The role of immune cells in the developing brain

Research Project

Project/Area Number	18K14841
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Review Section	Basic Section 46020:Anatomy and histopathology of nervous system-related
Research Institution	Keio University
Principal Investigator	Morimoto Keiko 慶應義塾大学, 医学部(信濃町), 特任助教 (40815429)
Project Period (FY)	2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2020)
Budget Amount *help	¥4,160,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥960,000) Fiscal Year 2019: ¥2,080,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥480,000) Fiscal Year 2018: ¥2,080,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥480,000)
Keywords	神経 / 免疫 / 発生 / 脳発生 / 免疫細胞
Outline of Final Research Achievements	The central nervous system and the immune system are special mechanism with extraordinary specificity and diversity, and their crosstalk has attracted much attention. In this study, we found that not only microglia, but also acquired-immune cells such as B cells and T cells and innate immune cells such as granulocytes, dendritic cells, and natural killer cells were also invaded into the relatively early stage of the developing brain. We also examined the cortical layer formation using B and T lymphocytes deficient mice, however, we could not find significant difference between wild type and mutant mice.
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	成体脳だけでなく、発生期の脳においても種々の免疫細胞が存在しており、これらが協調して働き我々の精巧な中枢神経系の構築に関与している可能性が示された。今後、免疫細胞と神経細胞、グリア細胞との関係の観点からも脳発生の仕組みに迫っていくことで、将来的には自閉症や注意欠陥・多動性障害(ADHD)などのneurodevelopmental disorderやアルツハイマー病やパーキンソン病などの神経変性疾患、脳外傷などの治療法解明につながることが期待される。