Analysis of a novel factor involved in immune tolerance

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17H07370
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Immunology
• Research Institution: Institute of Physical and Chemical Research
• Principal Investigator: Yoshida Hideyuki 国立研究開発法人理化学研究所, 生命医科学研究センター, 上級研究員 (80800523)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-08-25 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 自己免疫寛容 / 負の選択 / 胸腺上皮

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Our immune system responses to pathogens but does not attack our body. The immune tolerance is the prevention of a response against self-antigens, which is maintained by multiple mechanisms including the negative selection of T cells where a bunch of self-antigens are expressed in thymus and the developing Tcells are eliminated if they react to these self-antigens.
I hypothesized that Zfp36l1 and Zfp36l2 are novel factors important for the regulations of self-antigens in thymus and investigated their significance employing a cell line and a mouse model. I performed the gene expression analysis by RNA-seq and found the expressions of self-antigen genes were obviously affected by Zfp36l1 and Zfp36l2 both in a cell line and a mouse model, which indicated that they are involved in the regulators of self-antigen genes.

Free Research Field

免疫学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

自己免疫寛容の異常は関節リウマチや1型糖尿病といった様々な自己免疫疾患を惹起する原因ともなります。したがって、自己免疫寛容を成立させるメカニズムの解明は自己免疫疾患への理解を深め、発症予防や治療方法を発展させるうえで重要です。本研究は、自己免疫寛容に重要と考えられる新しい遺伝子を実験により実証したものであり、自己免疫疾患の理解を深めることに役立つものです。また、将来的には人々の健康増進へ貢献する研究への発展も期待できるものです。