Shigeyoshi Itohara, D.V.M., Ph.D.
- We aim to elucidate circuit and molecular mechanisms underlying attention and related behaviors.
Behavioral Genetics
Senior Team Leader
Adjunctive Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo
Visiting Professor, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University
Attention, Circuit genetics
Animal behavior relies on the integration of complex external and internal information in the brain. Highly organized molecular and cellular networks underlie this integration. These networks are defined largely by genetic factors and partly by environmental factors, and their subtle differences among individuals underlie differences in personality and temperament. Abnormalities in these networks caused by various factors, including injury, infection, social and physical stress, and genetics, might result in cognitive deficits and various mental disorders. We are interested in learning how highly organized networks are established in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS); how the networks are modulated by environmental factors; and the mechanisms that underlie the integration and/or differentiation of distinct information inputs. Mutant mice generated by reverse genetics are indispensable for examining these issues because they allow for the study of an unambiguous cause-effect relationship at any phenotype level. In our laboratory, we have developed and refined genetic engineering methods to produce mice with the required novel genetic traits. Our current aims include the elucidation of molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying attention and impulsivity. We focus on neuronal circuits that express Netrin G1 or Netrin-G2. Neuron-astrocyte interactions are also a focus of study in our laboratory.
The cerebral cortex-excitatory neuron-restricted mutagenesis system. (Dark blue signals indicate brain areas in which the Cre-mediated recombination is induced. Cx: cerebral cortex, OB: olfactory bulb, Hip: hippocampus, CB: cerebellum, Th: thalamus, BS: brain stem, Sp: spinal cord)
-
1
Sano Y, Ornthanalai VG, Yamada K, Homma C, Suzuki H, Suzuki T, Murphy NP, and Itohara S: "X11-like protein deficiency is associated with impaired conflict resolution in mice.", J Neurosci, 29(18), 5884-96 (2009)
-
2
Imayoshi I, Sakamoto M, Ohtsuka T, Takao K, Miyakawa T, Yamaguchi M, Mori K, Ikeda T, Itohara S, and Kageyama R: "Roles of continuous neurogenesis in the structural and functional integrity of the adult forebrain.", Nat Neurosci, 11(10), 1153-61 (2008)
-
3
Iwasato T, Inan M, Kanki H, Erzurumlu RS, Itohara S, and Crair MC: "Cortical adenylyl cyclase 1 is required for thalamocortical synapse maturation and aspects of layer IV barrel development.", J Neurosci, 28(23), 5931-43 (2008)
-
4
Tanaka M, Yamaguchi K, Tatsukawa T, Nishioka C, Nishiyama H, Theis M, Willecke K, and Itohara S: "Lack of Connexin43-mediated bergmann glial gap junctional coupling does not affect cerebellar long-term depression, motor coordination, or eyeblink conditioning.", Front Behav Neurosci, 2, 1 (2008)
-
5
Nishimura-Akiyoshi S, Niimi K, Nakashiba T, and Itohara S: "Axonal netrin-Gs transneuronally determine lamina-specific subdendritic segments.", Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 104(37), 14801-6 (2007)
-
6
Iwasato T, Katoh H, Nishimaru H, Ishikawa Y, Inoue H, Saito YM, Ando R, Iwama M, Takahashi R, Negishi M, and Itohara S: "Rac-GAP alpha-chimerin regulates motor-circuit formation as a key mediator of EphrinB3/EphA4 forward signaling.", Cell, 130(4), 742-53 (2007)
-
7
Nishiyama H, Knopfel T, Endo S, and Itohara S: "Glial protein S100B modulates long-term neuronal synaptic plasticity.", Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 99(6), 4037-42 (2002)
-
8
Nakashiba T, Nishimura S, Ikeda T, and Itohara S: "Complementary expression and neurite outgrowth activity of netrin-G subfamily members.", Mech Dev, 111(1-2), 47-60 (2002)
-
9
Iwasato T, Datwani A, Wolf AM, Nishiyama H, Taguchi Y, Tonegawa S, Knöpfel T, Erzurumlu RS, and Itohara S.: "Cortex-restricted disruption of NMDAR1 impairs neuronal patterns in the barrel cortex.", Nature, 406(6797), 726-31 (2000)
-
10
Nakashiba, T., Ikeda, T., Nishimura, S., Tashiro, K., Honjo, T. Culotti, J.G., and Itohara, and S.: "Netrin-G1: a novel GPI-linked mammalian netrin that is functionally divergent from classical netrins", J. Neurosci., 20, 6540-6550 (2000)
-
May. 6, 2009
Brain protein X11L involved in development of brain fundamentals for processing conflict, suggesting new course of research on nerve mechanisms governing drive and social nature
Shigeyoshi ITOHARA, D.V.M., Ph.D., Behavioral Genetics
-
Sep. 4, 2007
The BSI Laboratory for Behavioral Genetics has elucidated an elemental part of the information transmission pathway of the brain in which a pair of two proteins governs the entire neural circuits in the manner of a donor-acceptor relationship.
Shigeyoshi ITOHARA, D.V.M., Ph.D., Behavioral Genetics
-
Aug. 25, 2007
Hopping mad for the nervous system
The Laboratory for Behavioral Genetics of the Advanced Technology Development Group in BSI has elucidated the mechanism which prevents the entanglement of the right and left side neural circuits of the limbs' motions thr
Takuji IWASATO, Ph.D., Behavioral Genetics of the Advanced Technology Development
-
Aug. 17, 2000
NMDA receptors are essential for the normal development of the thalamocortical patterns: Partial clarification of the mechanism of the cortex development after birth.
Takuji IWASATO, Ph.D., Behavioral Genetics of the Advanced Technology Development
