| Budget Amount *help |
¥47,970,000 (Direct Cost: ¥36,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥11,070,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥11,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥9,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥2,700,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥11,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥9,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥2,700,000)
Fiscal Year 2012: ¥11,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥9,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥2,700,000)
Fiscal Year 2011: ¥12,870,000 (Direct Cost: ¥9,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥2,970,000)
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Towards understanding of molecular mechanisms that govern repertoire formation of T lymphocytes in the thymic microenvironments, this study identified and characterized (1) amino acid motifs for MHC-I-associated self-peptides that induce positive selection of CD8 T cells and (2) CCL21+ subpopulation of medullary thymic epithelial cells and beta5t+ thymic nurse cells. This study also indicated that (3) complete thymectomy in early human infancy reduces the number of circulating T cells and T-cell-mediated immune responses, suggesting that the thymus should be at least partially preserved during surgery in early infancy to maintain protective immunity. Furthermore, we found that (4) the number of Hassall's corpuscles and CCL21 expression in the thymic medulla was significantly elevated in the thymuses of myasthenia gravis patients with thymic hyperplasia, suggesting that the altered mTEC differentiation is associated with thymic hyperplasia and the onset of myasthenia gravis.
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