Yosuke YAMAUCHI
1st year of Ph.D granting course
Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University, Japan
UNIVERSITY ADDRESS:
Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University
46-29 Yoshida-shimoadachi, Sakyo, Kyoto, Japan, 6068501
Telephone: +81-75-753-4548
Email: yosuke@st.pharm.kyoto-u.ac.jp
yamauchiyosuke@hotmail.com
UNIVERSITY EDUCATION:
MS (2005), Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University, Japan
BS (2003), Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University, Japan
Education Abroad Program completion (2002), University of California, Los Angeles, USA
OUTLINE OF RESEARCH:
1) a7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors ( a7 nAChRs ) seem to play important roles in various CNS functions associated with the limbic system considering from their distribution in CNS. Like other receptors in CNS, a7 nAChRs are subject to the modulation by allosteric potentiating ligands. These compounds can facilitate the response of a7 nAChRs in the site-specific and use-dependent manners in CNS, and appear promising as modulating medical agents to relieve the disruption of nicotinic network activity. The mechanism of this facilitation, however, is still controversital. To elucidate this mechanism, we reconstruct a7 nAChRs in Xenopus oocyte expression system and examine the facilitating effect of galantamine as an allosteric potentiating ligand of a7 nAChRs.
2)Monoamines are critically imprtant in the functions of CNS. They can alter enormously our mood, behavior, autonomic responses - from consciousness through unconciousness in life. The homeostasis of monoamines is controlled mainly by reuptake through their transporters. The activity of monoamine transporters is considered to vary under their condtions such as ambient pH and temprature, and to have two functional modes, one is the substrate-transporting mode and the other is the ion channel mode. Currently MDMA is the one of the most popular recreational drugs abused among young people and it can act on at least serotonin transporter and possibly on other monoamine transporters. Using Xenopus oocyte expression system, we examine the effect of MDMA on various functions of monoamine transporters.
These areas of research are associated with the general elucidation of the functions of CNS. In vivo behavioral experiments provide us important findings but the results are difficult to interpret in many cases. Therefore the engagement in the electrophysiological experiments to examine the functional protein that deeply associated with higer brain activity can provide the basic understandings to explain the results of behavioral experiments and the functions of CNS.
PUBLICATIONS:
Tanimoto, S., Nakagawa, T., Yamauchi, Y., Minami, M. and Satoh, M.
Differential contributions of the basolateral and central nuclei of the amygdala in the negative affective component of chemical somatic and visceral pains in rats.
Eur. J. Neurosci., 18, 2343-2350 (2003)
Nakagawa, T., Katsuya, A., Tanimoto, S., Yamamoto, J., Yamauchi, Y., Minami, M. and Satoh, M.
Diffential patterns of c-fos mRNA expression in the amygdaloid nuclei induced by chemical somatic and visceral noxious stimuli in rats.
Neurosci. Lett., 344. 197-200 (2003)