Tohoku university school of medicine

Research projects

1)Stress-activated protein kinase signaling pathway (SAPK system) is a multifunctional signaling module which is involved in stress response, inflammation, immune response, differentiation, and proliferation. We have been investigating 1) the mechanismｓ of temporal regulation of SAPK system, which is related to inflammation and oxidative stress-induced apoptosis, by protein phosphatases, 2) the function of SAPK system localizing specifically to plasma membrane, and 3) the role of SAPK system in mechanical stress-induced bone remodeling.
2)Microtubules contribute to various cellular functions such as intracellular transport of vesicles. Microtubule assembly is controlled by phosphorylation of microtubule proteins and the modification may play important roles in regulation of the cellular functions. We found clathrin light chain b (CLb) to affect potently a microtubule-bound protein phosphatase, MT-PP1, and are investigating mechanisms for regulation of MT-PP1 by CLb to elucidate mechanisms for interaction between microtubules and clathrin coats.

1)Protein phosphatase 2Cepsilon is an endoplasmic reticulum integral membrane protein that dephosphorylates the ceramide transporter protein CERT to enhance its association with organelle membranes J. Biol. Chem. 283, 6584-6593 2008

2)Regulation of the interleukin-1-induced signaling pathways by a novel member of the protein phosphatase 2C family (PP2Cepsilon) J. Biol. Chem. 278, 12013-12021 2003

3)Molecular cloning of rat type 2C (IA) protein phosphatase mRNA Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86, 1796-1800 1989

4)Protein phosphatases, in Topics in Current Genetics Springer-Verlag、ISBN 3-540-20560-8 2004

5)Kenkyusha's English-Japanese Dictionary of Medical Science, 2nd version Kenkyusha、ISBN978-4-7674-3462-9 C3582 2008

protein phoshatase, stress response, SAPK