Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Teikyo University				Publication | Japanese
Laboratory of Host Defence
	Outline of Research
Host defense can be classified into innate immunity and acquired immunity. Innate immunity is mainly composed of phagocytes such as neutrophils and macrophages. Acquired immunity is a defense mechanism through antibodies produced by lymphocytes. In addition to immune mechanisms, the hemostatic system that prevents leakage of blood from the wound is also a host defense mechanism. The formation of thrombus by the co-operation of blood coagulation system and immune cells such as neutrophils trap microorganisms in the thrombus. This is called immunothrombus. 　If these functions don't work normally, they are associated with various diseases. For example, the neutrophil proteases that digest foreign microorganisms may promote malignant progression of cancer cells. In addition, if the blood coagulation system works excessively by the infection, it can cause severe thrombosis (immunothrombosis) as seen in COVID-19. Lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetics are more susceptible to infections because of the decreased immune function, and also induces thrombotic tendency The aim of our study is to elucidate the pathogenesis caused by the abnormality of host defense system and related factors, and to develop new preventive and therapeutic methods for these diseases. Our current research projects are as follows: 1) Search for factors involved in cancer metastasis and malignant transformation produced by neutrophils and elucidation of their mechanisms 2) Blood coagulation abnormalities induced by proteases produced by neutrophils 3) Development and application of new methods for sensitive detection of procoagulant activity 4) Exploration of food functional ingredients that prevent thrombosis and the development of new functional foods 5) Research on thrombosis caused by cancer chemotherapy
	Staff
	Professor	Naoki Ohkura, Ph.D.
	Senior Assistant Professor	Riyo Morimoto-Kamata, Ph.D.
	Fellow・Graduate Student