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Host Defense Lab
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The lab studies innate immunity, which recognizes pathogens, and immune regulation through mRNA stability.
AboutAbout the lab
Studying innate immunity, the body's first line of defense against pathogens
The Host Defense Lab studies innate immunity, which acts earliest when pathogens invade and also contributes to inflammation and the establishment of adaptive immunity.
The lab has led the world in elucidating how pattern recognition receptors such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs) specifically recognize and eliminate pathogens.
Currently, the lab focuses on immune regulation through mRNA stability, aiming to clarify immunometabolism and the causes of various immune diseases and to establish new therapies.
On the lab's website, it is introduced as Innate Immunity at the Immunology Frontier Research Center and as the Department of Innate Immunity at the Research Institute for Microbial Diseases.
Key terms
- Innate immunity
- A biological defense mechanism that acts first when pathogenic microorganisms invade. It triggers inflammatory responses and also contributes to the establishment of adaptive immunity
- Adaptive immunity
- Immunity involving B cells and T cells. The immune system is broadly divided into innate immunity and adaptive immunity
- Pattern recognition receptors
- Receptors that innate immunity uses to recognize pathogens, including Toll-like receptors (TLRs)
NewsLab news
Recruiting doctoral students interested in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and immunometabolism
Project Professor Shizuo Akira receives the 2026 Japan Prize
Paper published in Nutrients
Paper published in Immunity
Paper published in Int. Immunol.
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies the mechanisms of innate immunity, the part of the immune system that protects the body from infection by pathogens. Following its work on receptors that recognize pathogens, it is now working on immune regulation through mRNA stability.
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MembersFaculty
The lab's members consist of faculty, graduate students, visiting researchers, technical assistants, secretaries, and externally affiliated faculty.As of 2026
- Project ProfessorShizuo Akira
- Project Associate ProfessorKazuhiko Maeda
- Project Assistant ProfessorAkihiko Murata
- Assistant ProfessorArthur Milius
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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: “Peritoneal fluid sediment in Wright Staining” Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Immune Regulation by mRNA Stability: “Messenger RNA maturation” Kep17 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (分子免疫学
（Molecular Immunology） ): “T Lymphocyte, also known as a T cell (yellow color)” NIAID / CC BY 2.0 (cropped) - Related lab (ヒト単一細胞免疫学
（Human Single Cell Immunology） ): “Lymph Node (NIH BioArt 304)” Courtesy of NIAID Ryan Kissinger / Public domain (cropped) - Related lab (実験免疫学
（Experimental Immunology） ): “HIV H9 T-cell II” National Institutes of Health (NIH) / Public domain (cropped) - Related lab (情報伝達
（Signal Transduction） ): “Bovine Pulmonary Artery Endothelial Cells Fluorescent Image” Erin Rod / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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