Introduction

The lab started in January 2008, at the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Graduate school of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba..

This laboratory is devoted to understanding the neuronal mechanisms of movement, namely locomotion in mammals.

All our current projects involve multidisciplinary approaches to the spinal network motor system using the genetically engineered mouse model including:

1. •Identifying spinal interneurons constituting the CPG for locomotion
   

2. •The prenatal development of spinal CPG
   

3. •Interaction between the spinal CPG and higher motor centres
   

#This lab is the part of the ongoing “Initiative to promote young researchers who

will lead the next generation” program

Members of the Lab:

Hiroshi Nishimaru: Associate professor/neurophysiologist

Kenta Inoue: Master’s program in Medical Sciences

Collaborators (past and present)

Prof. Yuchio Yanagawa (Gunma University, Japan)

Prof. Takuji Iwasato (RIKEN BSI, Japan)

Drs. Tatsuhiko Ebihara, Kimihiko Kameyama (AIST, Japan)

Dr. Tadachika Koganezawa (University of Tsukuba,Japan)

Prof. Hiroyuki Sakagami (Kitasato Univ. Japan)

Ole Kiehn (Karolinska Institutet, Sweden)

Akihiro Yamanaka (Nagoya Univ. Japan)

Recent publications

Lotta Borgius*, Hiroshi Nishimaru* (*shared first authors), Vanessa Caldeira, Yuka Kunugise, Peter Löw 1, Ramon Reig, Shigeyoshi Itohara, Takuji Iwasato, Ole Kiehn. Spinal glutamatergic neurons defined by EphA4 signaling are essential components of normal locomotor circuits. Journal of Neuroscience, in press.

Yosuke Toyoda, Ryota Shinohara, Dean Thumkeo, Hiroshi Kamijo, Hiroshi Nishimaru, Hiroyuki Hioki, Takeshi Kaneko, Toshimasa Ishizaki, Tomoyuki Furuyashiki, Shuh Narumiya. EphA4-dependent axon retraction and midline localization of Ephrin-B3 are disrupted in the spinal cord of mice lacking mDia1 and mDia3 in combination. Genes to Cells 18:873-885, 2013.

Hiroshi Nishimaru (corresponding author), Hiroyuki Sakagami, Miyo Kakizaki, Yuchio Yanagawa. Locomotor-related activity of GABAergic interneurons localized in the ventrolateral region in the isolated spinal cord of neonatal mice. Journal of Neurophysiology 106:1782-1792, 2011

Kenzi Saito, Toshikazu Kakizaki, Ryotaro Hayashi, Hiroshi Nishimaru, Tomonori Furukawa, Yoichi Nakazato, Shigeo Takamori, Satoe Ebihara, Masakazu Uematsu, Masayoshi Mishina, Jun-ichi Miyazaki, Minesuke Yokoyama, Shiro Konishi, Koichi Inoue, Atsuo Fukuda, Manabu Fukumoto, Kenji Nakamura, Kunihiko Obata, Yuchio Yanagawa.The physiological roles of vesicular GABA transporter during embryonic development: a study using knockout mice. Molecular Brain  3:40, 2010.

Hiroshi Nishimaru (corresponding author), Tadachika Koganezawa, Miyo Kakizaki, Tatsuhiko Ebihara, and Yuchio Yanagawa. Inhibitory synaptic modulation of Renshaw cell activity in the lumbar spinal cord of neonatal mice. Journal of Neurophysiology 103:3437-47, 2010.

Hiroshi Nishimaru (corresponding author), Miyo Kakizaki. The role of inhibitory neurotransmission in locomotor circuits of the developing mammalian spinal cord.　Acta Physiologica, 197:83-97, 2009

Michael Andäng, Jens Hjerling-Leffler, Annalena Moliner, T. Kalle Lundgren, Gonçalo Castelo-Branco, Evanthia Nanou, Ester Pozas, Vitezslav Bryja, Sophie Halliez, Hiroshi Nishimaru, Johannes Wilbertz, Ernest Arenas, Martin Koltzenburg, Patrick Charnay, Abdeljabbar El Manira, Carlos F. Ibañez & Patrik Ernfors.  Histone H2AX-dependent GABA(A) receptor regulation of stem cell proliferation. Nature, 451:460-464, 2008

Takuji Iwasato, Hironori Katoh, Hiroshi Nishimaru, Yukio Ishikawa, Haruhisa Inoue,Yoshikazu M. Saito, Reiko Ando, Mizuho Iwama, Ryosuke Takahashi, Manabu Negishi, Shigeyoshi Itohara. Rac-GAP α-Chimerin Regulates Motor-Circuit Formation as a Key Mediator of EphrinB3/EphA4 Forward Signaling. Cell, 130:742-753, 2007

Hiroshi Nishimaru, C. Ernesto Restrepo, Ole Kiehn. Activity of Renshaw cells during locomotor-like rhythmic activity in the isolated spinal cord of neonatal mice. Journal of Neuroscience, 26:5320-5328, 2006

Hiroshi Nishimaru, C. Ernesto Restrepo, Jesper Ryge, Yuchio Yanagawa, Ole Kiehn. Mammalian motor neurons corelease glutamate and acetylcholine at central synapses. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U S A, 102:5245-5249, 2005

Contact: Hiroshi.Nishimaru_at_md.tsukuba.ac.jp