In: Life Science Alliance. 6, 3Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
How Lymphatic Endothelial Cells Destabilize Regulatory T CellsLyu, Q. & Ley, K., Feb 1 2023, In: Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology. 43, 2, p. 215-217 3 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review |
Single-cell transcriptomes and T cell receptors of vaccine-expanded apolipoprotein B-specific T cellsNettersheim, F. S., Ghosheh, Y., Winkels, H., Kobiyama, K., Durant, C., Armstrong, S. S., Brunel, S., Roy, P., Dileepan, T., Jenkins, M. K., Zajonc, D. M. & Ley, K., Jan 5 2023, In: Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine. 9, 1076808.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Deleting interleukin-10 from myeloid cells exacerbates atherosclerosis in Apoe −/− miceOrecchioni, M., Wolf, D., Suryawanshi, V., Winkels, H., Kobiyama, K., Makings, J., Kiosses, W. B. & Ley, K., Jan 2023, In: Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences. 80, 1, 10.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Single-cell profiling reveals inflammatory polarization of human carotid versus femoral plaque leukocytesSlysz, J., Sinha, A., DeBerge, M., Singh, S., Avgousti, H., Lee, I., Glinton, K., Nagasaka, R., Dalal, P., Alexandria, S., Wai, C. M., Tellez, R., Vescovo, M., Sunderraj, A., Wang, X., Schipma, M., Sisk, R., Gulati, R., Vallejo, J. & Saigusa, R. & 8 others, , 2023, In: JCI Insight. 8, 17, e171359.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Single-cell profiling of CD11c+ B cells in atherosclerosisPattarabanjird, T., Srikakulapu, P., Ransegnola, B., Marshall, M. A., Ghosheh, Y., Gulati, R., Durant, C., Drago, F., Taylor, A. M., Ley, K. & McNamara, C. A., 2023, In: Frontiers in immunology. 14, 1296668.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Single cell transcriptomics reveals recent CD8T cell receptor signaling in patients with coronary artery diseaseIqneibi, S., Saigusa, R., Khan, A., Oliaeimotlagh, M., Armstrong Suthahar, S. S., Kumar, S., Alimadadi, A., Durant, C. P., Ghosheh, Y., McNamara, C. A., Hedrick, C. C. & Ley, K., 2023, In: Frontiers in immunology. 14, 1239148.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Titration of 124 antibodies using CITE-Seq on human PBMCsNettersheim, F. S., Armstrong, S. S., Durant, C., Blanco-Dominguez, R., Roy, P., Orecchioni, M., Suryawanshi, V. & Ley, K., Dec 2022, In: Scientific reports. 12, 1, 20817.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Neuroinflammation Plays a Critical Role in Cerebral Cavernous Malformation DiseaseLai, C. C., Nelsen, B., Frias-Anaya, E., Gallego-Gutierrez, H., Orecchioni, M., Herrera, V., Ortiz, E., Sun, H., Mesarwi, O. A., Ley, K., Gongol, B. & Lopez-Ramirez, M. A., Nov 11 2022, In: Circulation research. 131, 11, p. 909-925 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |
Single cell transcriptomics and TCR reconstruction reveal CD4 T cell response to MHC-II-restricted APOB epitope in human cardiovascular diseaseSaigusa, R., Roy, P., Freuchet, A., Gulati, R., Ghosheh, Y., Armstrong Suthahar, S. S., Durant, C. P., Hanna, D. B., Kiosses, W. B., Orecchioni, M., Wen, L., Wu, R., Kuniholm, M. H., Landay, A. L., Anastos, K., Tien, P. C., Gange, S. J., Kassaye, S., Vallejo, J. & Hedrick, C. C. & 5 others, , May 2022, In: Nature Cardiovascular Research. 1, 5, p. 462-475 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review |