Tohoku University · Medicine
Professor Ryoichi Nagatomi's research lab focuses on the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying skeletal muscle regeneration, fibrosis, and the interplay between the nervous and immune systems in aging and exercise. Key research directions include the role of proteasome function in muscle stem cells, the regulation of myofibroblast differentiation in fibrotic diseases, and the impact of physical activity on immune cell dynamics and healthcare costs in the elderly. The lab also investigates hypoxia-inducible factors in myogenesis and the neuro-immune interactions modulating immune competence under stress and exercise. These studies aim to uncover novel therapeutic targets for muscle wasting, fibrosis, and age-related immune dysfunction.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Adult muscle stem cells (satellite cells) are required for adult skeletal muscle regeneration. A proper balance between quiescence, proliferation, and differentiation is essential for the maintenance of the satellite cell pool and their regenerative function. Although the ubiquitin-proteasome is required for most protein degradation in mammalian cells, how its dysfunction affects tissue stem cells remains unclear. Here, we investigated the function of the proteasome in satellite cells using mice
Myofibroblasts are one of the key cellular components involved in fibrosis of skeletal muscle as well as in other tissues. Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) stimulates differentiation of mesenchymal cells into myofibroblasts, but little is known about the regulatory mechanisms of myofibroblastic differentiation. Since Notch2 was shown to be downregulated in TGF-beta1-induced non-muscle fibrogenic tissue, we investigated whether Notch2 also has a distinctive role in myofibroblastic dif
This prospective study indicates that a higher level of PA is associated with lower medical care costs among the Japanese elderly irrespective of physical performance.
We analyzed the role of Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1alpha in myoblast differentiation by examining the expression and regulation of HIF-1alpha in proliferating and differentiating C2C12 myoblast, and by knocking down HIF-1alpha of C2C12 myoblasts with small interfering RNA (siRNA), given that HIF-1alpha has been shown to be involved in differentiative process in non-muscle tissues. Although HIF-1alpha mRNA was constantly expressed in C2C12 myoblasts both under growth and differentiating phas
Changes elicited by physical exercise in the numbers or the activity of blood T lymphocytes, NK cells and neutrophils are sometimes considered as indicators of altered immunocompetence. By comparing the pathological conditions, in which the changes in the numbers of cells resemble observations in the exercise studies, however we notice large discrepancies in the clinical manifestations. Supplementary information regarding the differences in cytokines and mediators responsible for altered distrib
This review examines the role of the autonomic nervous system in the regulation of the immune system to understand the alteration of immunological parameters under the influence of stressors and exercise. Sympathetic innervation in secondary lymphoid organs plays a major role in immune regulation. Catecholamine released from the nerve terminal serves as the major mediator when bound to adrenergic receptors present on immunocompetent cells. Experiments using chemical and surgical denervation, cat
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