Immunobiology in the cochlea: an analyses with a novel autoimmune transgenic mouse

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15H04992
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Otorhinolaryngology
• Research Institution: Keio University
• Principal Investigator: Ogawa Kaoru 慶應義塾大学, 医学部(信濃町), 教授 (00169179)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 藤岡 正人 慶應義塾大学, 医学部(信濃町), 講師 (70398626) ; 神崎 晶 慶應義塾大学, 医学部(信濃町), 講師 (50286556) ; 原田 竜彦 国際医療福祉大学, 大学病院, 教授 (60238186)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 免疫学 / 耳科学 / 自己免疫 / 難聴 / 橋渡し研究 / 前庭障害

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we focus on the immune tolerance and intolerance in the cochlea, which is the actual condition of autoimmune onset. We established a novel autoimmune hearing loss model by generating Math-HA transgenic mouse (Tg) carrying a foreign antigen HA specifically in the inner ear hair cells and crossed with T-cell Tgs (6.5 TCR, CL4-TCR) harboring CD4+ and CD8+ T cells which specifically recognize this HA antigen, respectively. Double Tg with the former exhibited fluctuating progressive sensory hearing loss starting with unilateral low-tone dominant deafness, and the double Tg with latter exhibited slow progressive bilateral high-frequency dominant hearing loss. In addition, part of the former double Tgs displayed postural disorder and gait disturbance as the hearing loss progresses, with the endolymphatic hydrops observed in the cochlear sections.

Free Research Field

耳科学