GRADUATE SCHOOL

GRADUATE SCHOOL

Departments

Graduate School of Medicine/Graduate School of Public Health

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Staff Information

Junichi Kira

M.D.,Ph.D.
Graduate School of Medicine,

Specialized Field

Neurology, Translational Neuroscience, Neuroimmunology, Neurological Therapeutics.

Message to Students

I have long been working on pathomechanisms of intractable neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer disease, motor neuron disease, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, and neuropathic pain. I am now interested in developing novel disease markers and therapies for these neurological diseases. If you are also interested in translational neuroscience, let’s work together in our laboratory to discover key molecules which can make a breakthrough in intractable neurological disease research.

References

  1. Imamura T, Yanagihara Y, Ohyagi Y, Nakamura N, Iinuma KM, Yamasaki R, Asai H, Maeda M, Murakami K, Irie K, Kira J: Insulin deficiency promotes formation of toxic amyloid-β42 conformer co-aggregating with hyper-phosphorylated tau oligomer in an Alzheimer's disease model. Neurobiol Dis (in press).
  2. Zhao Y, Yamasaki R, Yamaguchi H, Nagata S, Une H, Cui Y, Masaki K, Nakamuta Y, Iinuma K, Watanabe M, Matsushita T, Isobe N, Kira J: Oligodendroglial connexin 47 regulates neuroinflammation upon autoimmune demyelination in a novel mouse model of multiple sclerosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (in press).
  3. Shinoda K, Matsushita T, Nakamura Y, Masaki K, Sakai S, Nomiyama H, Togao O, Hiwatashi A, Niino M, Isobe N, Kira J: Contribution of cortical lesions to cognitive impairment in Japanese patients with multiple sclerosis. Sci Rep (in press).
  4. Ogata H*, Zhang X*, Yamasaki R, Fujii T, Machida A, Morimoto N, Kaida K, Masuda T, Ando Y, Kuwahara M, Kusunoki S, Nakamura Y, Matsushita T, Isobe N, Kira J: Intrathecal cytokine profile in neuropathy with anti-neurofascin 155 antibody. Ann Clin Transl Neurol 6(11): 2304-2316, 2019. *Equal contribution.
  5. Watanabe M, Nakamura Y, Michalak Z, Isobe N, Barro C, Leppert D, Matsushita T, Hayashi F, Yamasaki R, Kuhle J, Kira J: Serum GFAP and neurofilament light as biomarkers of disease activity and disability in NMOSD. Neurology 93(13): e1299-e1311, 2019.
  6. Fujita A, Yamaguchi H, Yamasaki R, Cui Y, Matsuoka Y, Yamada K, Kira J: Connexin 30 deficiency attenuates A2 astrocyte responses and induces severe neurodegeneration in a methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine hydrochloride Parkinson’s disease animal model. J Neuroinflammation 15(1):227, 2018.
  7. Fujii T, Yamasaki R, Iinuma K, Tsuchimoto D, Hayashi Y, Saitoh B, Matsushita T, Kido MA, Aishima S, Nakanishi M, Nakabeppu Y, Kira J: A novel autoantibody against plexin D1 in patients with neuropathic pain. Ann Neurol 84(2): 208-224, 2018.
  8. Maimaitijang G, Shinoda K, Nakamura Y, Masaki K, Matsushita T, Isobe N, Yamasaki R, Yoshikai Y, Kira J: Association of decreased percentage of Vδ2+Vɤ9+ɤδ Tcells with disease severity in multiple sclerosis. Front Immunol 9: 748, 2018.
  9. Li G, Yamasaki R, Fang M, Masaki K, Ochi H, Matsushita T, Kira J: Novel disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug igratimod suppresses chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by down-regulating activation of macrophage/microglia through a NF-κB pathway. Sci Rep 8(1): 1933, 2018.
  10. Yamasaki R, Yamaguchi H, Matsushita T, Fujii T, Hiwatashi A, Kira J; Early strong intrathecal inflammation in cerebellar type multiple system atrophy by cerebrospinal fluid cytokine/chemokine profiles: a case control study. J Neuroinflammation 14: 89, 2017.