Establishment of the system for evaluating the dynamics of human immune cells by intravital imaging techniques

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K19509
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 54:Internal medicine of the bio-information integration and related fields
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Kikuta Junichi 大阪大学, 大学院生命機能研究科, 准教授 (60710069)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-07-09 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 生体イメージング / 二光子励起顕微鏡 / ヒト免疫学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The immune system is an essential biological defense mechanism for life, and many diseases such as infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, allergies, and cancer are associated with a failure of the immune system. In this study, we developed a novel imaging system to evaluate the dynamics and function of human immune cells in vivo by intravital imaging techniques with the humanized mice. By means of this technology, we visualized the human immune responses to viral infections, which have been difficult to analyze in conventional mouse models, and analyzed their regulatory mechanisms.

Free Research Field

免疫学、細胞生物学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、生体二光子励起イメージング技術をさらに発展させ、ヒト免疫細胞の動態・機能を細胞レベルで可視化する点で独創性が高く、個々の免疫細胞が如何にしてヒト疾患の病態形成に関与するのかというコンセプトで解析する新規性の高い研究である。本研究で確立した新規生体イメージング評価系は、感染症だけでなく、アレルギー反応時の免疫応答や腫瘍に対する免疫応答の理解にも役立つと考えられ、その社会的意義も極めて大きい。