Ryozo Nagai

Tea Polyphenols Regulate Key Mediators on Inflammatory Cardiovascular Diseases (2009)

Jun-ichi Suzuki, Mitsuaki Isobe, Ryuichi Morishita, Ryozo Nagai

Tea polyphenols known as catechins are key components with many biological functions, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and anticarcinogenic effects. These effects are induced by the...

Value of live 3D transoesophageal echocardiography in the diagnosis of mitral valve lesions (2009)

Uno, Kansei, Takenaka, Katsu, Ebihara, Aya, Nawata, Kan, Hayashi, Naoto, Nagasaki, Mika, ...

We experienced a case in which live 3D transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE) was found much more valuable than 2D TEE in assessing mitral lesions in circumferential direction and making surgical...

Tea Polyphenols Regulate Key Mediators on Inflammatory Cardiovascular Diseases (2009)

Jun-ichi Suzuki, Mitsuaki Isobe, Ryuichi Morishita, Ryozo Nagai

Tea polyphenols known as catechins are key components with many biological functions, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and anticarcinogenic effects. These effects are induced by the...

Manganese superoxide dismutase polymorphism affects the oxidized low-density lipoprotein-induced apoptosis of macrophages and coronary artery disease (2008)

Fujimoto, Hajime, Taguchi, Jun-ichi, Imai, Yasushi, Ayabe, Seiji, Hashimoto, Hideki, Kobayashi, Hisae, ...

Aims Oxidative damage promotes atherosclerosis. Manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) is an antioxidant enzyme localized in mitochondria. We investigated the associations of the MnSOD polymorphism...

Roles of programmed death-1 (PD-1)/PD-1 ligands pathway in the development of murine acute myocarditis caused by coxsackievirus B3 (2007)

Seko, Yoshinori, Yagita, Hideo, Okumura, Ko, Azuma, Miyuki, Nagai, Ryozo

Objective This study was designed to investigate the roles of programmed death-1 (PD-1) and PD-1ligands (PD-L) in the development of murine acute myocarditis caused by Coxsackievirus B3. PD-1/PD-L...

Membrane potential of rat ventricular myocytes responds to axial stretch in phase, amplitude and speed-dependent manners (2006)

Nishimura, Satoshi, Kawai, Yasuo, Nakajima, Toshiaki, Hosoya, Yumiko, Fujita, Hideo, Katoh, Masayoshi, ...

Objective: To elucidate the interdependence between the mechanical state of the myocardium and its electrical activity, previous studies have been performed at the cellular level. However, the...

Defect in parathyroid-hormone-induced luminal calcium absorption in connecting tubules of Klotho mice (2006)

Tsuruoka, Shuichi, Nishiki, Kenta, Ioka, Takashi, Ando, Hitoshi, Saito, Yuichiro, Kurabayashi, Masahiko, ...

Background. Homozygous Klotho mutant mice (KL-/- mice) exhibit multiple phenotypes resembling human ageing. Increases in the ratio of urinary calcium to urinary creatinine (uCa/uCr) and in serum Ca...

Defect in parathyroid-hormone-induced luminal calcium absorption in connecting tubules of Klotho mice (2006)

Tsuruoka, Shuichi, Nishiki, Kenta, Ioka, Takashi, Ando, Hitoshi, Saito, Yuichiro, Kurabayashi, Masahiko, ...

Background. Homozygous Klotho mutant mice (KL−/− mice) exhibit multiple phenotypes resembling human ageing. Increases in the ratio of urinary calcium to urinary creatinine (uCa/uCr) and in serum...

Defect in parathyroid-hormone-induced luminal calcium absorption in connecting tubules of Klotho mice (2006)

Tsuruoka, Shuichi, Nishiki, Kenta, Ioka, Takashi, Ando, Hitoshi, Saito, Yuichiro, Kurabayashi, Masahiko, ...

Background. Homozygous Klotho mutant mice (KL-/- mice) exhibit multiple phenotypes resembling human ageing. Increases in the ratio of urinary calcium to urinary creatinine (uCa/uCr) and in serum Ca...

Carvedilol effectively blocks oxidative stress-mediated downregulation of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase 2 gene transcription through modification of Sp1 binding (2005)

Arai, Masashi, Tomaru, Koichi, Takizawa, Takako, Watanabe, Atai, Niwano, Kazuo, ...

Carvedilol is a beta-adrenoceptor blocker and a potent antioxidant that improves cardiac function in patients with heart failure. The restoration of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA2) gene...

Mitochondrial reactive oxygen species and c-Src play a critical role in hypoxic response in vascular smooth muscle cells (2005)

Sato, Hiroko, Sato, Mahito, Kanai, Hiroyoshi, Uchiyama, Tsuyoshi, Iso, Tatsuya, Ohyama, Yoshio, ...

Objective: Thickened atherosclerotic plaques are prone to be hypoxic because of poor perfusion. In this study, we tested (a) whether reactive oxygen species (ROS) and c-Src play roles in hypoxic...

Impaired myocardial vasodilatation during hyperaemic stress is improved by simvastatin but not by pravastatin in patients with hypercholesterolaemia (2004)

Yokoyama, Ikuo, Inoue, Yusuke, Moritan, Toshiyuki, Ohtomo, Kuni, Nagai, Ryozo

Aims Impaired myocardial vasodilatation during hyperaemic stress with dipyridamole has been documented in hypercholesterolaemics without evidence of ischaemia. This study investigated whether two...

Myosin light chain isoforms modify force-generating ability of cardiac myosin by changing the kinetics of actin-myosin interaction (2003)

Yamashita, Hiroshi, Sugiura, Seiryo, Fujita, Hideo, Yasuda, So-ichiro, Nagai, Ryozo, Saeki, Yasutake, ...

Objective: To investigate the functional role of myosin light chain (MLC) isoforms in cardiac muscles, we examined the motor function of two different myosins the structure of which differed only in...

Neoendothelialization after peripheral blood stem cell transplantation in humans: A case report of a Tokaimura nuclear accident victim (2003)

Suzuki, Toru, Nishida, Masamichi, Futami, Satoru, Fukino, Keiko, Amaki, Toshihiro, Aizawa, Kenichi, ...

Objectives: Neoendothelialization by circulating endothelial progenitor cells has been a topic of recent research. The extent and scale of this process in humans is not well understood. We examined...

CAVEOLIN-3 IS UP-REGULATED IN THE PHYSIOLOGICAL LEFT VENTRICULAR HYPERTROPHY INDUCED BY VOLUNTARY EXERCISE TRAINING IN RATS (2002)

Teruhiko Aoyagi, Yoshihiro Ishikawa, Hitosh Oshikawa, Koichiro Kinugawa, Ikuo Yokoyama, Ryozo Nagai

Various substances have been introduced in relation with cardiac hypertrophy almost always with controversy in their roles in signal transduction. Those controversies may attribute to the diversity...

Pioglitazone improves the phenotype and molecular defects of a targeted Pkd1 mutant (2002)

Muto, Satoru, Aiba, Atsu, Saito, Yuichirou, Nakao, Kazuki, Nakamura, Kenji, Tomita, Kyoichi, ...

Mutations of either PKD1 or PKD2 are associated with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). The molecular function of the gene product of PKD1, polycystin-1, in vitro has been...

Osteopenia and male-specific sudden cardiac death in mice lacking a zinc transporter gene, Znt5 (2002)

Inoue, Koichi, Matsuda, Koichi, Itoh, Makoto, Kawaguchi, Hiroshi, Tomoike, Hitonobu, Aoyagi, Teruhiko, ...

We isolated a mammalian gene whose expression transiently increased in response to intimal denudation of rabbit aorta. It was identical to a gene encoding a zinc transporter, ZNT5, reported very...

Combined effect of retinoic acid and basic FGF on PAI-1 gene expression in vascular smooth muscle cells (2001)

Watanabe, Atai, Kurabayashi, Masahiko, Arai, Masashi, Sekiguchi, Kenichi, Nagai, Ryozo

Objective: Aberrant regulation of the synthesis and degradation of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is associated with the pathophysiology of vascular disease. Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1)...

Pulmonary Intravascular Lymphoma Complicated with Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia: a Case Report (2001)

Kawamura, Toshihide, Sando, Yoshichika, Tajima, Syunji, Hosono, Tatsuya, Sato, Mahito, Maeno, Yuri, ...

We report a case of intravascular lymphoma (IVL) complicated with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP). A 65-year-old male complaining of dyspnea and dementia was diagnosed to have pulmonary IVL by...

Voltage-shift of the current activation in HERG S4 mutation (R534C) in LQT2 (1999)

Nakajima, Tadashi, Furukawa, Tetsushi, Hirano, Yuji, Tanaka, Toshihiro, Sakurada, Harumizu, Takahashi, Tamana, ...

Objective: Recently, a novel missense mutation (R534C) in the S4 region of human ether-a-go-go-related gene (HERG) was identified in one Japanese LQT2 family. The S4 region presumably functions as a...

Isolation and Initial Characterization of GBF, a Novel DNA-Binding Zinc Finger Protein That Binds to the GC-Rich Binding Sites of the HIV-1 Promoter (1998)

Suzuki, Toru, Yamamoto, Tohru, Kurabayashi, Masahiko, Nagai, Ryozo, Yazaki, Yoshio, Horikoshi, Masami

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and its clinical syndrome, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), are one of the world's most prominent health problems. To understand the mechanisms...

Essential Role of Insulin Receptor Substrate 1 (IRS-1) and IRS-2 in Adipocyte Differentiation

Miki, Hiroshi, Yamauchi, Toshimasa, Suzuki, Ryo, Komeda, Kajuro, Tsuchida, Atsuko, Kubota, Naoto, ...

To investigate the role of insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1) and IRS-2, the two ubiquitously expressed IRS proteins, in adipocyte differentiation, we established embryonic fibroblast cells with...

Inhibition of RXR and PPARγ ameliorates diet-induced obesity and type 2 diabetes

Yamauchi, Toshimasa, Waki, Hironori, Kamon, Junji, Murakami, Koji, Motojima, Kiyoto, Komeda, Kajuro, ...

PPARγ is a ligand-activated transcription factor and functions as a heterodimer with a retinoid X receptor (RXR). Supraphysiological activation of PPARγ by thiazolidinediones can reduce insulin...

Positive and Negative Regulation of the Cardiovascular Transcription Factor KLF5 by p300 and the Oncogenic Regulator SET through Interaction and Acetylation on the DNA-Binding Domain

Miyamoto, Saku, Suzuki, Toru, Muto, Shinsuke, Aizawa, Kenichi, Kimura, Akatsuki, Mizuno, Yoshiko, ...

Here we show a novel pathway of transcriptional regulation of a DNA-binding transcription factor by coupled interaction and modification (e.g., acetylation) through the DNA-binding domain (DBD). The...

Restored insulin-sensitivity in IRS-1–deficient mice treated by adenovirus-mediated gene therapy

Ueki, Kohjiro, Yamauchi, Toshimasa, Tamemoto, Hiroyuki, Tobe, Kazuyuki, Yamamoto-Honda, Ritsuko, Kaburagi, Yasushi, ...

Insulin resistance is commonly observed both in overt diabetes and in individuals prone to, but not yet manifesting, diabetes. Hence the maintenance or restoration of insulin sensitivity may prevent...

ADAMTS-1: a metalloproteinase-disintegrin essential for normal growth, fertility, and organ morphology and function

Shindo, Takayuki, Kurihara, Hiroki, Kuno, Kouji, Yokoyama, Hitoshi, Wada, Takashi, Kurihara, Yukiko, ...

A disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM) represents a protein family possessing both metalloproteinase and disintegrin domains. ADAMTS-1, an ADAM family member cloned from cachexigenic colon...

Vasorin, a transforming growth factor β-binding protein expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells, modulates the arterial response to injury in vivo

Ikeda, Yuichi, Imai, Yasushi, Kumagai, Hidetoshi, Nosaka, Tetsuya, Morikawa, Yoshihiro, Hisaoka, Tomoko, ...

Growth factors, cell-surface receptors, adhesion molecules, and extracellular matrix proteins play critical roles in vascular pathophysiology by affecting growth, migration, differentiation, and...

Insulin receptor substrate 2 plays a crucial role in β cells and the hypothalamus

Kubota, Naoto, Terauchi, Yasuo, Tobe, Kazuyuki, Yano, Wataru, Suzuki, Ryo, Ueki, Kohjiro, ...

We previously demonstrated that insulin receptor substrate 2 (Irs2) KO mice develop diabetes associated with hepatic insulin resistance, lack of compensatory β cell hyperplasia, and leptin...

Expression of the gene for Dec2, a basic helix–loop–helix transcription factor, is regulated by a molecular clock system

Hamaguchi, Hidenori, Fujimoto, Katsumi, Kawamoto, Takeshi, Noshiro, Mitsuhide, Maemura, Koji, Takeda, Norihiko, ...

Dec2, a member of the basic helix–loop–helix superfamily, is a recently confirmed regulatory protein for the clockwork system. Transcripts of Dec2, as well as those of its related gene Dec1,...

Essential Role of Insulin Receptor Substrate 1 (IRS-1) and IRS-2 in Adipocyte Differentiation

Miki, Hiroshi, Yamauchi, Toshimasa, Suzuki, Ryo, Komeda, Kajuro, Tsuchida, Atsuko, Kubota, Naoto, ...

To investigate the role of insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1) and IRS-2, the two ubiquitously expressed IRS proteins, in adipocyte differentiation, we established embryonic fibroblast cells with...

Inhibition of RXR and PPARγ ameliorates diet-induced obesity and type 2 diabetes

Yamauchi, Toshimasa, Waki, Hironori, Kamon, Junji, Murakami, Koji, Motojima, Kiyoto, Komeda, Kajuro, ...

PPARγ is a ligand-activated transcription factor and functions as a heterodimer with a retinoid X receptor (RXR). Supraphysiological activation of PPARγ by thiazolidinediones can reduce insulin...

Positive and Negative Regulation of the Cardiovascular Transcription Factor KLF5 by p300 and the Oncogenic Regulator SET through Interaction and Acetylation on the DNA-Binding Domain

Miyamoto, Saku, Suzuki, Toru, Muto, Shinsuke, Aizawa, Kenichi, Kimura, Akatsuki, Mizuno, Yoshiko, ...

Here we show a novel pathway of transcriptional regulation of a DNA-binding transcription factor by coupled interaction and modification (e.g., acetylation) through the DNA-binding domain (DBD). The...

Restored insulin-sensitivity in IRS-1–deficient mice treated by adenovirus-mediated gene therapy

Ueki, Kohjiro, Yamauchi, Toshimasa, Tamemoto, Hiroyuki, Tobe, Kazuyuki, Yamamoto-Honda, Ritsuko, Kaburagi, Yasushi, ...

Insulin resistance is commonly observed both in overt diabetes and in individuals prone to, but not yet manifesting, diabetes. Hence the maintenance or restoration of insulin sensitivity may prevent...

ADAMTS-1: a metalloproteinase-disintegrin essential for normal growth, fertility, and organ morphology and function

Shindo, Takayuki, Kurihara, Hiroki, Kuno, Kouji, Yokoyama, Hitoshi, Wada, Takashi, Kurihara, Yukiko, ...

A disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM) represents a protein family possessing both metalloproteinase and disintegrin domains. ADAMTS-1, an ADAM family member cloned from cachexigenic colon...

Vasorin, a transforming growth factor β-binding protein expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells, modulates the arterial response to injury in vivo

Ikeda, Yuichi, Imai, Yasushi, Kumagai, Hidetoshi, Nosaka, Tetsuya, Morikawa, Yoshihiro, Hisaoka, Tomoko, ...

Growth factors, cell-surface receptors, adhesion molecules, and extracellular matrix proteins play critical roles in vascular pathophysiology by affecting growth, migration, differentiation, and...

Insulin receptor substrate 2 plays a crucial role in β cells and the hypothalamus

Kubota, Naoto, Terauchi, Yasuo, Tobe, Kazuyuki, Yano, Wataru, Suzuki, Ryo, Ueki, Kohjiro, ...

We previously demonstrated that insulin receptor substrate 2 (Irs2) KO mice develop diabetes associated with hepatic insulin resistance, lack of compensatory β cell hyperplasia, and leptin...

Expression of the gene for Dec2, a basic helix–loop–helix transcription factor, is regulated by a molecular clock system

Hamaguchi, Hidenori, Fujimoto, Katsumi, Kawamoto, Takeshi, Noshiro, Mitsuhide, Maemura, Koji, Takeda, Norihiko, ...

Dec2, a member of the basic helix–loop–helix superfamily, is a recently confirmed regulatory protein for the clockwork system. Transcripts of Dec2, as well as those of its related gene Dec1,...

Glucokinase and IRS-2 are required for compensatory β cell hyperplasia in response to high-fat diet–induced insulin resistance

Terauchi, Yasuo, Takamoto, Iseki, Kubota, Naoto, Matsui, Junji, Suzuki, Ryo, Komeda, Kajuro, ...

Glucokinase (Gck) functions as a glucose sensor for insulin secretion, and in mice fed standard chow, haploinsufficiency of β cell–specific Gck (Gck+/–) causes impaired insulin secretion to...

Relationship between the structure of SET/TAF-Iβ/INHAT and its histone chaperone activity

Muto, Shinsuke, Senda, Miki, Akai, Yusuke, Sato, Lui, Suzuki, Toru, Nagai, Ryozo, ...

Histone chaperones assemble and disassemble nucleosomes in an ATP-independent manner and thus regulate the most fundamental step in the alteration of chromatin structure. The molecular mechanisms...

Bile acids increase intracellular Ca2+ concentration and nitric oxide production in vascular endothelial cells

Nakajima, Toshiaki, Okuda, Yukichi, Chisaki, Keigo, Shin, Wee-Soo, Iwasawa, Kuniaki, Morita, Toshihiro, ...

The effects of bile acids on intracellular Ca2+ concentration [Ca2+]i and nitric oxide production were investigated in vascular endothelial cells.Whole-cell patch clamp techniques and fluorescence...

Molecular and pharmacological characteristics of transient voltage-dependent K+ currents in cultured human pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells

Iida, Haruko, Jo, Taisuke, Iwasawa, Kuniaki, Morita, Toshihiro, Hikiji, Hisako, Takato, Tsuyoshi, ...

The A-type voltage-dependent K+ current (IA) has been identified in several types of smooth muscle cells including the pulmonary artery (PA), but little is known about the pharmacological and...

The GPCR modulator protein RAMP2 is essential for angiogenesis and vascular integrity

Ichikawa-Shindo, Yuka, Sakurai, Takayuki, Kamiyoshi, Akiko, Kawate, Hisaka, Iinuma, Nobuyoshi, Yoshizawa, Takahiro, ...

Adrenomedullin (AM) is a peptide involved both in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases and in circulatory homeostasis. The high-affinity AM receptor is composed of receptor...

In vivo imaging in mice reveals local cell dynamics and inflammation in obese adipose tissue

Nishimura, Satoshi, Manabe, Ichiro, Nagasaki, Mika, Seo, Kinya, Yamashita, Hiroshi, Hosoya, Yumiko, ...

To assess physiological and pathophysiological events that involve dynamic interplay between multiple cell types, real-time, in vivo analysis is necessary. We developed a technique based on confocal...

Smads, Tak1, and Their Common Target Atf-2 Play a Critical Role in Cardiomyocyte Differentiation

Monzen, Koshiro, Hiroi, Yukio, Kudoh, Sumiyo, Akazawa, Hiroshi, Oka, Toru, Takimoto, Eiki, ...

We previously demonstrated that bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) induce cardiomyocyte differentiation through the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase TAK1. Transcription factors Smads...

Promoter Region-Specific Histone Incorporation by the Novel Histone Chaperone ANP32B and DNA-Binding Factor KLF5▿

Munemasa, Yoshiko, Suzuki, Toru, Aizawa, Kenichi, Miyamoto, Saku, Imai, Yasushi, Matsumura, Takayoshi, ...

Regulation of chromatin in eukaryotic transcription requires histone-modifying enzymes, nucleosome remodeling complexes, and histone chaperones. Specific regulation of histone incorporation/eviction...

Tea Polyphenols Regulate Key Mediators on Inflammatory Cardiovascular Diseases

Suzuki, Jun-ichi, Isobe, Mitsuaki, Morishita, Ryuichi, Nagai, Ryozo

Tea polyphenols known as catechins are key components with many biological functions, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and anticarcinogenic effects. These effects are induced by the...