Tue. Mar 28, 2023 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM [Room D] Institute for the Advancement of Higher Education: S2 (Bldg. S: 2F)

Organizer: Naoki Takemura, Kazuma Higashisaka, Masafumi Nakayama

Some environmental and endogenous particles are associated with incurable diseases, which are called “particle diseases”. For instance, house dust mite fecal particles cause allergic asthma. Inhalation of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 m (PM2.5) and Asian dust storm particles called yellow sand increase the risk for asthma and lung cancer. The saturation of uric acid in body fluid results in the formation of monosodium urate crystals causing gout. In addition, a wide variety of engineered nanomaterials are currently produced worldwide, some of which reportedly cause inflammation and cancer in many rodent models, raising human health concerns. Although excessive inflammatory responses to particles are considered to be involved in the pathogenesis of these diseases, many question remains to be answered in terms of particle absorption and distribution, crystal formations, immune cell recognition, cytokine productions, genetic background and susceptibility. Answering these questions will lead to new insights for drug development. This symposium will provide a platform to discuss the recent findings of scientists across disciplines including immunology, toxicology and genome-wide association studies.