SUMMARY REPORTS OF EXCHANGE SCIENTISTS

(1) Toshiki Watanabe
Department of Pathology
The Institute of Medical Science
University of Tokyo, M.D., Ph.D.

SPONSOR AND HOST INSTITUTION:
Dr. Steven Jacobson, Viral Immunology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH
DATES OF VISIT: August 16-Septembcr 14, 1995

SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES:
The main purposes of the present visit to researchers in the United States was to exchange recent results of investigation on pathobiology and pathogenesis of HTLV-1-related inflammatory disorders, and to share common understanding of the questions that remain to be answered. To achieve these, I visted researchers and exchanged information, and also attended the Annual Meeting of Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology as described below. At Dr. Jacobson’s laboratory in National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, I gave an informal seminar on HTLV-1 uveitis, and discussed on the results obtained from studies of HTLV-1 uveitis and TSP/HAM patients. I also got technical information of the in situ PCR technique to detect HTLV-1 provirus in the tissue samples, and actually performed the experiment to detect HTLV-1 provirus. I taught some of the molecular biological techniques for studying clinical materials, such as quantitative PCR analysis for estimating the HTLV-1 infected cell number, and nested RT-PCR technique for detecting cytokine mRNAs in a very small amount of clinical samples. From August 27th to September 2nd, I attended the Annual Meeting of Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology, National Cancer Institute, NIH. I presented a paper about transactivation of HTLV-1 LTR by thyroid hormone and specific interaction of T3R with sequences of LTR. These results provided a new insight into the mechanism for increased viral burden found in HTLV-1-associated inflammatory disorders such as TSP/HAM and HTLV-1 uveitis. I also co-chaired the tutorial session on “New Models of HTLV-1 Pathogenesis”. I got a lot of unpublished, valuable information on HTLV-1 research. I also did so on HIV research which would help me to focus the question on the problems of viral pathogenesis by human retroviruses. I also exchanged research information of HTLV-1 associated diseases with Dr. Franchini at NCI and discuss on the pathogenetic mechanism of HTLV-1 associated diseases, focusing on immunological and virological observations and the functions of accessory proteins encoded by the virus. We also shared results of studies on ATL leukemogenesis and discussed on them. I visited Professor Norman Talal at the University of Texas, Health Science Center at San Antonio, and gave a seminar on HTLV-1 uveitis dnci discussed on the pathogenetic mechanisms of autoimmune diseases and inflammatory diseases caused by HTLV-1 infection. Through these activities, American researchers and I reached common understandings in some areas of HTLV-1 research. In addition, we agreed to start collaborative works on some projects with Drs. Jacobson and Franchini, respectively. Thus, this exchange program helped to facilitate communication and collaborations between researchers. It also helped us to focus on the main unsolved questions in viral pathogenesis of HTLV-1.