Symposium 5

Sendai...virus... (SeV)...belongs... to... the... family...Paramyxoviridae,...which... includes...many...pathogens... that...have...a... significant...impact...on...humans...and...animals,...such...as...measles,...mumps,...and...nipah...viruses....Paramyxoviruses...have... a...single-stranded...negative-stranded...RNA...as...their...genome...and...form...the...mononegavirus...superfamily...with...the... Rhabdoviridae,...which... includes...rabies...virus...and...vesicular...stomatitis...virus... (VSV),...and...the...Filoviridae,...which... includes...Ebola...virus,...and...others....SeV... is...as...the...name...“Sendai”...suggests,... it... is...a... “Japan-originated”...virus...first... isolated...at...Tohoku...University...in...1953....It...is...a...respiratory...disease...virus...with...rodents,...which...are...widely...used...as... laboratory...animals,...as...its...natural...host....Even...though...not...pathogenic...to...humans...and...animals...other...than...rodents,... SeV...shares...many...common...features...in...its...life...cycle...as...the...prototype...of...mononegaviruses...and...has...had...a...major... impact... on... the...development... of...basic...virology,... including... the... elucidation... of...viral... replication...mechanisms,... pathogenesis,... and... host... interactions,... including... innate... immune... responses.... SeV...was... one... of... the... first... mononegavirus...for...which...recombinant...virus...technology...was...established...by...Nagai...and...Kato...at...the...Institute...of... Medical...Science,...University...of...Tokyo...in...1996,...which...not...only...gave...a...critical...momentum...to...the...development...of... basic... research,... but... the...accumulated...knowledge...has... led... to... the...development... of...viral...vectors... for...various... applications,... and...now...SeV...has...become...one...of... the...world’s... standard...vectors.... In... this... talk,... I...would... like... to... introduce...and...discuss... the... latest... findings... from...basic... research...on...SeV,... including...what...we...have... recently... obtained. Latest findings on virology of Sendai virus