Kyoto University · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Professor Kazushi Izawa's research lab focuses on the intersection of theoretical particle physics and molecular immunology, with core research in dynamical supersymmetry breaking in vector-like gauge theories and nonlinear gauge theories in high-energy physics. The lab also investigates the genetic and immunological mechanisms underlying autoinflammatory and lymphoproliferative disorders, particularly those involving the NLRP3 inflammasome, STING pathway, and CD27/CD70 co-stimulation in EBV-associated diseases. Recent work emphasizes the detection and clinical implications of somatic mosaicism in inflammatory conditions and the role of type I interferon signatures in undifferentiated inflammatory diseases.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
We provide vector-like gauge theories which break supersymmetry dynamically.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in humans is a major trigger of malignant and nonmalignant B cell proliferations. CD27 is a co-stimulatory molecule of T cells, and inherited CD27 deficiency is characterized by high susceptibility to EBV infection, though the underlying pathological mechanisms have not yet been identified. In this study, we report a patient suffering from recurrent EBV-induced B cell proliferations including Hodgkin's lymphoma because of a deficiency in CD70, the ligand of CD2
Chronic infantile neurological cutaneous and articular syndrome (CINCA), also known as neonatal-onset multisystem inflammatory disease (NOMID), is a dominantly inherited systemic autoinflammatory disease and is caused by a heterozygous germline gain-of-function mutation in the NLRP3 gene. We recently found a high incidence of NLRP3 somatic mosaicism in apparently mutation-negative CINCA/NOMID patients using subcloning and subsequent capillary DNA sequencing. It is important to rapidly diagnose s
Nonlinear gauge theory is a gauge theory based on a nonlinear Lie algebra (finite W algebra) or a Poisson algebra, which yields a canonical star product for deformation quantization as a correlator on a disk. We pursue nontrivial deformation of topological gauge theory with conjugate scalars in two dimensions. This leads uniquely to a two-dimensional nonlinear gauge theory, which implies its essential uniqueness. We also consider a possible generalization to higher dimensions.
V242G, a novel COPA variant, was found in 4 patients from one family. In gene-targeted mice with the V242G variant, interstitial lung disease was recapitulated and augmented responses of the STING pathway, leading to an increase in type I IFN production, were demonstrated.
Half of the patients examined in this study, with undifferentiated inflammatory diseases, clinically quiescent A20 haploinsufficiency, or idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis, had an elevated type I IFN signature.
This study provides one of the largest epidemiologic data sets for CAPS. Although early initiation of anti-IL-1 treatment with canakinumab is beneficial for improving disease prognosis, some patients do not achieve remission despite a high serum concentration of canakinumab. Moreover, IBD may develop in CAPS after canakinumab treatment.
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