Development of immunopathologic diagnosis with a new transition marker of follicular helper T cells

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26670178
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Human pathology
• Research Institution: Sapporo Medical University
• Principal Investigator: Ichimiya Shingo 札幌医科大学, 医学部, 教授 (30305221)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): HIMI Tetsuo 札幌医科大学, 医学部, 教授 (90181114) ; SATO Noriyuki 札幌医科大学, 医学部, 名誉教授 (50158937)
• Research Collaborator: KAWATA Koji ; KAMEKURA Rhyuta
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 濾胞ヘルパーT細胞 / 免疫組織化学 / 免疫病理学 / 病理診断学 / 免疫関連疾患

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we performed functional analysis of T follicular helper (Tfh) cells and their transitional cell subsets to apply novel findings for histopathological examinations of immune-related disorders. As a result, we found high expression of a Bob1 transcription factor in Tfh cells and the involvement of Bob1 in the regulation of cell numbers of Tfh cells (Eur J Immunol. 2016). Further, we revealed that Tfh2-cell polarization preferentially occurred in the patients with allergic asthma and allergic rhinitis, as seen as Th2-cell polarization　in the patients（Clin Immunol. 2015）. This implies the common mechanism underlying Tfh2-cell and Th2-cell polarization, suggesting that a manner of skewing of Tfh-cell subset would reflect a disease-specific feature of helper CD4(+) T cells. By virtue of a characteristic molecule(s) in Tfh cells and Tfh-cell subsets, further studies might lead to a new modality for histopathological diagnosis of immune-related disorders.

Free Research Field

免疫病理学