Nakamura Lab

Nakamura Research Lab

Our lab’s primary interest is the pathogenesis of obesity and metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We are specifically interested in molecular mechanisms by which alternations in cellular and circulating RNA networks disrupt systemic glucose and lipid metabolism in the development and progression of these diseases. We have established a variety of mouse and cell culture models to study glucose and lipid metabolism, and miRNA-regulatory machinery in the pathogenesis of obesity. Our goal is to find novel therapeutic approaches targeting RNA networks for treating such diseases.

Our Research interests include:

Analyzing roles of hepatic miRNA regulatory machinery in the regulation of metabolism in obesity
Determining endogenous pathogenic dsRNA pathways in chronic inflammation
Identifying mitochondrial RNA regulating glucose and lipid metabolism
Investigating circulating RNA that impacts systemic glucose metabolism

Publications

Bhattacharjee, J; Borra, VJ; Salem, ES B; Zhang, C; Murakami, K; Gill, RK; Kim, A; Kim, JK; Salazar-Gonzalez, R; Warren, M; et al. Hepatic Ago2 Regulates PPARα for Oxidative Metabolism Linked to Glycemic Control in Obesity and Post Bariatric Surgery. Endocrinology. 2021; 162.

Hayashi, H; Osaka, S; Sakabe, K; Fukami, A; Kishimoto, E; Aihara, E; Sabu, Y; Mizutani, A; Kusuhara, H; Naritaka, N; et al. Modeling Human Bile Acid Transport and Synthesis in Stem Cell-Derived Hepatocytes with a Patient-Specific Mutation. Stem Cell Reports. 2021; 16:309-323.

Nayak, G; Zhang, KX; Vemaraju, S; Odaka, Y; Buhr, ED; Holt-Jones, A; Kernodle, S; Smith, AN; Upton, BA; D'Souza, S; et al. Adaptive Thermogenesis in Mice Is Enhanced by Opsin 3-Dependent Adipocyte Light Sensing. Cell Reports. 2020; 30:672-686.e8.

Shi, L; Kuhnell, D; Borra, VJ; Langevin, SM; Nakamura, T; Esfandiari, L. Rapid and label-free isolation of small extracellular vesicles from biofluids utilizing a novel insulator based dielectrophoretic device. Lab on a Chip - Miniaturisation for Chemistry and Biology. 2019; 19:3726-3734.

Salem, ES B; Vonberg, AD; Borra, VJ; Gill, RK; Nakamura, T. RNAs and RNA-Binding Proteins in Immuno-Metabolic Homeostasis and Diseases. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine. 2019; 6.

Yamazaki, T; Li, W; Yang, L; Li, P; Cao, H; Motegi, S; Udey, MC; Bernhard, E; Nakamura, T; Mukouyama, Y. Whole-Mount Adult Ear Skin Imaging Reveals Defective Neuro-Vascular Branching Morphogenesis in Obese and Type 2 Diabetic Mouse Models. Scientific Reports. 2018; 8.

Zhang, C; Seo, J; Murakami, K; Salem, ES B; Bernhard, E; Borra, VJ; Choi, K; Yuan, CL; Chan, CC; Chen, X; et al. Hepatic Ago2-mediated RNA silencing controls energy metabolism linked to AMPK activation and obesity-associated pathophysiology. Nature Communications. 2018; 9.

Kim, A; Shah, AS; Nakamura, T. Extracellular Vesicles: A Potential Novel Regulator of Obesity and Its Associated Complications. Children. 2018; 5.

Salem, ES B; Murakami, K; Takahashi, T; Bernhard, E; Borra, V; Bethi, M; Nakamura, T. Isolation of Primary Mouse Hepatocytes for Nascent Protein Synthesis Analysis by Non-radioactive L-azidohomoalanine Labeling Method. Journal of Visualized Experiments. 2018.

Peng, J; Li, Y; Wang, X; Deng, S; Holland, J; Yates, E; Chen, J; Gu, H; Essandoh, K; Mu, X; et al. An Hsp20-FBXO4 Axis Regulates Adipocyte Function through Modulating PPARγ Ubiquitination. Cell Reports. 2018; 23:3607-3620.

Zhang, C; Seo, J; Nakamura, T. Cellular Approaches in Investigating Argonaute2-Dependent RNA Silencing. . 2018.

Nakamura Lab.

Contact Us

Takahisa Nakamura, Ph.D.
Email: takahisa.nakamura@cchmc.org
Phone: 513-803-9230

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