Takeo Yoshikawa, M.D., Ph.D.
- Our goal is to decipher genetic and neurobiological bases of mental disorders including schizophrenia and autism.
Molecular Psychiatry
Senior Team Leader
Visiting Associate Professor, Graduate School of Science & Engineering, Brain Science Institute, Saitama University
Schizophrenia, Autism, Genetics and lipids
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and adolescence/adult-onset endogenous psychoses, such as schizophrenia and mood disorders, are relatively common diseases that show a chronic course. Once these diseases develop, the patients' quality of life deteriorate substantially. This is because there are no ideal medical treatments, a reflection of the largely unknown etiology of these illnesses. Considering the immense personal and social losses induced by mental disorders, it is imperative to identify the mechanisms of the diseases, so as to develop fundamental therapies and effective prevention. Our current efforts focus on strategies that aim to identify susceptibility genetic and environmental mechanisms, by employing molecular and behavioral genetic approaches and biochemical analyses that utilize both human samples and animal models. We hope that these endeavors will lead to a better understanding of neuropsychiatric diseases at the molecular level and eventually contribute to improving the welfare of patients suffering from these disorders.
Linkage disequilibrium structure of the 8p21.3 locus measured byD' (horizontal surface) and association P values for schizophrenia (vertical red bars) (upper panel), and genomic structure of EGR gene (lower panel)
-
1
Takata A, Iwayama Y, Fukuo Y, Ikeda M, Okochi T, Maekawa M, Toyota T, Yamada K, Hattori E, Ohnishi T, Toyoshima M, Ujike H, Inada T, Kunugi H, Ozaki N, Nanko S, Nakamura K, Mori N, Kanba S, Iwata N, Kato T, and Yoshikawa T: "A Population-Specific Uncommon Variant in GRIN3A Associated with Schizophrenia.", Biol Psychiatry (2012)
-
2
Maekawa M, Fujisawa H, Iwayama Y, Tamase A, Toyota T, Osumi N, and Yoshikawa T: "Giant subependymoma developed in a patient with aniridia: analyses of PAX6 and tumor-relevant genes.", Brain Pathol, 20(6), 1033-41 (2010)
-
3
Watanabe A, Toyota T, Owada Y, Hayashi T, Iwayama Y, Matsumata M, Ishitsuka Y, Nakaya A, Maekawa M, Ohnishi T, Arai R, Sakurai K, Yamada K, Kondo H, Hashimoto K, Osumi N, and Yoshikawa T: "Fabp7 maps to a quantitative trait locus for a schizophrenia endophenotype.", PLoS Biol, 5(11), e297 (2007)
-
4
Yamada K, Gerber DJ, Iwayama Y, Ohnishi T, Ohba H, Toyota T, Aruga J, Minabe Y, Tonegawa S, and Yoshikawa T: "Genetic analysis of the calcineurin pathway identifies members of the EGR gene family, specifically EGR3, as potential susceptibility candidates in schizophrenia.", Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 104(8), 2815-20 (2007)
-
5
Nakatani N, Hattori E, Ohnishi T, Dean B, Iwayama Y, Matsumoto I, Kato T, Osumi N, Higuchi T, Niwa S, and Yoshikawa T: "Genome-wide expression analysis detects eight genes with robust alterations specific to bipolar I disorder: relevance to neuronal network perturbation.", Hum Mol Genet, 15(12), 1949-62 (2006)
-
6
Yamada K, Ohnishi T, Hashimoto K, Ohba H, Iwayama-Shigeno Y, Toyoshima M, Okuno A, Takao H, Toyota T, Minabe Y, Nakamura K, Shimizu E, Itokawa M, Mori N, Iyo M, and Yoshikawa T: "Identification of multiple serine racemase (SRR) mRNA isoforms and genetic analyses of SRR and DAO in schizophrenia and D-serine levels.", Biol Psychiatry, 57(12), 1493-503 (2005)
-
7
Toyota T, Yoshitsugu K, Ebihara M, Yamada K, Ohba H, Fukasawa M, Minabe Y, Nakamura K, Sekine Y, Takei N, Suzuki K, Itokawa M, Meerabux JM, Iwayama-Shigeno Y, Tomaru Y, Shimizu H, Hattori E, Mori N, and Yoshikawa T: "Association between schizophrenia with ocular misalignment and polyalanine length variation in PMX2B.", Hum Mol Genet, 13(5), 551-61 (2004)
-
8
Yoshikawa T, Watanabe A, Ishitsuka Y, Nakaya A, and Nakatani N: "Identification of multiple genetic loci linked to the propensity for "behavioral despair" in mice.", Genome Res, 12(3), 357-66 (2002)
-
Nov. 13, 2007
A Candidate Gene for a Biological Marker of Schizophrenia in Mice
Takeo YOSHIKAWA, M.D., Ph.D., Molecular Psychiatry
-
Feb. 20, 2007
Joint research between Molecular Psychiatry of BSI and the RIKEN-MIT Neuroscience Research Center has identified genes causative to schizophrenia
Takeo YOSHIKAWA, M.D., Ph.D., Molecular Psychiatry
