Aritsu, Y., Kitabatake, M., Kurose, A., Hamana, H., Nakama, T., Yamada, K., Furukawa, R., Ouji-Sageshima, N., Hara, A., Yasuike, K., Itami, S., Li, H., Udaka, K., Kishi, H., Ueno, T., Nakagawa, S., Ito, T., Kawashita, N., Kitamatsu, M., Motozono, C*. N-terminal pyroglutamylation of an HLA-A24-restricted immunodominant epitope enhances SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell responses, Frontiers in Immunology, In press, 2026.
Nakama, T#., Wall, A#., Dolton G#., Tan, LR., Thomas, H., Hamana, H., Aritsu, Y., Tan, TS., Toyoda, M., Goto, Y., Li, H., Kitamatsu, K., Udaka, K., Miyashita, Y., Oshiumi, H., Nakamura, K., Nagasaki, Y., Minami, R., Nakata, .H, Rizkallah, PJ., Kishi, H., Ueno, T., Sewell, AK*., Motozono, C*. Position-5-Driven Reorientation of the Immunodominant HLA-A*24:02 SARS-CoV-2 Epitope Underlies Universal T-cell Escape. JCI Insight, In press, 2026
Goto, Y#., Dolton, G#., Thomas, H., Morin, T., Tajima, Y., Imamura, K, Sakata, S., Oka, K., Hayashi, A., Takahashi, M., Ueno, T., Sakagami, T., Tomita, Y*., Sewell, AK*, and Motozono, C*. A probiotic bacterium modulates antitumor γδ T-cell responses in lung cancer. Frontiers in Immunology, In press, 2026.
Goto, Y., Ahn, YM., Toyoda, M., Hamana, H., Jin, Y., Aritsu, Y., Nakama, T., Tajima, Y., Maddumage, JC., Li, H., Kitamatsu, M., Kishi, H., Yonekawa, A., Jayasinghe, D., Shimono, N., Nagasaki, Y., Minami, R., Toya, T., Sekiya, N., Tomita, Y., Chatzileontiadou, DSM., Nakata, H., Nakagawa, S., Sakagami, T., Ueno, T., Gras, S*., Motozono, C*. Molecular basis of potent antiviral HLA-C-restricted CD8+ T cell response to an immunodominant SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid epitope. Nature Communications, 16(1):8062, 2025.
Motozono, C*., Toyoda, M., Tan, TS., Hamana, H., Aritsu, Y., Miyashita, Y., Oshiumi, H., Nakamura, K., Okada, S., Udaka, K., Kitamatsu, M., Kishi, H., Ueno, T*. The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 spike G446S mutation potentiates antiviral T cell recognition. Nature Communications 13(1):5440, 2022. *Corresponding equally
Shibata, K, Motozono, C., Nagae M., Shimizu, T., Ishikawa, E., Motooka, D., Okuzaki, D., Izumi, Y., Takahashi, M., Fujimori N., Wing JB., Hayano, T., Asai Y., Bamba, T., Ogawa Y., Furutani-Seiki M., Shirai M., Yamasaki S. Symbiotic bacteria-dependent expansion of MR1-reactive T cells causes autoimmunity in the absence of Bcl11b in lymphocytes.Nature Communications, 13(1):6948, 2022.
Motozono, C., Toyoda., M, Zahradnik, J., Saito, A., Nasser, H., Tan, TS., Ngare, I., Kimura, I., Uriu, K., Kosugi, Y., Yue, Y, Shimizu., R, Ito, J., Torii, S., Yonekawa, A., Shimono, N., Nagasaki, Y., Minami, R., Toya, T., Sekiya, N., Fukuhara, T., Matsuura, Y., Schreiber, G., Genotype to Phenotype Japan (G2P-Japan) Consortium, Ikeda, T*., Nakagawa, S*., Ueno, T*., Sato, K*. SARS-CoV-2 spike L452R variant evades cellular immunity and increases infectivity. Cell Host & Microbe 29(7):1124-1136.e11., 2021. *Corresponding equally
Motozono, C#., Pearson, JA#., De Leenheer, E., Rizkallah, PJ., Beck, K., Trimby, A., Sewell, AK., Wong, FS., Cole, DK. Distortion of the Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I Binding Groove to Accommodate an Insulin-derived 10-Mer Peptide. J. Biol. Chem. 290(31): 18924-18933, 2015. #Contributed equally
Motozono, C., Bridgeman, JS., Price, DA., Sewell, AK., Ueno, T. Clonotypically similar hybrid αβ T cell receptors can exhibit markedly different surface expression, antigen specificity and cross-reactivity. Clin. Exp. Immunol. 180(3): 560-570, 2014.
Motozono, C#, Kuse, N#., Sun, X., Rizkallah, PJ., Fuller, A., Oka, S., Cole, DK., Sewell, AK., Takiguchi, M. Molecular basis of a dominant T cell response to an HIV reverse transcriptase 8-mer epitope presented by the protective allele HLA-B*51:01. J. Immunol. 192(7): 3428-3434, 2014. #Contributed equally
Motozono, C., Yokoyama, M., Sato, H., Ueno, T. Cross-reactivity analysis of T cell receptors specific for overlapping HIV-1 Nef epitopes of different lengths. Microbes. Infect. 16(4): 320-327, 2014.
Motozono, C., Miles, JJ., Hasan, Z., Gatanaga, H., Meribe, SC., Price, DA., Oka, S., Sewell, AK., Ueno, T. CD8(+) T cell cross-reactivity profiles and HIV-1 immune escape towards an HLA-B35-restricted immunodominant Nef epitope. PLoS One. 8(6): e66152, 2013.
Motozono, C., Yanaka, S., Tsumoto, K., Takiguchi, M., Ueno, T. Impact of intrinsic cooperative thermodynamics of peptide-MHC complexes on antiviral activity of HIV-specific CTL. J. Immunol. 182(9): 5528-5536, 2009.