Department of Microbiology Kindai University Faculty of Medicine　近畿大学医学部微生物学講座

Kindai University Faculty of Medicine
Department of Microbiology

Kindai-LSU多発性硬化症研究グループ

Microbiology Department members (left to right): Fumitaka Sato, PhD (Associate Professor), Ijaz Ahmad, MS (Graduate Student), Ikuo Tsunoda, MD, PhD (Professor), Sundar Khadka, MS (Graduate Student), Yumina Nakamura, BS (Master Student), Ah-Mee Park, PhD (Associate Professor), Namie Sakiyama (Research Assistnat),and Seiichi Omura, PhD (Associate Professsor)

Department of Microbiology, Kindai University Faculty of Medicine

The Department of Microbiology (formerly Department of Bacteriology), Kindai University Faculty of Medicine locates in Osakasayama, Osaka, Japan.

Our Medicine School has several basic and clinical departments, and enganges in education of Medical Students and Graduate Students as well as clinical practice and medical research. It has several core facilities, such as confocal, mass spectometry, microarray, next generation sequencing, and flow cotmetry.

Kindai University Faculty of Medicine was established in April 1, 1974, when the Department of Bacteriology was also launched under the first Professor and Chair (Head) Junji Yamaguchi. Prof. Yamaguchi conducted research on macrophages nad EB virus and served as Professor for 21 years, and retired in March, 1995.

In June, 1995, Dr. Ichiro Kuranewas appointed as the second Professor and Chair of the Department (English name was chaged to Department of Microbiology) and served as Professor for three years, and then moved to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Japan.

In June, 1998,Dr. Osamu Yoshie was appointed as the third Professor and Chair, from Shionogi Pharmaceutical. Prof. Yoshie conducted research on chemokine, and served as Professor for 18 years, and then retired in March, 2016.

In April, 2016, Dr. Ikuo Tsunoda has been appointed as the fourth Professor and Chair of the Depatment, from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-Shreveport (then, Associate Professor, Depatment of Microbilogy and Immunology). Currently, the Department engages in research and education of Bacteriolgy, Virology, and Immunology, and has five faculty members: Ikuo Tsunoda, MD, PhD, Professor, Mitsugu Fujita, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Ah-Mee Park, PhD (Associate Professor), Fumitaka Sato, PhD (Assistant Professor), and Seiichi Omura, PhD (Assistant Professor), with Ms. Namie Sakiyama (Research Assistant).

Research projects
Our research is aimed at elucidating the pathogenesis of autoimmune disorders and virus infections in the central nervous system (CNS), using autoimmune and viral models for multiple sclerosis (MS): experimental autoimmune (or allergic) encephalomyelitis (EAE) and Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) infection. We have studied both host immune responses and pathogens (viruses), in vivo and in vitro, using immunological, virological, and neuropathological methods. Although axonal degeneration has been described in MS, it was believed to occur only secondarily to demyelination. We have demonstrated that 1) axonal damage precedes demyelination in TMEV infection (Inside-Out model) and 2) axonal degeneration plays a detrimental role in EAE, while it plays a beneficial role in TMEV infection, and 3) axonal degeneration recruits inflammatory cells to sites of Wallerian degeneration. We hypothesize that axonal degeneration can be a self-destructive defense mechanism that limits the spread of neurotropic viruses. We have also investigated the roles of helper T (Th) 1, Th2, Th17, and regulatory T (Treg) cells and natural killer T (NKT) cells in TMEV infection. We have established EAE models for primary progressive (PP)- and secondary progressive (SP)-MS. This established model system will be used to elucidate the roles for cytokines, natural antibody, and apoptosis in lymphoid organs in deciphering how these factors interact and contribute to switching a disease course of autoimmune diseases from relapsing-remitting to a progressive type. We are also investigating a model for myocarditis induced by TMEV, using bioinformatics (Systems Biology) analyses with microarray, immunological and histological assays.


Shreveport MS Town Hall meeting	Salt Lake City MS night first pitch

Ikuo Tsunoda, MD, PhD	Shreveport Walk MS 2011 Prof. J. Steven Alexander

Contact Information:
Address: Department of Microbiology
Kindai University Faculty of Medicine
377-2 Ohnohigashi
Osakasayama, Osaka, 589-8511, Japan
Email: itsunoda@hotmail.com or　itsunoda@med.kindai.ac.jp
Phone: 81-72-366-0221
Fax: 81-72-366-0206

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Department of Microbiology Kindai University Faculty of Medicine 近畿大学医学部微生物学講座

Kindai-LSU多発性硬化症研究グループ

Department of Microbiology Kindai University Faculty of Medicine　近畿大学医学部微生物学講座