Professor, Division of Hematology and Rheumatology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine
Education and Career
M.D. (Tohoku University), 1986
Ph.D. (Tohoku University), 1994
Research Fellow, Rockefeller University, USA, 1994
Adjunctive Associate Professor, Tohoku University, 2004
Professor, Tohoku University, 2007
Main Research Interest
One of the interests of the research of our laboratory is the regulatory mechanism of erythroid differentiation and the heme biosynthesis in erythroid cells. We have revealed that the mutation of ALAS-E, which is the first enzyme of heme biosynthesis in erythroid cells, is responsible for X-linked sideroblastic anemia by in vivo and in vitro study. Recently, heme has been speculated to be not only an erythroid-specific molecule but also a molecule that functions in the maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells in the low oxygen environment or the regulation of gene expression during erythroid differentiation. Now we are focusing on the various functions of heme in hematopoiesis. Another interest of our research is the biology of hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells. We reported that an aberrant expression of transcription factor GATA-2, which functions in the maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells, is involved in the development of aplastic anemia, a representative of bone marrow failure syndromes. Furthermore, we revealed that GATA-2 also functions in the regulation of the adipocyte differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells, which provide the niche for hematopoietic stem cells. Now, we aim to establish novel targeting and cell therapies for bone marrow failure syndrome and leukemia by clarifying the signal network between hematopoietic or leukemic stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells .
