Immune cell polarization in autoimmune diseases caused by environmental particles

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K09171
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Hygiene and public health
• Research Institution: Kawasaki Medical School
• Principal Investigator: Lee Suni 川崎医科大学, 医学部, 助教 (70414026)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 大槻 剛巳 川崎医科大学, 医学部, 教授 (40160551) ; 西村 泰光 川崎医科大学, 医学部, 准教授 (90360271)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 珪肺症 / 自己免疫疾患

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In addition to respiratory lesions, silicosis patients frequently develop autoimmune diseases. Since not all cases of silicosis present with autoimmune disease, there must be trigger factors. In recent years, infections have been reported to trigger autoimmune diseases. In this study, we examined the effect of silica particles on the immune cells in vitro to reveal the mechanism of autoimmune diseases development in silicosis. As a result, it was clarified that when a TLR ligand was mixed with silica particles and added to immune cells, there were different inflammatory cytokine secretion patterns depending on the added ligand. In addition, when polarization pattern of helper T cells was examined, it was found that different TLR ligands induce different T cell subtype configurations.

Free Research Field

衛生学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

珪肺症例において、ある種の感染や異物の侵入がある場合、免疫に関わる細胞が健常例とは違った動態をとることを示している。このことは、珪肺症例で自己免疫疾患に傾向する一つの原因に感染症などがあることを示唆する結果だと考える。