Native name 本庶 佑 Name Tasuku Honjo Awards Robert Koch Prize | Fields Molecular Immunology Alma mater Kyoto University Nationality Japanese Role Immunologist | |
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Known for Class switch recombinationInterleukin 5Interleukin 4 Notable awards Doctoral advisor | ||
Nobel Award winning Immunologist Tasuku Honjo talks cancer reseach
Tasuku Honjo (本庶 佑, Honjo Tasuku, born January 27, 1942 in Kyoto) is a Japanese immunologist, best known for his identification of Programmed Cell Death Protein 1 (PD-1). He is also known for his molecular identification of cytokines: IL-4 and IL-5, as well as the discovery of Activation-induced Cytidine Deaminase (ACD) that is essential for class switch recombination and somatic hypermutation.
Contents
- Nobel Award winning Immunologist Tasuku Honjo talks cancer reseach
- Message from dr tasuku honjo the 2016 kyoto prize laureate in basic sciences
- Biography
- Contribution
- Recognition
- References
Message from dr tasuku honjo the 2016 kyoto prize laureate in basic sciences
Biography
Honjo completed his M.D. in 1966 from the Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, where in 1975 he received his doctorate in Medical Chemistry under the supervision of Yasutomi Nishizuka and Osamu Hayaishi. Since 1982 he has been Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medical Chemistry, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine.
Honjo was elected as a foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences, USA (2001), as a member of German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina (2003), and also as a member of the Japan Academy (2005).
Contribution
Honjo has established the basic conceptual framework of class switch recombination. He presented a model explaining antibody gene rearrangement in class switch and, between 1980 and 1982, verified its validity by elucidating its DNA structure. He succeeded in cDNA clonings of IL-4 and IL-5 cytokines involved in class switching and IL-2 receptor alpha chain in 1986, and went on further to discover AID in 2000, demonstrating its importance in class switch recombination and somatic hypermutation.
In 1992 Honjo first identified PD-1 as an inducible gene on activated T-lymphocytes, and this discovery significantly contributed to the establishment of cancer immunotherapy principle by PD-1 blockade.
Recognition
Honjo received many awards and honors including the Person of Cultural Merit (2000), Order of Culture (2013).