We have conducted research on controlling measles outbreaks and studying the epidemiological trends of the disease. The measles vaccine currently used is a live-attenuated vaccine. We have also been investigating the mechanism of attenuation through laboratory passages of the measles virus and the characteristics of the live vaccine strains in use, both of which are essential for vaccine development. Building on our accumulated experience and knowledge, we are now aiming to develop a Nipah virus vaccine using a recombinant live-attenuated measles vaccine.

Main Related Publications

1. Seki F, Miyoshi M, Ikeda T, Nishijima H, Saikusa M, Itamochi M, Minagawa H, Kurata T, Ootomo R, Kajiwara J, Kato T, Komase K, Tanaka–Taya K, Sunagawa T, Oishi K, Okabe N, Kimura H, Suga S, Kozawa K, Otsuki N, Mori Y, Shirabe K, Takeda M, Measles Surveillance Group in Japan, Technical Support Team for Measles Control in Japan: Nationwide molecular epidemiology of measles virus in Japan between 2008 and 2017. Front Microbiol 10:1470, 2019.
2. Tadokoro T, Jahan ML, Ito Y, Tahara M, Chen S, Imai A, Sugimura N, Yoshida K, Saito M, Ose T, Hashiguchi T, Takeda M, Fukuhara H, Maenaka K: Biophysical characterization and single–chain Fv construction of a neutralizing antibody to measles virus. FEBS J 287:145–159, 2019.
3. Rota P, Moss WJ, Takeda M, de Swart RL, Thompson KM, Goodson JL: Measles. Nat Rev Dis Primers 2:16049, 2016.
4. Tahara M, Ito Y, Brindley M, Ma X, He J, Xu S, Fukuhara H, Sakai K, Komase K, Rota P, Plemper R, Maenaka K, Takeda M: Functional and structural characterization of neutralizing epitopes of measles virus hemagglutinin protein. J Virol 87:666–675, 2013.
5. Tahara M, Ohno S, Sakai K, Ito Y, Fukuhara H, Komase K, Brindley MA, Rota PA, Plemper RK, Maenaka K, Takeda M: The receptor–binding site of the measles virus hemagglutinin protein itself constitutes a conserved neutralizing epitope. J Virol 87:3583–3586, 2013.
6. Bankamp B, Takeda M, Zhang Y, Xu W, Rota PA: Genetic characterization of measles vaccine strains. J Infect Dis 204:S533–S548, 2011.
7. Nakatsu Y, Takeda M, Iwasaki M, Yanagi Y: A highly attenuated measles virus vaccine strain encodes a fully functional C protein. J Virol 83:11996–12001, 2009.
8. Takeda M, Ohno S, Tahara M, Takeuchi H, Shirogane Y, Ohmura H, Nakamura T, Yanagi Y: Measles virus possessing the polymerase protein genes of the Edmonston vaccine strain exhibit attenuated gene expression and growth in cultured cells and SLAM–knockin mice. J Virol 82:11979–11984, 2008.
9. Hashiguchi T, Kajikawa M, Maita N, Takeda M, Kuroki K, Sasaki K, Kohda D, Yanagi Y, Maenaka K: Crystal structure of measles virus hemagglutinin provides insight into effective vaccines. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104:19535–19540, 2007.
10. Tahara M, Takeda M, Seki F, Hashiguchi T, Yanagi Y: Multiple amino acid substitutions in hemagglutinin are necessary for wild–type measles virus to acquire the ability to use receptor CD46 efficiently. J Virol 81:2564–2572, 2007.
11. Tahara M, Takeda M, Yanagi Y: Altered interaction of the matrix protein with the cytoplasmic tail of hemagglutinin modulates measles virus growth by affecting virus assembly and cell–cell fusion. J Virol 81: 6827–6836, 2007.
12. Tahara M, Takeda M, Yanagi Y: Contribution of matrix and large protein genes of the measles virus Edmonston strain to growth in cultured cells as revealed by recombinant viruses. J Virol 79:15218–15225, 2005.
13. Takeuchi K, Takeda M, Miyajima N, Kobune F, Tanabayashi K, Tashiro M: Recombinant wild–type and Edmonston strain measles viruses bearing heterologous H proteins: Role of H protein in cell fusion and host cell specificity. J Virol 76:4891–4900, 2002.
14. Takeda M, Kato A, Kobune F, Sakata H, Li Y, Shioda T, Sakai Y, Asakawa M, Nagai Y: Measles virus attenuation associated with transcriptional impediment and a few amino acid changes in the polymerase and accessory proteins. J Virol 72:8690–8696, 1998.