RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences Laboratory for Immune Homeostasis
Team Director: Taishin Akiyama (Ph.D.)
Research Summary

Disruption of immune systems can cause many types of diseases such as immunodeficiency, autoimmune diseases, allergy and tumor. Our team focuses on mechanisms establishing T cell self-tolerance in the thymus, which providing an environment for T cell differentiation. Several lines of evidence revealed critical roles of epithelial cells in the thymic medulla (medullary thymic epithelial cells; mTECs) for selecting self-tolerant T cells and regulatory T cells, thereby preventing onset of autoimmune diseases and controlling anti-tumor immunity. Our team aims to clarify mechanisms regulating function, differentiation, and maintenance of mTECs and to utilize the mTEC function for controlling immune-related diseases.
Main Research Fields
- Medicine, Dentistry & Pharmacy
Related Research Fields
- Biology
- General medical chemistry
- Immunology
- Molecular biology
Keywords
- Immune-related diseases
- Autoimmunity
- Lymphoid organs
- T cells (T lymphocytes)
- Thymic epithelial cells
Selected Publications
- 1.
Ishii H, Endo R, Hamanaka S, Hidaka N, Miyauchi M, Hagiwara N, Miyao T, Yamamori T, Aiba T, Akiyama N, and, Akiyama T.:
"Establishing a method for the cryopreservation of viable peripheral blood mononuclear cells in the International Space Station."
NPJ Microgravity. 10, 84 (2024) - 2.
Maruyama Y, Ohsawa Y, Suzuki T, Yamauchi Y, Ohno K, Inoue H, Yamamoto A, Hayashi M, Okuhara Y, Muramatsu W, Namiki K, Hagiwara N, Miyauchi M, Miyao T, Ishikawa T, Horie K, Hayama M, Akiyama N, Hirokawa T, and Akiyama T.:
"Pseudoirreversible inhibition elicits persistent efficacy of a sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor 1 antagonist."
Nat. Commun. 15, 5743 (2024) - 3.
Takakura Y, Machida M, Terada N, Katsumi Y, Kawamura S, Horie K, Miyauchi M, Ishikawa T, Akiyama N, Seki T, Miyao T, Hayama M, Endo R, Ishii H, Maruyama Y, Hagiwara N, Kobayashi TJ, Yamaguchi N, Takano H, Akiyama T, and Yamaguchi N.:
"Mitochondrial protein C15ORF48 is a stress-independent inducer of autophagy that regulates oxidative stress and autoimmunity."
Nat. Commun. 15, 953 (2024) - 4.
Horie K, Namiki K, Kinoshita K, Miyauchi M, Ishikawa T, Hayama M, Maruyama Y, Hagiwara N, Miyao T, Murata S, Kobayashi TJ, Akiyama N, and Akiyama T.:
"Acute irradiation causes a long-term disturbance in the heterogeneity and gene expression profile of medullary thymic epithelial cells."
Front. Immunol. 14, 1186154 (2023) - 5.
Ishikawa T, Horie K, Takakura Y, Ohki H, Maruyama Y, Hayama M, Miyauchi M, Miyao T, Hagiwara N, Kobayashi TJ, Akiyama N, and Akiyama T.:
"T-cell receptor repertoire analysis of CD4-positive T cells from blood and an affected organ in an autoimmune mouse model."
Genes Cells. 28, 929-941 (2023) - 6.
Miyao T, Miyauchi M, Kelly ST, Terooatea TW, Ishikawa T, Oh E, Hirai S, Horie K, Takakura Y, Ohki H, Hayama M, Maruyama Y, Seki T, Ishii H, Yabukami H, Yoshida M, Inoue A, Sakaue-Sawano A, Miyawaki A, Muratani M, Minoda A, Akiyama N, and Akiyama T.:
"Integrative analysis of scRNA-seq and scATAC-seq revealed transit-amplifying thymic epithelial cells expressing autoimmune regulator"
Elife. 11, e73998 (2022) - 7.
Akiyama T, Suzuki T, and Yamamoto T.:
"RNA decay machinery safeguards immune cell development and immunological responses."
Trends Immunol. 42, 447-460 (2021) - 8.
Ito-Kureha T, Miyao T, Nishijima S, Suzuki T, Koizumi SI, Villar-Briones A, Takahashi A, Akiyama N, Morita M, Naguro I, Ishikawa H, Ichijo H, Akiyama T, and Yamamoto T.:
"The CCR4-NOT deadenylase complex safeguards thymic positive selection by down-regulating aberrant pro-apoptotic gene expression."
Nat. Commun. 11, 6169 (2020) - 9.
Horie K, Kato T, Kudo T, Sasanuma H, Miyauchi M, Akiyama N, Miyao T, Seki T, Ishikawa T, Takakura Y, Shirakawa M, Shiba D, Hamada M, Jeon H, Yoshida N, Inoue JI, Muratani M, Takahashi S, Ohno H, and Akiyama T.:
"Impact of spaceflight on the murine thymus and mitigation by exposure to artificial gravity during spaceflight."
Sci. Rep. 9, 19866 (2019) - 10.
Horie K, Sasanuma H, Kudo T, Fujita SI, Miyauchi M, Miyao T, Seki T, Akiyama N, Takakura Y, Shimbo M, Jeon H, Shirakawa M, Shiba D, Yoshida N, Muratani M, Takahashi S, and Akiyama T.:
"Down-regulation of GATA1-dependent erythrocyte-related genes in the spleens of mice exposed to a space travel."
Sci. Rep. 9, 7654 (2019)
Lab Members
Principal investigator
- Taishin Akiyama
- Team Director
Core members
- Nobuko Akiyama
- Senior Research Scientist
- Takahisa Miyao
- Special Postdoctoral Researcher
- Maki Miyauchi
- Technical Staff I
- Naho Hagiwara
- Technical Staff II
Contact Information
1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku,
Yokohama City, Kanagawa,
230-0045, Japan
Tel: +81-(0)45-503-7069