Laboratories
Laboratory for Neurogenetics
Kazuhiro YAMAKAWA
Laboratory Head
Kazuhiro YAMAKAWA (Ph.D.)
mail

Research Areas

The objective of our laboratory is to understand the molecular pathomechanisms of neurological diseases including epilepsy, autism, and mental retardation, and to develop diagnostic methods and therapies for those diseases. To do this, we are identifying and characterizing the genes responsible for those diseases by suing more than 4000 patients' materials, developing animal disease models, and testing therapeutic methodologies including gene therapy. The epilepsy project includes juvenile myoclonic epilepsy and sodium channelopathy such as generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) and severe myoclonic epilepsy in infancy (SMEI) that associates with severe mental decline. We also analyzing cases with epilepsy associated with autism by using full genome analyses. The mental retardation project includes Down syndrome that is the most frequent mental retardation and is caused by trisomy 21. We are characterizing partial trisomy 16 mice as DS animal models, analyzing histological, immunohistochemical, biochemical, behavioral abnormalities and testing potential therapies.

Research Subject

  1. Investigation of the pathomechanism of Down syndrome
  2. Investigation of epilepsy and autism by identification and characterization of responsible genes

Related links

  1. RIKEN Brain Science Institute Website_Laboratories PageNew Window
  2. Individual Website Laboratory PageNew Window

Press release

March 04, 2009
A mouse deficient in the neuronal adhensive factor DSCAM was found to be attacked by sudden death from central respiratory disorder, suggesting that DSCAM gene transformation might be associated with infant sudden death syndrome.
January 16, 2009
Confirming mouse epilepsy caused by the disorder of gene causative to epilepsy, suggesting the presence of a new disease mechanism
May 30, 2007
Neurogenetics of BSI provided evidence for the localized expression of an abnormal protein in the suppressive nerve cell axon of intractable epilepsy.

RIKEN RESEARCH

April 17, 2009
No pores in the war on epilepsy
A significant form of epilepsy is genetically linked to a non-membrane channel proteinNew Window
September 28, 2007
Towards a treatment for epilepsy
Researchers uncover a mechanism for seizuresNew Window

List of Selected Publications

  1. Amano K, Fujii M, Arata S, Tojima T, Ogawa M, Shimohata A, Furuichi T, Itohara S, Kamiguchi H, Korenberg J.R, Arata A, Yamakawa K.
    "DSCAM deficiency causes loss of pre-inspiratoru neuron synchroneity and perinatal death."
    The Journal of Neuroscience 29:2984-2996(2009).
  2. Suzuki T, Miyamoto H, Nakahari T, Inoue I, Suemoto T, Jiang B, Hirota Y, Itohara S, Saido TC, Tsumoto T, Sawamoto K, Hensch TK, Delgado-Escueta AV, and Yamakawa K.
    "Efhc1 deficiency causes spontaneous myoclonus and increased seizure susceptibility."
    Human Molecular Genetics 18:1099-1109(2009).
  3. Ogiwara I, Miyamoto H, Morita N, Atapour N, Mazaki E, Inoue I, Takeuchi T, Itohara S, Yanagawa Y, Obata K, Furuichi T, Hensch TK, Yamakawa K.
    "Nav1.1 Localizes to Axons of Parvalbumin-Positive Inhibitory Interneurons: a Circuit Basis for Epileptic Seizures in Mice Carrying an Scn1a Gene Mutation"
    The Journal of Neuroscience 27(22):5903-5914(2007).
  4. Shukkur EA, Shimohata A, Akagi T, Yu W, Yamaguchi M, Murayama M, Chui D, Takeuchi T, Amano K, Harve Subramhanya K, Hashikawa T, Sago H, Epstein CJ, Takashima A, Yamakawa K.
    "Mitochondrial dysfunction and tau hyperphosphorylation in Ts1Cje, a mouse model for Down syndrome"
    Human Molecular Genetics 15: 2752-2762(2006).
  5. Suzuki, T., Delgado-Escueta, AV., Aguan, K., Alonso, ME., Shi, J., Hara, Y., Nishida, M., Numata, T., Medina, MT., Takeuchi, T., Morita, R., Bai, D., Ganesh, S., Sugimoto, Y., Inazawa, J., Bailey, JN., Ochoa, A., Jara-Prado, A., Rasmussen, A., Ramos-Peek,Cordova S, Rubio-Donnadieu F, Inoue Y, Osawa M, Kaneko S, Oguni H, Mori Y, Yamakawa K
    "Mutations in EFHC1 cause juvenile myoclonic epilepsy"
    Nature Genettics 36, 842-849 (2004).
  6. Amano, K., Sago, H., Uchikawa, C., Suzuki, T., Kotliarova, SE., Nukina, N., Epstein, CJ., and Yamakawa, K.
    "Dosage-dependent over-expression of genes in the trisomic region of Ts1Cje mouse model for Down syndrome"
    Human Molecular Genetics 13, 1333-1340 (2004).
  7. Kamiya, K., Kaneda, M., Sugawara, T., Mazaki, E., Okamura, N., Montal, M., Makita, N., Tanaka, M., Fukushima, K., Fujiwara, T., Inoue, Y., and Yamakawa, K.
    "A nonsense mutation of the sodium channel gene SCN2A in a patient with intractable epilepsy and mental decline"
    The Journal of Neuroscience 24, 2690-2698 (2004).
  8. Ganesh S, Delgado-Escueta AV, Sakamoto T, Avila MR, Machado-Salas J, Hoshii Y, Akagi T, Gomi H, Suzuki T, Amano K, Agarwala KL, Hasegawa Y, Bai D-S, Ishihara T, Hashikawa T, Itohara S, Cornford EM, Niki H, Yamakawa K
    "Targeted disruption of the Epm2a gene causes formation of Lafora inclusion bodies, neurodegeneration , ataxia, myoclonus epilepsy and impaired behavioral response in mice."
    Human Molecular Genetics 11:1251-1262 (2002)
  9. Ganesh S, Delgado-Escueta AV, Suzuki T, Francheschetti S, Riggio C, Avanzini G, Rabinowicz A, Bohlega S, Bailey J, Alonso ME, Rasmussen A, Thomson AE, Ochoa A, Prado AJ, Medina MT, Yamakawa K
    "Genotype-phenotype correlations for EPM2A mutations in Lafora's progressive myoclonus epilepsy: Exon 1 mutations associate with an early onset cognitive deficit subphenotype."
    Human Molecular Genetics 11:1263-1271 (2002)
  10. Sugawara T, Tsurubuchi Y, Agarwala KL, Ito M, Fukuma G, Mazaki-Miyazaki E, Nagafuji H, Noda M, Imoto K, Wada K, Mitsudome A, Kaneko S, Montal M, Nagata K, Hirose S, Yamakawa K
    "A missense mutation of the Na+ channel subunit gene Nav1.2 in a patient with febrile and afebrile seizures causes channel dysfunction."
    Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98: 6384-6389 (2001)

Members

Principal Investigator

Kazuhiro YAMAKAWA
Laboratory Head

Members

Ikuo OGIWARA
Research Scientist
Sachie ASADA
Research Scientist
Kenji AMANO
Research Scientist
Toshimitsu SUZUKI
Research Scientist
Matthieu Jeremy RAVEAU
Research Scientist
Tetsuya TATSUKAWA
Research Scientist
Tetsushi YAMAGATA
Research Scientist
Atsushi SHIMOHATA
Research Associate
Nancy T MALINTAN
Visiting Researcher
Miyuki MURAYAMA
Technical Staff
Emi MAZAKI
Technical Staff
Nao ITAGAKI
Assistant
Haruhiko SAGO
Visiting Scientist
Akiko ARATA
Visiting Scientist
Antonio V. DELGADO-ESCUETA
Visiting Scientist
Makoto KANEDA
Visiting Scientist
Koichi ITO
Visiting Scientist
Keiichi ISHIHARA
Visiting Scientist
Johji INAZAWA
Visiting Scientist