Our research is focused on the stem cell biology, especially on the generation, proliferation, maintenance and differentiation of neural stem cells.

We are interested in how neural stem cells are selected and induced from precursor cells with broader potency (or pluripotent cells) in very early mouse embryos. We recently discovered that epigenetic regulation plays important roles in the generation of neural stem cells.

It is well known that neural stem cells exist in adult mammalian brains, including humans, and provide new neurons in the olfactory bulb and the dentate gyrus of hippocampus throughout the lifetime of the animal. We are studying the behaivior of neural stem cells in pathological conditions using animal models for chronic demyelination or depression. Our research might provide in the future insight into the pathogenesis of those diseases and the development of new treatment.

What's new...

May 2025 Dr. Sayuki Takara, a new Assistant Professor, joined our Department.
Apr 2024
Asmaa's review article was accepted by the Trends in Glycoscience and Glycotechnology.
Sep 2023
Zakiyyah published her PhD work in the Journal of Physiological Science. Congratulations!
Aug 2023
We presented posters at the ISN-ESN meeting @Porto.
Jun 2022
Asmaa's PhD work has been accepted by the Neurochemical Research. Congratulations! She continues to work as a postdoc.
Mar 2022 Another Malaysian graduate student, Azrah, joined our laboratory.
Mar 2021
Koyama-sensei retired from the University. Check it!
Jul 2020
Our latest research by undergrad students has been accepted by the Cerebral Cortex. Many Congratulations!!
Jan 2020
Ken's manuscript has been accepted by the Frontiers in Neuroscience. Congratulations!
Dec 2019 Dr. Fuchigami moved to Dr. Yu's Laboratory @Augusta University.
Oct 2019 Zakiyyah, another Malaysian graduate student, joined our laboratory.
Aug 2019
Many Lab Rats in our Department attended the ISN-ASN2019 Meeting @Montréal, Canada. We enjoyed it!
Jul 2019 Dr. Hayashi presented a poster in Neuro2019 @Niigata, Japan, regarding the function of Gcm1.
Mar 2019 Many staffs and students in our Department attended the 96th Physiological Society of Japan/9th FAOPS meeting @Kobe, Japan.
Sep 2018 Asmaa joined our laboratory from the National Malaysia University, Malaysia.
Aug 2018
Dr. Hayashi was invited to give a talk at Young Investigator Colloquium in APSN Meeting @Macau. We enjoyed Macau night!

Selected Publications

Abdullah A, Hayashi Y, Morimura N, Kumar A, Ikenaka K, Togayachi A, Narimatsu H, Hitoshi S (2022) Fut9 deficiency causes abnormal neural development in the specific layer of the brain and retina. Neurochem Res 47, 2793–2804
*Tanaka A, *Ishida S, *Fuchigami T, Hayashi Y, Kuroda A, Ikenaka K, Hitoshi S (2020) Life-long neural stem cells are fate-specified at an early developmental stage. (*, equal contribution)
Cerebral Cortex 30, 6415–6425
Morimura N, Yasuda H, Yamaguchi K, Katayama KI, Hatayama M et al. (2017) Autism-like behaviours and enhanced memory formation and synaptic plasticity in Lrfn2/SALM1-deficient mice.
Nature Communications 8, 15800
*Naruse M, *Ishino Y, Kumar A, Ono K, Takebayashi H, Yamaguchi M, Ishizaki Y, Ikenaka K, Hitoshi S (2015) The dorsoventral boundary of the germinal zone is a specialized niche for the generation of cortical oligodendrocytes during a restricted temporal window. Cerebral Cortex 26, 2800-2810 (*, equal contribution)
*Zheng L-S, *Hitoshi S, *Kaneko N, Takao K, Miyakawa T, Tanaka Y, Xia H, Kalinke U, Kudo K, Kanba S, Ikenaka K, Sawamoto K (2014) Mechanisms for interferon-α-induced depression and neural stem cell dysfunction. Stem Cell Reports 3, 74-83 (*, equal contribution)
*Ishino Y, *Hayashi Y, Naruse M, Tomita K, Sanbo M, Fuchigami T, Fujiki R, Hirose K, Toyooka Y, Fujimori T, Ikenaka K, Hitoshi S (2014) Bre1a, a histone H2B ubiquitin ligase, regulates the cell cycle and differentiation of neural precursor cells. J Neurosci 34, 3067-3078 (*, equal contribution)
Kumar A, Torii T, Ishino Y, Muraoka D, Yoshimura T, Togayachi A, Narimatsu H, Ikenaka K, Hitoshi S (2013) The Lewis X-related α1,3-fucosyltransferase, Fut10, is required for the maintenance of stem cell populations. J Biol Chem 288, 28859-28868
Hitoshi S, Ishino Y, Kumar A, Jasmine S, Tanaka KF, Kondo T, Kato S, Hosoya T, Hotta Y, Ikenaka K (2011) Mammalian Gcm genes induce Hes5 expression by active DNA demethylation and induce neural stem cells. Nat Neurosci 14, 957-964
Higashi M, Maruta N, Bernstein A, Ikenaka K, Hitoshi S (2008) Mood stabilizing drugs expand the neural stem cell pool in the adult brain through activation of Notch signaling. Stem Cells 26, 1758-1767
Hitoshi S, Alexon T, Tropepe V, Donoviel D, Elia AJ, Nye JS, Conlon RA, Mak TW, Bernstein A, van der Kooy D (2002) Notch pathway molecules are essential for the maintenance, but not for the generation, of mammalian neural stem cells. Genes & Dev 16, 846-858