Tohoku University
Graduate School of Dentistry

Research

Disease Management DentistryOral Physiology

Our research themes are as follows: 1) Neural mechanisms of sensory and motor system, 2) Psychophysical studies on gustatory function and oral fat sensitivity, 3) Molecular mechanisms of differentiation, regeneration, and apoptosis in osteoblasts and neurons. We perform functional imaging experiments in animals, psychophysical experiments in humans, and cell-level experiments by using physiological and molecular biological techniques.

Staff

Topics of Research

  • Neural mechanisms of sensory and motor system
  • Psychophysical studies on gustatory function and oral fat sensitivity
  • Molecular mechanisms of differentiation, regeneration, and apoptosis in osteoblasts and neurons

Recent Publications

  1. Ito, T., Ota, K., Ueno, K., Oisi, Y., Matsubara, C., Kobayashi, K., Ohkura, M., Nakai, J., Murayama, M. and Aonishi T.: Low computational-cost cell detection method for calcium imaging data. Neurosci Res. 179: 39-50, 2022.
  2. Okada, Y., Hosoi, N., Matsuzaki, Y., Fukai, Y., Hiraga, A., Nakai, J., Nitta, K., Shinohara, Y., Konno, A. and Hirai, H.: Development of microglia-targeting adeno-associated viral vectors as tools to study microglial behavior in vivo. Commun Biol. 5: 1224, 2022.
  3. Shindo, Y., Nakamura, H.M., Nakai, J., Wakamori, M. and Nakamura, T.: A parasympathetic neurotransmitter induces myoepithelial cell differentiation during salivary gland development. Exp Cell Res. 416: 113137, 2022.
  4. Luo, Y.R., Kudo, T., Tominami, K., Izumi, S., Tanaka, T., Hayas.hi, Y., Noguchi, T., Matsuzawa, A., Nakai, J., Hong, G. and Wang, H.: SP600125 enhances temperature-controlled repeated thermal stimulation-induced neurite outgrowth in PC12-P1F1 cells. Int J Mol Sci. 23: 15602, 2022.
  5. Narita, K., Kudo, T., Hong, G., Tominami, K., Izumi, S., Hayashi, Y. and Nakai, J.: Effect of beta 2-adrenergic receptor Gly16Arg polymorphism on taste preferences in healthy young Japanese adults. Nutrients. 14: 1430, 2022.
  6. Hoshino, C., Konno, A., Hosoi, N., Kaneko, R., Mukai, R., Nakai, J. and Hirai, H.: GABAergic neuron-specific whole-brain transduction by AAV-PHP.B incorporated with a new GAD65 promoter. Mol Brain. 14: 33, 2021.
  7. Mizuta, K.,Nakai, J., Hayashi, Y. and Sato, M.: Multiple coordinated cellular dynamics mediate CA1 map plasticity. Hippocampus. 31: 235-243, 2021.
  8. Takamura, R., Mizuta, K., Sekine, Y., Islam, T., Saito, T., Sato, M., Ohkura, M., Nakai, J., Ohshima, T., Saido, T.C. and Hayashi, Y.: Modality-Specific Impairment of Hippocampal CA1 Neurons of Alzheimer's Disease Model Mice. J Neurosci. 41: 5315-5329, 2021.
  9. Miyata, S., Kakizaki, T., Fujihara, K., Obinata, H., Hirano, T., Nakai, J., Tanaka, M., Itohara, S., Watanabe, M., Tanaka, K.F., Abe, M., Sakimura, K. and Yanagawa, Y.: Global knockdown of glutamate decarboxylase 67 elicits emotional abnormality in mice. Mol Brain. 14: 5, 2021.
  10. Ota, K., Oisi, Y., Suzuki, T., Ikeda, M., Ito, Y., Ito, T., Uwamori, H., Kobayashi, K., Kobayashi, M., Odagawa, M., Matsubara, C., Kuroiwa, Y., Horikoshi, M., Matsushita, J., Hioki, H., Ohkura, M., Nakai, J., Oizumi, M., Miyawaki, A., Aonishi, T., Ode, T. and Murayama, M.: Fast, cell-resolution, contiguous-wide two-photon imaging to reveal functional network architectures across multi-modal cortical areas. Neuron. 109: 1810-1824.e9, 2021.
  11. Do, V.Q., Seo, Y.S., Park, J.M., Yu, J., Duong, M.T.H., Nakai, J., Kim, S.K., Ahn, H.C. and Lee, M.Y.: A mixture of chloromethylisothiazolinone and methylisothiazo-linone impairs rat vascular smooth muscle by depleting thiols and thereby elevating cytosolic Zn2+ and generating reactive oxygen species. Arch Toxicol. 95: 541-556, 2021.
  12. Sato, M., Mizuta, K., Islam, T., Kawano, M., Sekine, Y., Takekawa, T., Gomez-Dominguez, D., Schmidt, A., Wolf, F., Kim, K., Yamakawa, H., Ohkura, M., Lee, M.G., Fukai, T., Nakai, J. and Hayashi, Y.: Distinct Mechanisms of Over-Representation of Landmarks and Rewards in the Hippocampus. Cell Rep. 32: 107864, 2020.
  13. Sato, M., Sano, S., Watanabe, H., Kudo, Y. and Nakai, J.: An aspherical microlens assembly for deep brain fluorescence microendoscopy. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 527: 447-452, 2020.
  14. Miura, I., Sato, M., Overton, E.T.N., Kunori, N., Nakai, J., Kawamata, T., Nakai, N. and Takumi, T.: Encoding of social exploration by neural ensembles in the insular cortex. PLoS Biol. 18: e3000584, 2020.
  15. Sugimoto, H., Sato, M., Nakai, J. and Kawakami, K.: Astrocytes in Atp1a2-deficient heterozygous mice exhibit hyperactivity after induction of cortical spreading depression. FEBS Open Bio. 10: 1031-1043, 2020.
  16. Korpela, J., Suzuki, H., Matsumoto, S., Mizutani, Y., Samejima, M., Maekawa, T., Nakai, J. and Yoda, K.: Machine learning enables improved runtime and precision for bio-loggers on seabirds. Commun Biol. 3: 633, 2020.
  17. Akama, K., Ebata, K., Maeno, A., Taminato, T., Otosaka, S., Gengyo-Ando, K., Nakai, J., Yamasu, K. and Kawamura, A.: Role of somite patterning in the formation of Weberian apparatus and pleural rib in zebrafish. J Anat. 236: 622-629, 2020.
  18. Mizuno, K., Shiozawa, K., Katoh, T.A., Minegishi, K., Ide, T., Ikawa, Y., Nishimura, H., Takaoka, K., Itabashi, T., Iwane, A.H., Nakai, J., Shiratori, H. and Hamada, H.: Role of Ca2+ transients at the node of the mouse embryo in breaking of left-right symmetry. Sci Adv. 6: eaba1195, 2020.
  19. Okawa, N., Shimai, K., Ohnishi, K., Ohkura, M., Nakai, J., Horie, T., Kuhara, A. and Kusakabe, T.G.: Cellular identity and Ca2+ signaling activity of the non-reproductive GnRH system in the Ciona intestinalis type A (Ciona robusta) larva. Sci Rep. 10: 18590, 2020.
  20. Motegi, Y., Sato, M., Horiguchi, K., Ohkura, M., Gengyo-Ando, K., Ikegaya, Y., Fusamae, Y., Hongo, Y., Suzuki, M., Ogawa, K., Takaki, M. and Nakai, J.: Confocal and multiphoton calcium imaging of the enteric nervous system in anesthetized mice. Neurosci Res. 151: 53-60, 2020.
  21. Kudo T., Tominami, K., Izumi, S., Hayashi, Y., Noguchi, T., Matsuzawa, A., Hong, G. and Nakai, J.: Characterization of PC12 cell subclones with different sensitivities to programmed thermal stimulation. Int J Mol Sci. 21: 8356, 2020.
  22. Ghandour, K., Ohkawa, N., Fung, C.C.A., Asai, H., Saitoh, Y., Takekawa, T., Okubo-Suzuki, R., Soya, S., Nishizono, H., Matsuo, M., Osanai, M., Sato, M., Ohkura, M., Nakai, J., Hayashi, Y., Sakurai, T., Kitamura, T., Fukai, T. and Inokuchi K.: Orchestrated ensemble activities constitute a hippocampal memory engram. Nat Commun. 10: 2637, 2019.
  23. Ohara-Imaizumi, M., Aoyagi, K., Yamauchi, H., Yoshida, M., Mori, M.X., Hida, Y., Tran, H.N., Ohkura, M., Abe, M., Akimoto, Y., Nakamichi, Y., Nishiwaki, C., Kawakami, H., Hara, K., Sakimura, K., Nagamatsu, S., Mori, Y., Nakai, J., Kakei, M. and Ohtsuka, T.: ELKS/Voltage-Dependent Ca2+ Channel-β Subunit Module Regulates Polarized Ca2+ Influx in Pancreatic β Cells. Cell Rep. 26: 1213-1226.e7, 2019.
  24. Kobayashi, T., Islam, T., Sato, M., Ohkura, M., Nakai, J., Hayashi, Y. and Okamoto, H.: Wide and Deep Imaging of Neuronal Activities by a Wearable NeuroImager Reveals Premotor Activity in the Whole Motor Cortex. Sci Rep. 9: 8366, 2019.
  25. Kanaki, N., Matsuda, A., Dejima, K., Murata, D., Nomura, K.H., Ohkura, T., Gengyo-Ando, K., Yoshina, S., Mitani, S. and Nomura, K.: UDP-N-acetylglucosamine-dolichyl-phosphate N-acetylglucosaminephospho-transferase is indispensable for oogenesis, oocyte-to-embryo transition, and larval development of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Glycobiology. 29: 163-178, 2019.
  26. Watanabe, K., Hong, G., Tominami, K., Izumi, S., Hayashi, Y. and Kudo, T.: Association between beta3-adrenergic receptor Trp64Arg polymorphism and fat preference in healthy young Japanese women. Tohoku J Exp Med. 248: 181-192, 2019.
  27. Kagawa-Nagamura, Y., Gengyo-Ando, K., Ohkura, M. and Nakai, J.: Role of tyramine in calcium dynamics of GABAergic neurons and escape behavior in Caenorhabditis elegans. Zoological Lett. 4:19, 2018.
  28. Tanaka, T., Hong, G., Tominami, K. and Kudo, T.: Oral fat sensitivity is associated with social support for stress coping in young adult men. The Tohoku J Exp Med. 244(4): 249-261, 2018.
  29. Sato, M., Motegi, Y., Yagi, S., Gengyo-Ando, K., Ohkura, M. and Nakai, J.: Fast varifocal two-photon microendoscope for imaging neuronal activity in the deep brain. Biomed Opt Express. 8: 4049-4060, 2017.
  30. Gengyo-Ando, K., Kagawa-Nagamura, Y., Ohkura, M., Fei, X., Chen, M., Hashimoto, K. and Nakai, J.: A new platform for long-term tracking and recording of neural activity and simultaneous optogenetic control in freely behaving Caenorhabditis elegans. J Neurosci Methods. 286: 56-68, 2017.
  31. Asano, M., Hong, G., Matsuyama, Y., Wang, W., Izumi, S., Izumi, M., Toda, T. and Kudo, T.: Association of oral fat sensitivity with body mass index, taste preference, and eating habits in healthy Japanese young adults. Tohoku J Exp Med. 238: 93-103, 2016.
  32. Shiba, Y., Gomibuchi, T., Seto, T., Wada, Y., Ichimura, H., Tanaka, Y., Ogasawara, T., Okada, K., Shiba, N., Sakamoto, K., Ido, D., Shiina, T., Ohkura, M., Nakai, J., Uno, N., Kazuki, Y., Oshimura, M., Minami, I. and Ikeda, U.: Allogeneic transplantation of iPS cell-derived cardiomyocytes regenerates primate hearts. Nature. 538: 388-391, 2016.
  33. Manita, S., Suzuki, T., Homma, C., Matsumoto, T., Odagawa, M., Yamada, K., Ota, K., Matsubara, C., Inutsuka, A., Sato, M., Ohkura, M., Yamanaka, A., Yanagawa, Y., Nakai, J., Hayashi, Y., Larkum, M.E. and Murayama, M.: A Top-Down Cortical Circuit for Accurate Sensory Perception. Neuron. 86: 1304-1316, 2015.
  34. Inoue, M., Takeuchi, A., Horigane, S., Ohkura, M., Gengyo-Ando, K., Fujii, H., Kamijo, S., Takemoto-Kimura, S., Kano, M., Nakai, J., Kitamura, K. and Bito, H.: Rational design of a novel high-affinity, ultrafast, red calcium indicator R-CaMP2. Nat Methods. 12: 64-70, 2015.
  35. Kudo, T., Kanetaka, H., Mochizuki, K., Tominami, K., Nunome, S., Abe, G., Kosukegawa, H., Abe, T., Mori, H., Mori, K., Takagi, T. and Izumi, S.: Induction of neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells treated with temperature-controlled repeated thermal stimulation. PLOS ONE. 10: e0124024, 2015.
  36. Nakai, J., Ohkura, M. and Imoto, K.: A high signal-to-noise Ca2+ probe composed of a single green fluorescent protein. Nat Biotechnol. 19: 137-141, 2001.

Laboratory Contacts

Prof. Junichi Nakai

@
+81-22-717-8290

Research