Labs in The University of Osaka

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The lab uses single-cell technologies to explore the diversity of regulatory T cells.

The Human Single Cell Immunology Lab, part of the Immunology Group at the Immunology Frontier Research Center, studies the diversity and function of Foxp3-expressing regulatory T cells (Tregs). Advances in technologies such as mass cytometry and single-cell RNA-seq have revealed substantial heterogeneity within immune cells. Tregs also take on a variety of functional states, and have been shown to partly mirror the characteristics of effector T cells such as Th1, Th17, and Tfh cells. Using single-cell technologies such as mass cytometry, the lab examines the diversity of Tregs in settings such as autoimmunity and cancer, and the effects when their function is impaired.

#Regulatory T cells #Mass cytometry #Single-cell analysis

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The lab uses single-cell analysis to decode human immunity.

Okuzaki Lab studies human immunology at the Immunology Frontier Research Center, with a focus on single-cell analysis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the lab took part as a member of "Team Osaka University," performing single-cell analysis of cells in the blood (peripheral blood mononuclear cells). The lab also uses single-cell analysis to examine immune responses after vaccination and the host immune responses to viruses and bacteria. It also puts effort into applying the technology to connect basic research and clinical practice.

#Single-cell analysis #Human immunology #COVID-19

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The lab identifies markers of blood cancers and develops CAR-T cell therapies that target them.

The Cellular Immunotherapy Lab identifies cell surface antigens that are specifically expressed on blood cancers, and carries out the full process of developing CAR-T cell therapies that target them. The lab has succeeded in developing a new CAR-T cell for multiple myeloma. It is now identifying new target antigens and developing CAR-T cells for acute myeloid leukemia and various solid tumors as well. The lab has also begun developing CAR-NK cells as an allogeneic cell therapy. The lab's website is a page of the Department of Hematology and Oncology, where it is introduced as the Cellular Immunotherapy Development Research Group.

#CAR-T cell therapy #Cell surface antigens #Hematologic cancers

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The lab explores how the gut microbiota interacts with host immunity.

The Microbiology and Immunology Lab, part of the Immunology Group at the Immunology Frontier Research Center, studies how the gut microbiota interacts with host immunity in diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), gastrointestinal infections, and colorectal cancer. Among resident microbes, the lab focuses on the mechanisms by which so-called pathogens cause or worsen disease, and the mechanisms by which beneficial microbes cooperate with host immunity to fight pathogenic microorganisms in the gastrointestinal tract. The lab also studies the role of diet in regulating the competition between pathogenic bacteria and beneficial bacteria, and the effects of nutrients in the diet on host immunity.

#Gut microbiota #Host immunity #Inflammatory bowel disease

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The lab investigates the pathology of atopic dermatitis through the relationship between pathogenic bacteria and the immune system.

The Cutaneous Allergy and Host Defense Lab has studied how pathogenic bacteria contribute to atopic dermatitis through quorum sensing. The lab holds that, to understand the pathology, it is important to determine whether pathogenic bacteria detected on the skin are merely a "consequence of the disease" or are involved in the "formation of the pathology." Currently, using bacterial genome analysis and immunological approaches, the lab is analyzing the pre-disease state (mibyo) that is linked to the starting point of allergy onset. Using genome analysis technology for pathogenic bacteria, the lab also studies the mechanisms by which hospital-acquired infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria become difficult to treat. The lab belongs to the Immunology Group at the Immunology Frontier Research Center.

#Quorum sensing #Atopic dermatitis #Antibiotic-resistant bacteria

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The lab explores how immune networks are established in infected tissues.

The Tissue Immunology of Infection Lab focuses on the immune networks that form in tissues infected by pathogens, and studies the mechanisms that control their formation, maintenance, and protective functions. The immune response to a pathogen not only eliminates it but also builds immune defense mechanisms in the infected tissue, preparing it for the next infection. On the other hand, some pathogens are not completely cleared from the body and persist for a long time as latent or persistent infections. The lab investigates the immune memory that forms in mucosal and neural tissues after infection, as well as how latent and persistent infections are maintained and how they contribute to chronic disease, with the aim of leading to new strategies for prevention and treatment. The lab belongs to the Immunology Group of the Immunology Frontier Research Center.

#Immunological memory #Latent and persistent infection #Mucosal tissues

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The lab uncovers how the selective use of genetic information determines the fate and function of immune cells.

The Functional Immunogenomics Lab studies how the programs that regulate genes control the fate and function of immune cells. All cells in the human body carry the same genetic information, but by using it in a precisely selective way, they give rise to a variety of cells with different functions. By combining screening that manipulates gene function with single-cell analysis, and applying them to patient-derived samples, the lab also aims to identify abnormalities in gene regulation in the immune system that lead to disease. The ultimate goal is to translate the findings into next-generation immune cell therapies for treating disease. The lab belongs to the Immunology Group of the Immunology Frontier Research Center.

#Immunogenomics #Gene regulation #Single-cell analysis

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1細胞1分子イメージング（Single Molecule Imaging）／柳田研 (introduction coming soon)

Single-molecule measurement and imaging of intracellular information-processing molecular systems using proteins as biological elements

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The lab observes how immune cells move inside the living body to understand how they work.

The Immunology and Cell Biology Lab studies how immune and blood cells move and function inside the body by observing them in living mice. Cells of the immune and blood systems circulate throughout the body and maintain functional links among organs. The lab aims to elucidate the basic principles by which this dynamic network maintains the integrity of organs and tissues. By visualizing the movements of the cells that break down bone and the cells that build it inside bone, the lab works to elucidate the mechanisms of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis and to develop new drugs. The lab can accept graduate students from both the Graduate School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences.

#In vivo imaging #Osteoclasts #Immune cell dynamics

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A chemical biology lab that uses fluorescence and MRI to visualize molecules and reactions inside living organisms.

The lab studies chemical biology: it uses molecules made with chemical methods to investigate how biomolecules function inside living cells and animals. It designs and synthesizes by organic synthesis molecules whose fluorescence intensity or color changes when they encounter biomolecules in the body, and molecules that change MRI contrast (probe molecules). As a bar for its research, the lab requires that the molecules it creates can actually be used in biological research. The core discipline is chemistry, but students also study biology and physics as needed.

#Chemical biology #Fluorescent probes #MRI probes