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E-mail:
Research Emphasis:
My
research focuses on the mechanism of immunological memory response, with an
emphasis on B cell differentiation. As the final product of an acquired immune
response, long-lived plasma cells differentiate from memory B cells and protect
our body for decades from life threatening infectious diseases by secreting
protective antibodies. However, deregulation of the plasma cell differentiation
pathway can cause allergy, autoimmunity, and cancer. By employing genetically
engineered mice, I am investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms
regulating the differentiation of long-lived plasma cells. These efforts are
anticipated to lead to new strategies for vaccine development as well as for
manipulation of pathways causing disease.
Selected Publications
Shimoda, M., Inoue, Y., Ametani, A., Tsuji, N.M., Kurisaki, J.,
Azuma, N., and Kanno, C. (1998) Anti-DNA autoantibodies are spontaneously
generated in mouse Peyer's patches. Immunology 95:200-207.
Takahashi, Y., Cerasoli, D.M., Dal Porto, J. M., Shimoda, M., Freund, R., Fang,
W., Telander, D.G., Malvey, E.-N., Muller, D.l., Behrens, T.W., and Kelsoe, G.
(1999) Relaxed negative selection in germinal centers and impaired affinity
maturation in bcl-xL transgenic mice.
J. Exp. Med. 190:399-410.
Shimoda,
M., Nakamura, T., Takahashi, Y., Asanuma, H., Tamura, S.-I., Kurata, T.,
Mizuochi,T., Azuma, N., Kanno, C. and Takemori, T. (2001) Isotype-specific
selection of high-affinity memory B cells in nasal-associated lymphoid tissue.
J. Exp. Med. 194:1597-1607.
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