About the department

Department of Metabolic Research

We perform the research in Metabolism especially about the regulatory mechanism of bone remodeling to the pathogenesis of bone metabolic diseases including osteoporosis, which is closely related to The Frailty in aging. Based on the cell biological findings, we will scientifically support the effective and efficient prevention for The Frailty, one of the main targets of NCGG.

In pursuit of our mission to contribute to the extension of healthy life expectancy through the development and practice of diabetes care, we perform basic research work for evidence-based management of diabetes in the older population in collaboration with clinical departments in the NCGG hospital.

Research Focus

We investigate the action of bioactive substances including hormones, growth factors, cytokines etc. and the underlying mechanism such as intracellular signal transduction with biochemical, pharmacological and molecular biological analyses, using cultured cells and clinical samples. We have aggressively elucidated how the bioactive substances like prostaglandin (PG)E2, PGE1, PGF2alfa, PGD2, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), interleukin (IL)-1, 1-25 (OH) vitamin D3, triiodothyronine and bone morphogenic protein (BMP-4) affect osteoblast functions such as IL-6 synthesis, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) synthesis, osteoprotegerin synthesis, heat shock protein (HSP)27 induction, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and migration, and published more than 200 articles in these three decades.

We are establishing a cohort of older diabetic patients and collecting and analyzing data to facilitate future translational research efforts.

Members

Professor	Haruhiko Tokuda
Associate Professor	Takuya Omura
Visiting Researcher	Osamu Kozawa
	Tomoaki Doi
	Gen Kuroyanagi
	Rie Matsushima-Nishiwaki
	Tomoyuki Hioki
	Takahiko Shimizu
Research Worker	Shuichi Shibuya
Research Assistant	Chika Usui
	Akemi Inami
	Ayumi Sugie
	Chiyori Nakahara