Hiroshi Nishimune, PhD

Assistant Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology
Member : Kansas Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center

Ph.D.	1997 Osaka University, Japan
Postdoctoral	IBDM, INSERM U.382, France Washington Univ. Sch. of Med., St. Louis Harvard Univ. Dept. MCB, Cambridge	C.E. Henderson lab J.R. Sanes lab J.R. Sanes lab

email: hnishimune@kumc.edu

Publications: Click here for List of Publications from PubMed

The nervous system functions by cell-cell communication based on a structure called a synapse. We are interested in the molecular mechanisms of synapse formation and maintenance.

Presynaptic voltage gated calcium channels (VGCCs) are absolutely required for neurotransmission, but its role in presynaptic differentiation has not been fully understood. Our previous research discovered the first extracellular ligand for the VGCCs, and demonstrated the functional role for organizing Active Zones (AZs) at the motor neuron terminal (Nature 2004). These results provided a new conceptual framework for the mechanism of AZ-formation/maintenance by extracellular ligands.

We hypothesize that VGCCs at the nerve terminals are important scaffolding proteins to organize AZs. We approach this hypothesis by combining studies of genetically modified knockout and transgenic mice, neuronal cell cultures, and biochemical protein-protein interaction; as level of analysis spanning from whole animal to molecules. We are focusing on the search for novel extracellular ligand for the VGCCs at the brain synapse, and the cytosolic interaction of VGCC at the nerve terminal. We hope these studies will shed light on the mechanism of neurological diseases and/or aging, including Channelopathies or Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome.

Lab members

Funding

Center of Biomedical Research Excellence grant, NCRR/NIH
Whitehall foundation

KU Medical Center Among Top Postdoctoral Research Locations