Laboratory for Gut Homeostasis

The mammalian alimentary tract harbors about a thousand of species of commensal microorganisms that homeostatically interact with the host. Our team is focusing on immunological attributes of the microbiota and trying to identify responsible members of the microbiota and their derived factors that deeply affect the immune system. Our long term goal is to develop a way to manipulate and normalize compositions of the gut microbiota to treat various disease conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and allergy.

Research Fields

Immunology / Microbiology

Research Subjects

• Influences of the gut microbiota on the host immune system
• Identification of new immune cell subsets in the gut
• Development of new therapeutic ways to treat IBD, allergy, atherosclerosis, and cancer by means of manipulation of the gut microbiota

Publications

1. Mucida D, Husain MM, Muroi S, van Wijk F, Shinnakasu R, Naoe Y, Reis BS, Huang Y, Lambolez F, Docherty M, Attinger A, Shui JW, Kim G, Lena CJ, Sakaguchi S, Miyamoto C, Wang P, Atarashi K, Park Y, Nakayama T, Honda K, Ellmeier W, Kronenberg M, Taniuchi I, Cheroutre H.:
   "Transcriptional reprogramming of mature CD4⁺ helper T cells generates distinct MHC class II-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes."
   Nat Immunol. 14:281-9.(2013)
2. Ivanov II, Honda K.:
   "Intestinal commensal microbes as immune modulators."
   Cell Host Microbe. 12:496-508.(2012)
3. Honda K, Littman DR.:
   "The microbiome in infectious disease and inflammation."
   Annu Rev Immunol. 30:759-95. (2012)
4. Atarashi K, Tanoue T, Shima T, Imaoka A, Kuwahara T, Momose Y, Cheng G, Yamasaki S, Saito T, Ohba Y, Taniguchi T, Takeda K, Hori S, Ivanov II, Umesaki Y, Itoh K, Honda K.:
   "Induction of colonic regulatory T cells by indigenous Clostridium species."
   Science. 331:337-41. (2011)
5. Savitsky DA, Yanai H, Tamura T, Taniguchi T, Honda K.:
   "Contribution of IRF5 in B cells to the development of murine SLE-like disease through its transcriptional control of the IgG2a locus."
   Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 107:10154-9 (2010)
6. Ivanov II, Atarashi K, Manel N, Brodie EL, Shima T, Karaoz U, Wei D, Goldfarb KC, Santee CA, Lynch SV, Tanoue T, Imaoka A, Itoh K, Takeda K, Umesaki Y, Honda K, Littman DR.:
   "Induction of intestinal Th17 cells by segmented filamentous bacteria."
   Cell. 139:485-98. (2009)
7. Yanai H, Ban T, Wang Z, Choi MK, Kawamura T, Negishi H, Nakasato M, Lu Y, Hangai S, Koshiba R, Savitsky D, Ronfani L, Akira S, Bianchi ME, Honda K, Tamura T, Kodama T, Taniguchi T.:
   "HMGB proteins function as universal sentinels for nucleic-acid-mediated innate immune responses."
   Nature. 462:99-103. (2009)
8. Atarashi K, Nishimura J, Shima T, Umesaki Y, Yamamoto M, Onoue M, Yagita H, Ishii N, Evans R, Honda K, Takeda K.:
   "ATP drives lamina propria TH17 cell differentiation."
   Nature 455:808-12. (2008)
9. Honda K, Yanai H, Negishi H, Asagiri M, Sato M, Mizutani T, Shimada N, Ohba Y, Takaoka A, Yoshida N, Taniguchi T.:
   "IRF-7 is the master regulator of type-I interferon-dependent immune responses."
   Nature 434:772-777. (2005).
10. Honda K, Ohba Y, Yanai H, Negishi H, Mizutani T, Takaoka A, Taya C, Taniguchi T.:
    "Spatiotemporal regulation of MyD88-IRF-7 signalling for robust type-I interferon induction."
    Nature 434:1035-1040. (2005).