| Professor | Koetsu OGASAWARA, DDS, PhD |
| Assistant Professor | Kazuki WATANABE |
The Department of Immunobiology focuses primarily on Natural Killer (NK) cells, which are critical for both innate and adaptive immunity. These cells play an important role in the elimination of virally infected cells and tumors. NK cell functions are regulated by the opposing signals from activating or inhibitory receptors, and our laboratory has been focusing on activating and inhibiting receptors on NK cells and T-cells. Recently, we found that NKG2D, an activating receptor, is important for viral immunity, tumor immunity and the development of autoimmune diabetes. Therefore, we will explore the molecular mechanisms underlying recognition of NK cells and T-cells against target cells in viral immunity, tumor immunity, autoimmunity and allergy. Thus, our laboratory mainly focuses on three areas of research, namely: Tumor Immunology, Autoimmune Diseases and Metal Allergy.
Research Topics:
• Tumor Immunology
• Autoimmune Diseases
• Metal Allergy
