Pharmacology
Outline
The Department of Pharmacology was established in April 1973. In June, Professor YOSHIMURA Masahiro was assigned as the first Chair of the Department. His successors have been Professor SUZUKI Shiro, Professor NISHIO Matomo, Professor ISHIBASHI Takaharu, and Professor MASUOKA Takayoshi, who has been the fifth Chair since 2021.
In research, we focus on: (1) the reception and conduction systems of nociceptive information and their regulatory mechanisms; (2) the functions of acetylcholine receptors and their contribution to neuropsychiatric disorders. Using behavioral, electrophysiological, and molecular biological techniques, we aim to elucidate novel regulatory systems in the central and peripheral nervous system and find molecular targets for drug therapy.
e-mail: pharmaco@kanazawa-med.ac.jp
Faculty
Professor and Chair
Senior Assistant Professor
Senior Assistant Professor
KOBAYASHI Shizuka
Senior Assistant Professor
Secretary
OKADA Yuka
Research Achievements
PIKFYVE inhibition induces endosome- and lysosome-derived vacuole enlargement via ammonium accumulation. Junsuke Uwada, Hitomi Nakazawa, Takeshi Kiyoi, Takashi Yazawa, Ikunobu Muramatsu, Takayoshi Masuoka. J Cell Sci., 138(1), 2025
Morphological aberration of corneal nerves in hyposecretory dry eye guinea pigs. Takeshi Kiyoi, Qiang He, Li Liu, Shijie Zheng, Hitomi Nakazawa, Junsuke Uwada, Takayoshi Masuoka. Med Mol Morphol., 58(1):34-42, 2025
Corneal acetylcholine regulates sensory nerve activity via nicotinic receptors. Takayoshi Masuoka, Takeshi Kiyoi, Shijie Zheng, Qiang He, Li Liu, Junsuke Uwada, Ikunobu Muramatsu. Ocul Surf., 32:60-70, 2024
Voluntary wheel-running activities ameliorate depressive-like behaviors in mouse dry eye models. Katsuya Nakano, Hitomi Nakazawa, Qiang He, Junsuke Uwada, Takeshi Kiyoi, Takaharu Ishibashi, Takayoshi Masuoka. Front. Behav. Neurosci., 16:925128, 2022
Sensitization of glutamate receptor-mediated pain behaviour via nerve growth factor-dependent phosphorylation of transient receptor potential V1 under inflammatory conditions. Takayoshi Masuoka, Yuka Yamashita, Junko Yoshida, Katsuya Nakano, Masashi Tawa, Matomo Nishio, Takaharu Ishibashi. Br. J. Pharmacol., 177(18):4223-4241, 2020
External Research Funding
Kiyoi T. The Nakatomi Foundation (2022, delegate) Elucidating the mechanism of ocular side effects during S-1 cancer chemotherapy with a focus on neurogenic factors ￥1,500,000
Kiyoi T. Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists (2022-2024, delegate, 22K16960) Effects of abnormal corneal nerve excitability on ocular symptoms in cancer drug therapy side effects ￥4,550,000
Nakazawa H. Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (2022-2024, delegate, 22K07358) Mechanism of KLK8- NRG1- ErbB signaling in spinal cord injury ￥4,160,000
Uwada J. Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (2022-2024, delegate, 22K06637) Intracellular cholinergic transduction system demonstrated by fluorescent acetylcholine sensor ￥4,290,000
Masuoka T. Smoking Research Foundation of Japan (2021-2023, delegate, 2021G008) The underlying mechanisms leading to ocular discomfort through corneal nerves and their interactions with acetylcholine receptors and smoking ￥6,000,000