Tohoku university school of medicine

The Division of Gastroenterology conducts basic and clinical research in a wide range of digestive diseases. The division has 4 sections of upper GI tract, colon, liver and pancreas. In each sections, basic laboratory investigators studies the genetics and pathophysiology of the diseases as follows:
• Mucosal injury caused by free radicals under the gastric acid exposure
• Transdifferentiation system into intestinal metaplasia in H.pylori infection
• Genetic aspect of inflammatory bowel disease including population genetics, functional study of the susceptibility genes and development of therapy
• Genomic characterization of hepatitis viruses and host immune response
• Mechanism of cholangiopathies in cholestatic liver diseases
• Activation mechanism and signal transduction of pancreatic stellate cells in chronic pancreatitis
• Gene susceptibility of chronic pancreatitis
• Metastasis mechanism of pancreatic cancer characterized by epithelial-mesenchymal transitions
Also, clinical investigations aim to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to an endoscopic therapy for early gastric cancer, a virtual ultrasound sonography and interventional therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma. In addition to conducting research, the division provides many educational and training programs for medical students, both pre-and postdoctoral physicians and visiting researchers.

1)Extracellular branched-chain amino acids, especially valine, regulate maturation and function of monocyte-derived dendritic cells. J Immunol.179, 7137-46 2007
2)Disruption of gastric barrier function by luminal nitrosative stress: a potential chemical insult to the human gastro-oesophageal junction. Gut. 57, 306-13 2008
3)Hypoxia stimulates pancreatic stellate cells to induce fibrosis and angiogenesis in pancreatic cancer. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2008
4)Effectiveness of “half elemental diet” as maintenance therapy for Crohn’s disease: a randomised controlled trial. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 24, 1333-40 2006
5)The Pathophysiology of Biliary Epithelia Landes Bioscience, ISBN 1-58706-171-6 2004

Helicobacter pylori, gastric acid secretion, Inflammatory bowel disease, susceptibility gene, viral hepatitis, cholangiopathy, pancreatic stellate cells, EMT