The 70th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Virology (September 26-28, 2023 @ Sendai)

Prof. Takeda and 4 other professors will give lectures at the symposium.

Chair: Hidekazu Nishimura, Yasushi Muraki

Introduction by the Chair

Sendai virus was isolated from a neonatal pneumonia patient who had an epidemic at Tohoku University Hospital in 1953. It led virology, which was in its infancy at that time, and had a major impact on the development of not only mononegaviruses but also many other negative-strand viruses. In this symposium, we will review the history of Sendai virus research and discuss how it has been passed on to the present and future.

Morio Homma (Professor Emeritus, Kobe University, Honorary Member of Japanese Society for Virology)

In 1973, he discovered that the cleavage of the viral F protein by trypsin-like protease of the host is necessary for Sendai virus to become infectious.

Makoto Takeda (Department of Microbiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo)

He has been studying the activation mechanism of respiratory viruses (such as influenza and coronaviruses) by host proteases and the pathogenicity of measles virus. We have recently heard that he is planning a new project in an experimental mouse system using Sendai virus.

Takashi Irie (Department of Virology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Hiroshima University)

He is conducting basic virology research on the mechanism of Sendai virus acquisition of persistent infectivity, the function of accessory proteins, and its potential as a vaccine.

Masato Nakanishi (Tokiwa Bio Co., Ltd.)

Based on Sendai virus, he has developed stealth RNA vectors (SRV) that enable sustained expression of proteins in the cytoplasm, and is aiming at industrialization of regenerative medicine as a safe vector for gene therapy originating from Japan.