Professor and chairman, Division of Dermatology Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine
Education and Career
Tohoku University School of Medicine, M.D., Resident of Department of Dermatology, 1980
Assistant professor of Department of Dermatology, 1983
Assistant Professor, Tohoku University, 1993
Visiting Fellow, Dermatology Branch, National Cancer Institutes, USA, 1988-91
Assistant professor of Department of Dermatology, 1991
Associate professor of Department of Dermatology, 2000
Professor and chairman of Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2003
Research Project
l Our organs are connected each other by the close network of immune system that are composed of circulating lymphocytes, monocytes, NK cells and various cytokines. Our department has been conducting a research on the pathomechanism of allergic contact hypersensitivity and atopic dermatitis. Through these studies, we learned that chemicals to which we are exposed on a daily basis can make an impact on our immune system. Namely, haptens that induce allergic contact hypersensitivity affect redox balance in dendritic cells, which results in their maturation. On the other hand, representative air pollutants, diesel exhaust particles and formaldehyde, suppress IFN-γ and IL-10 production by activated T cells and IL-12 production by dendritic cells, whereas they are able to stimulate IL-1β production. The consecutive study using DNA microarray revealed that the treatment with these chemicals augmented mRNA expression of oxidative stress-induced genes, GADD45A, glucocorticoid-induced leucine zipper (GILZ), and heme oxygenase-1 (HMOX-1), and reduced that of Th1 response-related genes, such as IFN-β, Tbet, and Txk. From now on, our department will takes part in this GCOE program by examining the effects of chemicals on our immune system which affect the function of various internal organs.
