Research

Toward a Foundational Understanding of Humoral Immune Responses for Vaccine Development

Infectious diseases that can trigger large-scale pandemics—such as the 1918 Spanish flu and the recent COVID-19 —represent some of the most serious global threats in modern society. One of the most effective countermeasures is vaccination, which leverages immune memory. However, current vaccines often fail to efficiently induce and maintain high-quality immune memory against rapidly mutating viruses, highlighting the need for new strategies in vaccine development. Because vaccine efficacy fundamentally depends on establishing humoral immune memory—mediated largely by antibodies and B lymphocytes—we conduct basic research aimed at elucidating the mechanisms governing B-cell differentiation, activation, and long-term maintenance that can contribute to future vaccine design.

One of the most unique characteristics of B cells is that each individual cell expresses a unique antigen sensor—the B-cell receptor (BCR)—leading each cell to exhibit distinct patterns of differentiation and activation. After encountering antigen, B cells undergo further diversification of their BCR sequences within a specialized microenvironment known as the germinal center. Therefore, to understand infection- or vaccine-induced humoral immunity, it is essential to analyze antigen-specific B cells at the single-cell level and to characterize the antibodies they produce by generating monoclonal antibodies derived from individual B cells. Our laboratory employs multiple approaches to perform single-cell analyses of antigen-specific B cells as well as detailed characterization of monoclonal antibodies.

If you are interested in our research topics or methodologies, or if you would like to join our research efforts, please feel free to contact us. We welcome inquiries from prospective collaborators and trainees.

Main Research Themes

• Elucidating the mechanisms of B-cell differentiation and activation
• Understanding B-cell selection and antibody diversification within germinal centers
• Investigating the formation and long-term maintenance of humoral immune memory
• Analyzing human B-cell responses to infection and vaccination