Elucidation of the pathogenesis of asthma with a focus on STING

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K17198
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 53030:Respiratory medicine-related
• Research Institution: Tokyo Women's Medical University
• Principal Investigator: Tsuji Mayoko 東京女子医科大学, 医学部, 助教 (50808186)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 喘息 / STING / 感作 / アレルギー / 気道上皮細胞 / 血管

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we investigated the role of STING during allergen sensitization in asthma.
STING was found to be highly expressed in airway epithelium, but simply culturing airway epithelial cells and stimulating them with STING agonists did not cause any changes. since STING is an intracellular receptor, activation of STING under conditions that injure airway epithelial cells resulted in the production of specific cytokines were up-regulated. Intranasal administration of STING agonists also enhanced the production of specific cytokines in mice. This cytokine may play an important role in allergen sensitization via the STING pathway.

Free Research Field

呼吸器内科

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、気道上皮におけるSTING/サイトカインシグナルが喘息の発症に重要である知見を得ることができました。STINGは細菌やウイルス感染の際に活性化される因子であり、感染契機の喘息発症の機序解明や喘息の発症予防のつながる可能性がある。