Laboratory for Mucosal Immunity
Team Leader
Sidonia FAGARASAN
(M.D., Ph.D.)
Our long-term goal is to understand the cellular and molecular basis of gut immune regulation, a front line of body defense, and to apply such knowledge for health and disease of the mucosal immune system. More specifically, mucosal immunization by oral vaccination is considered, giving the safety, low cost and potential efficacy as means to immunize against mucosal as well as systemic infections. To achieve this goal we have to define and functionally characterize the main players in mucosal immunity, namely: the bacterial community living in our intestinal tract; all immune cells residing in lymphoid tissues closely associated with bacteria; stromal cells that constitute the natural backbone for the immune cells. Furthermore, a comprehensive view of an immune response in natural settings implies not only an individual characterization of these compartments, but a full understanding of their continuous interactions and cross-talks, which inevitably lead to dynamic phenotypic and functional changes of all players.
- T cell-independent and T-cell dependent immunoglobulin A generation in the gut
- Follicular Dendritic Cells and their Role in Regulation of Mucosal Immune Responses
- March 13, 2009
- Elucidation of a new immune regulation mechanism for discrimination of foreign bodies in intestinal immunity balance, including differentiation of immune inhibitory T-cells to immune responsive helper T-cells
- February 19, 2010
- Finding the right combination
A combination of positive and negative regulation narrowly restricts a genome-shuffling enzyme's activity
- Maruya M, Suzuki K, Fujimoto H, Miyajima M, Kanagawa O, Wakayama T, Fagarasan S.
"Vitamin A-dependent transcriptional activation of the nuclear factor of activated T cells c1 (NFATc1) is critical for the development and survival of B1 cells."
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2011, 108:722-727. - Suzuki K, Maruya M, Kawamoto S, Stinik K, Kitamura H, Agace WW, Fagarasan S.
"The sensing of environmental stimuli by follicular dendritic cells promotes immunoglobulin A generarion in the gut."
Immunity 2010, 33:71-83 - Fagarasan S, Kawamoto S, Kanagawa O, Suzuki K.
"Adaptive immune regulation in the gut: T cell-dependent and T cell-independent IgA synthesis."
Annu. Rev. Immunol. 2010, 28:243-273. - Tsuji M,Komatsu N,Kawamoto S,Suzuki K,Kanagawa O,Honjo T,Hori S,Faarasan S.
"Preferential generation of follicular B helper T(TFH)cells from Foxp3+Tcells in gut Peyer's Patches."
Science 2009, 323:1488-1492. - Tsuji M, Suzuki K, Kitamura H, Maruya M, Kinoshita K, Ivaylo II, Itoh K, Littman DR, Fagarasan S.
"Requirement for Lymphoid tissue inducer cells in isolated follicle formation and T cell-independent immunoglobulin A generation in the gut."
Immunity. 2008, Aug, 15, 29:261-271 - Ha S, Tsuji M, Suzuki K, Meek B, Yasuda N, Kaisho T, Fagarasan S
"Regulation of B1 cell migration by signals through Toll-like receptors"
J. Exp. Med. 203 2541-2550 (2006) - Suzuki, K., Meek, B., Doi, Y., Honjo, T., and Fagarasan, S.:
"Two distinctive pathways for recruitment of naive and primed IgM+ B cells to the gut lamina propria"
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 102, 2482-2486 (2005). - Suzuki, K., Meek, B., Doi, Y., Muramatsu, M., Chiba, T., Honjo, T., and Fagarasan, S.:
"Aberrant expansion of segmented filamentous bacteria in IgA-deficient gut"
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 101, 1981-1986 (2004). - Fagarasan, S., Muramatsu, M., Suzuki, K., Nagaoka, H., Hiai, H., and Honjo, T.:
"Critical roles of activation-induced cytidine deaminase in the homeostasis of gut flora"
Science, Nov 15, 298 (5597), 1424-7 (2002). - Fagarasan, S., Kinoshita, K., Muramatsu, M., Ikuta, K., and Honjo, T.:
"In situ class switching and differentiation to IgA producing cells in the gut lamina propria"
Nature, 413, 639-643 (2001).