 |
|
|
Yoichi Kato M.D., Ph.D.
|
|
Assistant Professor
|
|
yoichi.kato@med.fsu.edu
|
|
850-645-1481
|
| Appointment:
|
Department of Biomedicel Sciences |
|
|
|
|
Research Lab Site |
|
|
|
Job Description
|
|
Dr. Kato is a tenure-track scientist who is conducting research on the molecular mechanism of vertebrate glial development. He teaches Systemic Pathology in small group settings.
|
|
Biosketch
|
|
Dr. Kato is a native of Japan where he obtained his medical degree in 1992 form Nagoya City University Medical school. He went on to obtain a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, and moved to the U.S. in 1997 to pursue a research fellowship at Harvard Medical School. |
|
Education |
|
M.D. - Nagoya City University Medical School, Japan, 1986-1992
Resident - Department of Internal Medicine, Nagoya City University Hospital, 1992-1993
Ph.D. - Department of Biochemistry, Nagoya City University Medical School, Japan, 1993-1997
Research Fellow - Department of Neurology, Children's Hospital/Harvard Medical School, 1997-2003 |
|
|
|
|
|
Honors/Awards
|
1997-1997 Fellowship of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
2000-2001 Fellowship of Uehara Memorial Foundation
2001-2003 Fellowship of The Medical Foundation
|
|
|
|
|
|
Research Focus
|
1) “How is ectoderm fated into neural ectoderm?” The molecular mechanisms of early vertebrate neural induction, which is the first event leading to the formation of the nervous system, remains largely undeciphered, and the results of amphibian studies have proposed that neural induction depends on inhibition of BMP signalling with antagonists such as chordin, noggin and follistatin. However, recent studies in mouse, chick, and zebrafish and our data (amphibian) have suggested that BMP antagonists appear to play an ancillary role to some uncharacterised neural inducers. To isolate such uncharacterized inducers in the amphibian system, we are making efforts to identify the molecules that regulate the zic and sox gene expression at the early stage of development, because zic and sox genes are characterized as the earliest general neural markers in the developing vertebrate embryo. We are performing the promoter analysis of the zic-r1 gene to identify transactivating factors involved in zic-r1 gene transcription. It is likely that the regulator of zic-r1 gene is one of the uncharacterized inducers, which determine the neural fate of ectoderm cell.
2) “How does Notch signal regulate gliogenesis?” Glia is the most abundant cell type in the brain. Despite the fact that the role of glia is very crucial for the neural development and function, CNS immune surveillance, and stem cell biology, the development and function of glia still remain understood incompletely. We have focused on the function of Notch signal in gliogenesis, because previous studies showed that Notch activation inhibited neurogenesis and stimulated gliogenesis. However the mechanism of Notch signal in gliogenesis has not been characterized clearly. To understand the role of Notch signal in gliogenesis, we are trying to isolate the molecules that are regulated by Notch signal and related with gliogenesis, utilizing the microarray system in amphibian.
|
Publications
|
Liu C, Kato Y, Zhang Z, Do VM, Yankner BA, He X. “beta-Trcp couples beta-catenin phosphorylation-degradation and regulates Xenopus axis formation.” Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 1999, 96, 6273-8.
Kato Y, Shi Y, He X. “Neuralization of the Xenopus embryo by inhibition of p300/ CREB-binding protein function.” J Neurosci,1999,19, 9364-73.
Tamai K, Semenov M, Kato Y, Spokony R, Liu C, Katsuyama Y, Hess F, Saint-Jeannet JP, He X. “LDL-receptor-related proteins in Wnt signal transduction.” Nature, 2000, 407, 530-5.
Habas R, Kato Y, He X “Wnt/Frizzled activation of Rho regulates vertebrate gastrulation and requires a novel Formin homology protein Daam1.” Cell, 2001, 107, 843-54.
Kato Y, Habas R, Katsuyama Y, Naar A, He X. “A component of the ARC/Mediator complex required for TGF-beta/Nodal signaling.” Nature, 2002, 418, 641-46.
Nakaya MA, Habas R, Biris K, Dunty WC Jr, Kato Y, He X, Yamaguchi TP. Identification and comparative expression analyses of Daam genes in mouse and Xenopus. Gene Expr Patterns. 2004; 1: 97-105.
Zhang W, Chen X, Kato Y, Evans PM, Yuan S, Yang J, Rychahou PJ, Yang VW,He X, Evers BM, Liu C. Novel Cross Talk of Kruppel-Like Factor 4 and ?-Catenin Regulates Normal Intestinal Homeostasis and Tumor Repression. Mol Cell Biol. 2006; 26: 2055-64.
Kiyota T, Kato A, Kato Y. Ets-1 regulates radial glia formation during vertebrate embryogenesis. Organogenesis 2007, 3: 93-101.
Kiyota T, Kato A, Altmann CR, Kato Y. The POU homeobox protein Oct-1 regulates radial glia differentiation downstream of Notch signaling. Developmental Biology 2008, 315: 579-592.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
