Tohoku university school of medicine

Our laboratory has been opened in November 1998. Now, (in October 2008), lab members include a professor, an associate professor, three assistant professors, three Research Associates, three office administrators, three technical staffs, five postdoctoral fellows, nine graduate students and an undergraduate student. We focus on studying 1) regionalization and formation of neural circuits in the mammalian brain, 2) proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells and astrocytes in both embryonic and postnatal brains, 3) formation of the vertebrate neural crest and fate determination of the derivatives, and 4) association of postnatal neurogenesis to mental functions. To address these research interests, we take advantage of various techniques such as molecular biology, cell biology, experimental embryology, and behavioral analyses. Our lab is very active in publishing cutting-edge papers. Please visit our own website as well

(http://www.med.tohoku.ac.jp/~dev_neurobio/index.html)

1)Pax6 is required for production and maintenance of progenitorcells in postnatal hipocampal neurogenesis. Genes Cells 10, 1001-1014 10,10, 2005 This paper provided the first description of the hypocampus of the Pax6 heterozygous mutant, and demonstrated that Pax6 is required for proliferation of neural stem/progenitor cells in postnatal brain.

2)Role of Fabp7, a downstream gene of Pax6, in maintenance of neuroepithelialcells during early embryonic development of the rat cortex. J. Neurosci. 25, 9752-9761 19, 10, 2005 This paper showed identification of Fabp7, a Pax6-down stream gene, through microarray analysis, and demonstrated that Fabp7 is required for maintenance of neural stem cells in the rat cortex.

3)The neurogenesis-controlling factor, Pax6, inhibits proliferation and promotes maturation in murine astrocytes. J. Neurosci. 28, 4604-4612 30, 4, 2008 This was the first paper to show that loss of Pax6 results in aberrant proliferation and immature differentiation in murine cortical astrocytes.

4)Essential Developmental Biology, 2nd eds.（Jonathan Slack, translated by Noriko Osumi） Yodosha, ISBN-9784758107099 10, 12, 2006 This text book is easy to understand with illustrations, and is better suitable for beginners in developmental biology and life science.

5)Nice Step Researchers in 2006 National Institute of Science and Technology Policy 26, 12, 2006 This prize was awarded to Prof. Osumi for her Women's Hurdling Project.

Brain patterning, Neural circuits, Neural stem cells, Astrocytes, Neurogenesis, Mental functions, Neural crest cells, Pax6 gene, Unsaturated fatty acids, Fabp7 gene