Ken Nakamura, MD, PhD

Professor
M_Neurology
415-734-2550

Mitochondrial and Metabolic Dysfunction in Neurodegenerative Diseases

Areas of Investigation
In our laboratory, we have two broad, intertwined objectives. The first is to gain insight into the normal physiology of mitochondria and glucose metabolism in the brain, with a particular focus on bioenergetics, mitochondrial dynamics, and quality control in neurons. The second is to understand how disrupting mitochondrial function and metabolism contributes to neurodegenerative diseases, especially Parkinson’s disease (PD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and mitochondrial disorders, and to use these insights to develop new approaches to target energy metabolism therapeutically.

Significance
Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that frequently undergo fusion and fission. They are important in multiple cellular functions—including energy production—and are ultimately degraded. However, many aspects of mitochondrial behavior and function are not understood, especially in the brain and at nerve terminals. In addition, changes in mitochondria and metabolism contribute to, and sometimes even initiate, neurodegeneration, but the underlying mechanisms—and the mitochondrial changes themselves—are poorly characterized.  Thus, by understanding the normal behaviors and functions of mitochondria in susceptible neuron types, we can begin to unravel how mitochondrial biology is disrupted in disease and, ultimately, design new mitochondria-based therapies.

Approaches
To study mitochondrial biology and metabolism in the brain, we use an array of imaging, cell engineering, metabolomic and biochemical approaches, in conjunction with model organisms. We visualize mitochondria in real time with targeted fluorescent probes, and we image mitochondrial bioenergetics, movement, and turnover in mammalian cells, including primary rodent and human neurons and their synapses. Our in vivo investigations utilize transgenic mouse models and genetically modified viral vectors. With this platform, we can investigate how mutations in patients with PD or AD disrupt metabolism and produce neurodegeneration. To establish mechanisms, we also use in vitro model systems with recombinant proteins and purified mitochondria or artificial membranes.

Current Projects

  1. Why are substantia nigra dopamine neurons intrinsically vulnerable to mitochondrial stressors?
  2. How do PD proteins disrupt mitochondrial function and produce neurodegeneration?
  3. How do changes in glucose and energy metabolism contribute to the pathogenesis of AD?
  4. How do chronic changes in neural activity influence neurodegeneration?
  5. How and why are mitochondria turned over?
  6. How can we restore or even boost energy levels in cells and will this protect against neurodegeneration?

Lab Members

Oluwole Alese, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
[email protected]

Neal Bennett, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
[email protected]

Kohei Kano, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
[email protected]

Jonathan Meng, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
[email protected]

Yoshi Sei, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
[email protected]

Lillie Bui
Research Associate
[email protected]

Tamara Vasilkovska
Visiting Postdoctoral Scholar
[email protected]

Saeed Fathi
Graduate Student
[email protected]

Szu-Chi Liao
Graduate Student
[email protected]

Katerina Rademacher
Graduate Student
[email protected]

Yanilka Soto-Muñiz
Graduate Student
[email protected] 

Joyce Yang
Graduate Student
[email protected]

 

 

Lab Website

 

Academic community service and committee membership:
BMS Graduate Program, Gladstone’s All-investigator Committee, oversees Gladstone’s Seahorse Analyzer, hosted and mentored SRTP and Berkeley Honors Thesis students, Served on NS Formal Seminar Committee, Gladstone's Cores Advisory Committee, Faculty Steering Committee for animal related issues and Gladstone's Executive Committee.

Publications

The Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2020 (J-SSCG 2020).

Egi M, Ogura H, Yatabe T, Atagi K, Inoue S, Iba T, Kakihana Y, Kawasaki T, Kushimoto S, Kuroda Y, Kotani J, Shime N, Taniguchi T, Tsuruta R, Doi K, Doi M, Nakada TA, Nakane M, Fujishima S, Hosokawa N, Masuda Y, Matsushima A, Matsuda N, Yamakawa K, Hara Y, Sakuraya M, Ohshimo S, Aoki Y, Inada M, Umemura Y, Kawai Y, Kondo Y, Saito H, Taito S, Takeda C, Terayama T, Tohira H, Hashimoto H, Hayashida K, Hifumi T, Hirose T, Fukuda T, Fujii T, Miura S, Yasuda H, Abe T, Andoh K, Iida Y, Ishihara T, Ide K, Ito K, Ito Y, Inata Y, Utsunomiya A, Unoki T, Endo K, Ouchi A, Ozaki M, Ono S, Katsura M, Kawaguchi A, Kawamura Y, Kudo D, Kubo K, Kurahashi K, Sakuramoto H, Shimoyama A, Suzuki T, Sekine S, Sekino M, Takahashi N, Takahashi S, Takahashi H, Tagami T, Tajima G, Tatsumi H, Tani M, Tsuchiya A, Tsutsumi Y, Naito T, Nagae M, Nagasawa I, Nakamura K, Nishimura T, Nunomiya S, Norisue Y, Hashimoto S, Hasegawa D, Hatakeyama J, Hara N, Higashibeppu N, Furushima N, Furusono H, Matsuishi Y, Matsuyama T, Minematsu Y, Miyashita R, Miyatake Y, Moriyasu M, Yamada T, Yamada H, Yamamoto R, Yoshida T, Yoshida Y, Yoshimura J, Yotsumoto R, Yonekura H, Wada T, Watanabe E, Aoki M, Asai H, Abe T, Igarashi Y, Iguchi N, Ishikawa M, Ishimaru G, Isokawa S, Itakura R, Imahase H, Imura H, Irinoda T, Uehara K, Ushio N, Umegaki T, Egawa Y, Enomoto Y, Ota K, Ohchi Y, Ohno T, Ohbe H, Oka K, Okada N, Okada Y, Okano H, Okamoto J, Okuda H, Ogura T, Onodera Y, Oyama Y, Kainuma M, Kako E, Kashiura M, Kato H, Kanaya A, Kaneko T, Kanehata K, Kano KI, Kawano H, Kikutani K, Kikuchi H, Kido T, Kimura S, Koami H, Kobashi D, Saiki I, Sakai M, Sakamoto A, Sato T, Shiga Y, Shimoto M, Shimoyama S, Shoko T, Sugawara Y, Sugita A, Suzuki S, Suzuki Y, Suhara T, Sonota K, Takauji S, Takashima K, Takahashi S, Takahashi Y, Takeshita J, Tanaka Y, Tampo A, Tsunoyama T, Tetsuhara K, Tokunaga K, Tomioka Y, Tomita K, Tominaga N, Toyosaki M, Toyoda Y, Naito H, Nagata I, Nagato T, Nakamura Y, Nakamori Y, Nahara I, Naraba H, Narita C, Nishioka N, Nishimura T, Nishiyama K, Nomura T, Haga T, Hagiwara Y, Hashimoto K, Hatachi T, Hamasaki T, Hayashi T, Hayashi M, Hayamizu A, Haraguchi G, Hirano Y, Fujii R, Fujita M, Fujimura N, Funakoshi H, Horiguchi M, Maki J, Masunaga N, Matsumura Y, Mayumi T, Minami K, Miyazaki Y, Miyamoto K, Murata T, Yanai M, Yano T, Yamada K, Yamada N, Yamamoto T, Yoshihiro S, Tanaka H, Nishida O

The Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2020 (J-SSCG 2020).

Egi M, Ogura H, Yatabe T, Atagi K, Inoue S, Iba T, Kakihana Y, Kawasaki T, Kushimoto S, Kuroda Y, Kotani J, Shime N, Taniguchi T, Tsuruta R, Doi K, Doi M, Nakada TA, Nakane M, Fujishima S, Hosokawa N, Masuda Y, Matsushima A, Matsuda N, Yamakawa K, Hara Y, Sakuraya M, Ohshimo S, Aoki Y, Inada M, Umemura Y, Kawai Y, Kondo Y, Saito H, Taito S, Takeda C, Terayama T, Tohira H, Hashimoto H, Hayashida K, Hifumi T, Hirose T, Fukuda T, Fujii T, Miura S, Yasuda H, Abe T, Andoh K, Iida Y, Ishihara T, Ide K, Ito K, Ito Y, Inata Y, Utsunomiya A, Unoki T, Endo K, Ouchi A, Ozaki M, Ono S, Katsura M, Kawaguchi A, Kawamura Y, Kudo D, Kubo K, Kurahashi K, Sakuramoto H, Shimoyama A, Suzuki T, Sekine S, Sekino M, Takahashi N, Takahashi S, Takahashi H, Tagami T, Tajima G, Tatsumi H, Tani M, Tsuchiya A, Tsutsumi Y, Naito T, Nagae M, Nagasawa I, Nakamura K, Nishimura T, Nunomiya S, Norisue Y, Hashimoto S, Hasegawa D, Hatakeyama J, Hara N, Higashibeppu N, Furushima N, Furusono H, Matsuishi Y, Matsuyama T, Minematsu Y, Miyashita R, Miyatake Y, Moriyasu M, Yamada T, Yamada H, Yamamoto R, Yoshida T, Yoshida Y, Yoshimura J, Yotsumoto R, Yonekura H, Wada T, Watanabe E, Aoki M, Asai H, Abe T, Igarashi Y, Iguchi N, Ishikawa M, Ishimaru G, Isokawa S, Itakura R, Imahase H, Imura H, Irinoda T, Uehara K, Ushio N, Umegaki T, Egawa Y, Enomoto Y, Ota K, Ohchi Y, Ohno T, Ohbe H, Oka K, Okada N, Okada Y, Okano H, Okamoto J, Okuda H, Ogura T, Onodera Y, Oyama Y, Kainuma M, Kako E, Kashiura M, Kato H, Kanaya A, Kaneko T, Kanehata K, Kano KI, Kawano H, Kikutani K, Kikuchi H, Kido T, Kimura S, Koami H, Kobashi D, Saiki I, Sakai M, Sakamoto A, Sato T, Shiga Y, Shimoto M, Shimoyama S, Shoko T, Sugawara Y, Sugita A, Suzuki S, Suzuki Y, Suhara T, Sonota K, Takauji S, Takashima K, Takahashi S, Takahashi Y, Takeshita J, Tanaka Y, Tampo A, Tsunoyama T, Tetsuhara K, Tokunaga K, Tomioka Y, Tomita K, Tominaga N, Toyosaki M, Toyoda Y, Naito H, Nagata I, Nagato T, Nakamura Y, Nakamori Y, Nahara I, Naraba H, Narita C, Nishioka N, Nishimura T, Nishiyama K, Nomura T, Haga T, Hagiwara Y, Hashimoto K, Hatachi T, Hamasaki T, Hayashi T, Hayashi M, Hayamizu A, Haraguchi G, Hirano Y, Fujii R, Fujita M, Fujimura N, Funakoshi H, Horiguchi M, Maki J, Masunaga N, Matsumura Y, Mayumi T, Minami K, Miyazaki Y, Miyamoto K, Murata T, Yanai M, Yano T, Yamada K, Yamada N, Yamamoto T, Yoshihiro S, Tanaka H, Nishida O

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition).

Klionsky DJ, Abdel-Aziz AK, Abdelfatah S, Abdellatif M, Abdoli A, Abel S, Abeliovich H, Abildgaard MH, Abudu YP, Acevedo-Arozena A, Adamopoulos IE, Adeli K, Adolph TE, Adornetto A, Aflaki E, Agam G, Agarwal A, Aggarwal BB, Agnello M, Agostinis P, Agrewala JN, Agrotis A, Aguilar PV, Ahmad ST, Ahmed ZM, Ahumada-Castro U, Aits S, Aizawa S, Akkoc Y, Akoumianaki T, Akpinar HA, Al-Abd AM, Al-Akra L, Al-Gharaibeh A, Alaoui-Jamali MA, Alberti S, Alcocer-Gómez E, Alessandri C, Ali M, Alim Al-Bari MA, Aliwaini S, Alizadeh J, Almacellas E, Almasan A, Alonso A, Alonso GD, Altan-Bonnet N, Altieri DC, Álvarez ÉMC, Alves S, Alves da Costa C, Alzaharna MM, Amadio M, Amantini C, Amaral C, Ambrosio S, Amer AO, Ammanathan V, An Z, Andersen SU, Andrabi SA, Andrade-Silva M, Andres AM, Angelini S, Ann D, Anozie UC, Ansari MY, Antas P, Antebi A, Antón Z, Anwar T, Apetoh L, Apostolova N, Araki T, Araki Y, Arasaki K, Araújo WL, Araya J, Arden C, Arévalo MA, Arguelles S, Arias E, Arikkath J, Arimoto H, Ariosa AR, Armstrong-James D, Arnauné-Pelloquin L, Aroca A, Arroyo DS, Arsov I, Artero R, Asaro DML, Aschner M, Ashrafizadeh M, Ashur-Fabian O, Atanasov AG, Au AK, Auberger P, Auner HW, Aurelian L, Autelli R, Avagliano L, Ávalos Y, Aveic S, Aveleira CA, Avin-Wittenberg T, Aydin Y, Ayton S, Ayyadevara S, Azzopardi M, Baba M, Backer JM, Backues SK, Bae DH, Bae ON, Bae SH, Baehrecke EH, Baek A, Baek SH, Baek SH, Bagetta G, Bagniewska-Zadworna A, Bai H, Bai J, Bai X, Bai Y, Bairagi N, Baksi S, Balbi T, Baldari CT, Balduini W, Ballabio A, Ballester M, Balazadeh S, Balzan R, Bandopadhyay R, Banerjee S, Banerjee S, Bánréti Á, Bao Y, Baptista MS, Baracca A, Barbati C, Bargiela A, Barilà D, Barlow PG, Barmada SJ, Barreiro E, Barreto GE, Bartek J, Bartel B, Bartolome A, Barve GR, Basagoudanavar SH, Bassham DC, Bast RC, Basu A, Batoko H, Batten I, Baulieu EE, Baumgarner BL, Bayry J, Beale R, Beau I, Beaumatin F, Bechara LRG, Beck GR, Beers MF, Begun J, Behrends C, Behrens GMN, Bei R, Bejarano E, Bel S, Behl C, Belaid A, Belgareh-Touzé N, Bellarosa C, Belleudi F, Belló Pérez M, Bello-Morales R, Beltran JSO, Beltran S, Benbrook DM, Bendorius M, Benitez BA, Benito-Cuesta I, Bensalem J, Berchtold MW, Berezowska S, Bergamaschi D, Bergami M, Bergmann A, Berliocchi L, Berlioz-Torrent C, Bernard A, Berthoux L, Besirli CG, Besteiro S, Betin VM, Beyaert R, Bezbradica JS, Bhaskar K, Bhatia-Kissova I, Bhattacharya R, Bhattacharya S, Bhattacharyya S, Bhuiyan MS, Bhutia SK, Bi L, Bi X, Biden TJ, Bijian K, Billes VA, Binart N, Bincoletto C, Birgisdottir AB, Bjorkoy G, Blanco G, Blas-Garcia A, Blasiak J, Blomgran R, Blomgren K, Blum JS, Boada-Romero E, Boban M, Boesze-Battaglia K, Boeuf P, Boland B, Bomont P, Bonaldo P, Bonam SR, Bonfili L, Bonifacino JS, Boone BA, Bootman MD, Bordi M, Borner C, Bornhauser BC, Borthakur G, Bosch J, Bose S, Botana LM, Botas J, Boulanger CM, Boulton ME, Bourdenx M, Bourgeois B, Bourke NM, Bousquet G, Boya P, Bozhkov PV, Bozi LHM, Bozkurt TO, Brackney DE, Brandts CH, Braun RJ, Braus GH, Bravo-Sagua R, Bravo-San Pedro JM, Brest P, Bringer MA, Briones-Herrera A, Broaddus VC, Brodersen P, Brodsky JL, Brody SL, Bronson PG, Bronstein JM, Brown CN, Brown RE, Brum PC, Brumell JH, Brunetti-Pierri N, Bruno D, Bryson-Richardson RJ, Bucci C, Buchrieser C, Bueno M, Buitrago-Molina LE, Buraschi S, Buch S, Buchan JR, Buckingham EM, Budak H, Budini M, Bultynck G, Burada F, Burgoyne JR, Burón MI, Bustos V, Büttner S, Butturini E, Byrd A, Cabas I, Cabrera-Benitez S, Cadwell K, Cai J, Cai L, Cai Q, Cairó M, Calbet JA, Caldwell GA, Caldwell KA, Call JA, Calvani R, Calvo AC, Calvo-Rubio Barrera M, Camara NO, Camonis JH, Camougrand N, Campanella M, Campbell EM, Campbell-Valois FX, Campello S, Campesi I, Campos JC, Camuzard O, Cancino J, Candido de Almeida D, Canesi L, Caniggia I, Canonico B, Cantí C, Cao B, Caraglia M, Caramés B, Carchman EH, Cardenal-Muñoz E, Cardenas C, Cardenas L, Cardoso SM, Carew JS, Carle GF, Carleton G, Carloni S, Carmona-Gutierrez D, et al