Associate Professor (Leading Program): Kiri Honma
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Kiri Honma, M.D. Ph.D. |
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 kiri@nagasaki-u.ac.jp |
| Projects |
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| 1. | The role of transcription factor, IRF-4, in dendritic cells and macrophages |
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| IRF-4 is specifically expressed in lymphocytes and macrophages. Macrophages play a central role in innate immunity. We found that IRF-4 regulates macrophage function and studied its molecular mechanisms. We reported that IRF-4 is expressed on a subset of dendritic cells that express the cell surface marker, CD11bhighCD8-. |
| 2. | The development of a malaria vaccine by a malaria antigen-heat shock (hsp) protein fusion protein |
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| † The hsp-epitope complex is endocytosed by antigen presenting cells and the epitope is processed to an MHC class I molecule, thus generating epitope-specific CD8+ T cells. We reported that a malaria antigen MSP1-hsp fusion protein is effective in protecting against malaria infection at the liver stage. We analyzed the molecular mechanism of cross-presentation by hsp to develop a method to deliver the malaria vaccine. |
