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Yamamoto Lab
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The lab investigates, at the molecular level, the battle between the host immune system and pathogenic protozoan parasites or cancer.
AboutAbout the lab
Unraveling the battle between host immunity and protozoan parasites or cancer.
The Yamamoto Lab in the Department of Infection Pathogenesis studies, at the molecular level, the battle between pathogenic protozoan parasites or cancer and the host immunity that tries to eliminate them.
From the viewpoint of host immunity, pathogens and cancer are alike in being foreign entities to be removed, and the lab believes that anti-pathogen immunity and anti-tumor immunity are remarkably similar.
Using Toxoplasma gondii as a model, the lab uses genetically modified mice and parasites to investigate both the parasite side and the host side.
The lab belongs to the Research Institute for Microbial Diseases and also serves as the Immunoparasitology laboratory of the Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC).
Key terms
- Toxoplasma gondii
- A protozoan parasite belonging to the same group, the apicomplexans, as malaria parasites, which proliferates only inside host cells.
- VeDTR mice
- Mice in which cells defined by two genes are fluorescently labeled and can be depleted with diphtheria toxin.
- Immune cell subset
- A population of cells within the immune cells that is characterized by specific genes.
NewsLab news
An English-language review by a Project Assistant Professor and colleagues was published in International Immunology
Prof. Yamamoto received the 7th Kaketsuken Foundation Toyoichi Otahara Prize
A Project Assistant Professor's paper was published in Frontiers in Immunology
A former doctoral student's paper was published in mSphere
An Assistant Professor's paper was published in Nature Communications, clarifying the escape strategy of a parasite
ResearchResearch themes
The Yamamoto Lab aims to clarify the molecular mechanisms of host immunity against pathogenic protozoan parasites and cancer, and of its failure. Believing that immunity to infection and anti-tumor immunity are remarkably similar, the lab studies the two side by side.
*Illustrative imageHost immunity against protozoan parasites and its failure
Using Toxoplasma gondii as a model, the lab studies how host immunity acts against the parasite and the mechanisms by which it is overcome. It generates both genetically modified mice and genetically modified parasites, and analyzes the interaction from the parasite side and the host side.
*Illustrative imageAnti-tumor immunity and the mechanisms of its failure
Because immunity to Toxoplasma infection and anti-tumor immunity are strikingly similar, the lab also studies immunity against cancer. It has developed VeDTR mice, in which cells can be labeled and depleted using two genes, and uses them to investigate the roles of immune cell subsets.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Yamamoto Lab in the Department of Infection Pathogenesis consist of faculty members, doctoral students, technical assistants, and administrative assistants.As of 2025
- ProfessorMasahiro Yamamoto
- Associate ProfessorMiwa Sasai
- Assistant ProfessorYuta Tachibana
- Project Assistant ProfessorAyumi Kuratani
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “T. gondii tachyzoites” Persian Microbiologist / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Host immunity against protozoan parasites and its failure: “Toxoplasma parasites (tachyzoites) in a fibroblast host cell” Morne Arin (Ksena Longrin, previously known as Kseniia Bondarenko) / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Anti-tumor immunity and the mechanisms of its failure: “T cells in a squamous cell carcinoma” NIH Image Gallery / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Kodama Lab): “E. coli Bacteria ( )” NIAID / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Watanabe Lab): “Influenza A Virus (H3N )” NIAID / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Fujimoto Lab): “Phosphate solubilizing bacteria cultured in petri dish” Joydeep / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Takakura Lab): “Bovine Pulmonary Artery Endothelial Cells Fluorescent Image 3” Erin Rod / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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