The main purpose of this Department is to decipher the genetic regulation involved in the pathogenesis of intractable diseases, including hereditary cardiovascular diseases such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy and hereditary arrhythmia, autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, type I diabetes mellitus, autoimmune thyroid diseases (Graves disease and Hashimoto thyroiditis), inflammatory bowel diseases (Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis) and SLE, as well as infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS. We also investigate molecular pathogenesis of coronary heart disease (atherosclerosis) and intractable vascular diseases (Takayasu arteritis and Buerger disease).

1) Identification and functional analysis of disease-related genes for cardiovascular diseases including hereditary cardiomyopathy and arrhythmia
2) Identification and functional analysis of disease-related genes for autoimmune diseases including autoimmune thyroiditis and inflammatory bowel disease
3) Identification and functional analysis of disease-related genes for infectious diseases including HIV-1 infection
4) Structural, functional and evolutionary analyses of MHC and immune-related genes
5) Evolutionary medicine for human diseases

Structural and functional diversity of human genome, are involved in the etiology and pathogenesis of human diseases. Main objective of our Department is to identify the gene mutations or polymorphisms and to decipher the molecular mechanisms involved in the etiology and pathogenesis of intractable diseases, in order to develop new strategies for diagnosis, treatment and/or prevention of the diseases. Current research is focused on the intractable cardiovascular diseases (e.g. idiopathic cardiomyopathy, idiopathic arrhythmia, and coronary heart disease), autoimmune diseases (e.g. Burger disease, Graves disease, and rheumatoid arthritis) and infectious diseases (e.g. HIV/AIDS). In addition, genome diversity in immune-related genes is investigated from the view-point of primate evolution.

Main purpose is to understand the molecular pathogenesis of various intractable diseases by methodologies in the fields of Human Genetics, Genome Medicine, Biochemistry and Cell Biology.