Laboratory for Allergy Vaccine Development

Many Japanese people suffer from Japanese cedar pollinosis in early spring and the increase of the patients has become a severe social problem in Japan. However, the treatment for the pollinosis is mainly symptomatic treatment and curative treatment is not commonly conducted. We are developing a novel vaccine to cure the pollinosis and aim to introduce the vaccine to the Japanese market. Our team is cooperative laboratory with RCAI, IMS, RIKEN and TORII Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. to contribute the social benefit through the development and the future supply of the vaccine to treat Japanese cedar pollinosis.

Research Fields

Engineering / Chemistry / Biology & Biochemistry / Immunology / Pharmacology & Toxicology / Clinical Medicine / Agricultural Sciences

Research Subjects

• Production and purification of immunotherapy vaccine for Japanese cedar pollinosis.
• To make mouse models of Japanese cedar pollinosis.
• To confirm the therapeutic activity of the immunotherapy vaccine in mouse.

Publications

1. Fujimura T., Okamoto Y., and Taniguchi M.:
   "Therapeutic effects and biomarkers in sublingual immunotherapy: a review."
   J Allergy (Cairo) 2012, 381737 (2012)
2. Fujimura T., Yonekura S., Horiguchi S., Taniguchi Y., Saito A., Yasueda H., Inamine A., Nakayama T., Takemori T., Taniguchi M., Sakaguchi M., and Okamoto Y.:
   "Increase of regulatory T cells and the ratio of specific IgE to total IgE are candidates for response monitoring or prognostic biomarkers in 2-year sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) for Japanese cedar pollinosis."
   Clin Immunol. 139(1), 65-74 (2011)
3. Sakaguchi M, Hirahara K, Fujimura T, and Toda M.:
   "Approaches to immunotherapies for Japanese cedar pollinosis."
   Auris Nasus Larynx. 38, 431-438 (2011)
4. Fujimura T., Yonekura S., Taniguchi Y., Horiguchi S., Saito A., Yasueda H., Nakayama T., Takemori T., Taniguchi M., Sakaguchi M., and Okamoto Y.:
   "The induced regulatory T cell level, defined as the proportion of IL-10(+)Foxp3(+) cells among CD25(+)CD4(+) leukocytes, is a potential therapeutic biomarker for sublingual immunotherapy: a preliminary report."
   Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 153(4), 378-387 (2010)
5. Fujimura T. and Okamoto Y.:
   "Antigen-specific immunotherapy against allergic rhinitis: the state of the art."
   Allergol. Int. 59, 21-31 (2010)