The development of sterile immunity is a prerequisite for any natural infection or vaccination. However, for many infections, including malaria, sterile immunity is difficult to develop. The reasons for the lack of sterile immunity to malaria are largely unknown. To seek answers, our focus is on understanding both the innate and adaptive immune responses to Plasmodium parasites. We recently identified an unexpected role for the innate antiviral signaling molecule tank-binding kinase-1 (TBK1) as a critical B cell intrinsic factor for GC formation during malaria infection and vaccination (Lee et al., J Exp. Medicine, 2022). In my talk, I will review our recent findings and summarize our observations on how understanding host immunity can eliminate malaria parasites.

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I am interested in how nucleic acids (DNA, RNA) derived from pathogens and hosts are recognised by the immune system and their physiological significance in immune-related diseases, including infectious diseases, cancer, allergies and other intractable diseases, from the molecular to the clinical level. We also develop vaccines, adjuvants and alternative immunotherapies using nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA and their by-products. This time I will talk about our recent progress in the adaptive control of innate immunity by a unique vaccine/adjuvant, the development of a system for single nanoparticle mapping and sorting of pathogens, host extracellular vesicles and LNP mRNA.
Lab HP; vaccine-science.ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en