Yoshihiro Ujihara

Associate Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology *Profile is at the time of the award.

2023Inamori Research GrantsBiology & Life sciences

website researchmap

Research topics: Study on the mechanism underlying the high output of avian cardiomyocytes

Keyword

Summary: The heart is a pump for blood, and it symbolizes life. Birds, which are descended from dinosaurs, possess a high cardiac pumping capacity like mammals. While there are many similarities in the morphology of the avian and mammalian hearts at the organ level, the structure and morphology differ significantly at the level of the cardiomyocytes that make up the organ. The goal of this study is to elucidate the mechanism of the high cardiac pump function in birds. In the future, we aim to apply the findings obtained to heart failure therapies.

Comment

I hope to create innovative heart failure therapies (bio-inspired medicine) based on a better understanding of how the heart works in various animals so that those mechanisms can be applied to our own.

Outline of Research Achievments

Avian cardiomyocytes share structural similarities with those of amphibians and reptiles, as well as with mammalian cells observed under severe heart failure—types typically not associated with high cardiac output. Nevertheless, birds achieve cardiac performance comparable to that of mammals. In this study, we revealed that birds accomplish efficient and robust heartbeat generation by finely regulating intracellular calcium concentrations across both time and space. This finding highlights an evolutionarily refined and functionally sophisticated mechanism that goes beyond mere structural differences.

Yoshihiro Ujihara (2024) Exploring the Differences in Avian and Mammalian Hearts through the Unique Membrane Structures of Cardiomyocytes: Calcium Concentration Management and Cardiac Resilience MEMBRANE 49 (2), 82-86 doi: 10.5360/membrane.49.82

Find other recipients

Biology & Life sciences

Takuma Kokusho

Shohei Nosaki

University of Tsukuba

Tsuyoshi Waku

Doshisha University

Masayuki Sakamoto

Kumamoto University

Hiroshi Nomoto

Shunsuke Kon

Tokyo University of Science

Hideaki Kato

The University of Tokyo

Hiroshi Masai

Material Science

Tomonori Nakamura

Kyoto University

Kazutoshi Kasho

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Kazunori Kume

Kuniyasu Saitoh

Tomomi Wakabayashi

Osaka University

Yohei Hayashi

Tohoku University

Kazutoshi Iijima

Yokohama National University

Shizue Ohsawa

Nagoya University

Ryo Ichijo

Kyoto University

Hirohisa Ohno

Kyoto University

Takahito Iga

Keio University

Hidenori Nishio

Nagoya City University

Chihiro Maeda

Material Science

Taichi Itoh

Biology & Life sciences

Masashi Kanayama

Tokyo Medical and Dental University

Masafumi Kodama

Biology & Life sciences

Toshiro Moroishi

Akihiro Nishiguchi

National Institute for Materials Science

Koji Atarashi

Takayuki Kuraishi

Kanazawa University

Tomoyuki Furuta

Okayama University

Kozue Shiomi

Biology & Life sciences

Ryo Fujimoto

Kobe University

Toshiki Sawada

Material Science

Susumu Jitsuki

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Yuki Honda

Material Science

Seiya Takayanagi

Kyogo Kobayashi

Kyushu University

Saori Morino-Koga

The University of Tokyo

Hirofumi Toda

University of Tsukuba

Atsushi Saito

Sapporo Medical University

Shintaro Yamaguchi

Tsuyoshi Terakawa

Kyoto University

Takashi Tanaka

Tsuyoshi Hirashima

Kyoto University

Kazuya Matsuo

Kotaro Mizuta

Kyoto University

Asano Ishikawa

Research Organization of Information and Systems

Akihiko Mougi

Shimane University

Akihiro Funamizu

Information Science

Yoshihiro Sakita

Misaki Ishibashi

Kyoto University

Taichi Noda

The University of Tokyo

Yuichi Yagita

Kyushu University

Yuichiro Mishima

Kyoto Sangyo University

Hidefumi Shinohara

Nagoya University

Hitoshi Miyakawa

Utsunomiya University

Masaru Hojo

Kwansei Gakuin University

Kunihiko Morihiro

The University of Tokyo

Yuto Takenaka

Ritsumeikan University

Hiroyoshi Y. Tanaka

Okayama University

Masahiko Saito

Material Science

So Nagaoka

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Daisuke Ono

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Tadayoshi Karasawa

Jichi Medical University

Katsuma Hayashi

Kyoto University

Masaki Uchida

Tomomi Tsunematsu

Hokkaido University

Toyoaki Natsume

Research Organization of Information and Systems

Akiko Kanehara

Tetsuya Takano

Kyushu University

Tomohiro Otsuka

Dana Ulanova

Kochi University

Miyako Shiraishi

Osaka University

Miu Tamamitsu

The University of Tokyo

Satoshi Minami

Osaka University

Yuya Sanaki

University of Tsukuba

Akari Fujimoto

Kana Furukawa

Osaka University

Daisuke Takimoto

Material Science

Ayako Gotoh

Konan University

Takaaki Ozawa

Osaka University

Aiko Sada

Okayama University

Miharu Maeda

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Ritsuko Morita

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Mitsuru Tsuge

Okayama University

Misuzu Hashimoto

Gifu University

Kaori Sako

Chie Aoki-Utsubo

Kobe University

Hiroshi Nishimasu

The University of Tokyo

InaRIS Fellow

Nami Minato

Azusa Kondoh

Pharmacy Biology & Life sciences

Michihito Kono

Takumi Ogawa

Osaka Prefecture University

Minako Ito

Takashi Tsuchimatsu

Chiba University

Shohei Yamamoto

Tokyo Medical and Dental University

Masahiro Morimoto

Kenta Hirami

Masashi Mamada

Material Science

Akiko Ogawa

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Yuta Hiraike

The University of Tokyo

Noriyoshi Usui

Osaka University

Yoshiaki Abe

University of Tsukuba

Jumpei Taguchi

The University of Tokyo

Masakazu Hirota

Atsushi Fujimura

Okayama University

Chikara Abe

Gifu University

Hidenori Okamura

Tohoku University

Rie Wakabayashi

Kyushu University

Masayuki Munekane

Kanazawa University

Gosuke Hayashi

Pharmacy Biology & Life sciences

Kenichi Watanabe

Koichi Murata

Kyoto University

Hironori Takeda

Hiroshima University

Taro Fuchikawa

Osaka City University

Kenta Maruyama

Aichi Medical University

Seiji Takashima

Shinshu University

Tomomi Koshiyama

Ritsumeikan University

Yu Miyamoto

Osaka University

Takashi Iwasaki

Tottori University

Teruhiko Imamura

Yukiko Kamiya

Satoshi Iwakami

Kyoto University

Mizuki Watanabe

Hokkaido University

Shun Shibata

Tohoku University

Wakana Tanaka

The University of Tokyo

Nobuharu Suzuki

Tokyo Medical and Dental University

Yusaku Iwasaki

Kazuhiko Yamamuro

Yusuke Kobayashi

Mizuki Endo

Takayuki Suzuki

Nagoya University

Tomoko Okamoto

Kazuki Ide

Kyoko Miura

Kumamoto University

Katsuyoshi Takaoka

Masanori Nomoto

University of Toyama

Takashi Shimada

Biology & Life sciences

Yoshifumi Yamaguchi

Hokkaido University

InaRIS Fellow

Tetsuya Kadonosono

Tokyo Institute of Technology

Mitsuaki Kashiwagi

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Atsushi Anzai

Biology & Life sciences Medicine

Hisaaki Hirose

Osaka University

Shunsuke Tagami

RIKEN

Keiichiro Suzuki

Osaka University

Tomotaka Ishizaki

Nagoya University

Ayuko Hoshino

The University of Tokyo

InaRIS Fellow

Koki Katsuhara

Okayama University

Masayuki Tera

Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology

Yosuke Togashi

Biology & Life sciences Medicine

Takashi Fukaya

The University of Tokyo

Yuma Takahashi

Nara Institute of Science and Technology

Hiroshi Suzuki

Nagoya University

InaRIS Fellow

Makoto Kobayashi

Akihiro Goto

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Yu Fukasawa

Tohoku University

Takuya Motooka

Tomonori Matsumoto

Biology & Life sciences Medicine

Hidehisa Kawashima

University of Tsukuba

Shiho Makino

The University of Tokyo

Yuichiro Nakata

Chiba University

Yoshiyuki Manabe

Tokai University

Hiroshi Miyanishi

University of Miyazaki

Eiji Miyauchi

Gunma University

Yuhei Chadani

Okayama University

Satoshi Miura

Information Science

Kiyoharu Fukushima

Kyoto University

Tomoya Yamaguchi

Kumamoto University

Kenji Ikeda

Tokyo Medical and Dental University

Miho Shiratori

Juntendo University

Shintaro Munemasa

Okayama University

Jun-ichi Sakamaki

Juntendo University

Keita Takahashi

Ryusuke Hatae

Kyushu University

Hideaki Morishita

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Shu Nakao

Ritsumeikan University

Masayuki Tsukasaki

The University of Tokyo

Ryohei Thomas Nakano

Hokkaido University

Yusuke Kimata

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Yuka Iwasaki

RIKEN

Takeshi Kawabe

Biology & Life sciences Medicine

Takahiro Masuda

Yasuo Oguri

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Nobuhiko Yokoshi

Keio University

Kenji Osabe

Tokyo Institute of Technology

Ayaka Ito

Tomohisa Hosokawa

Nagoya University

Takanori Wakatake

Nara Institute of Science and Technology

Masayuki Morita

Ehime University

Takumi Suzuki

Ibaraki University

Yuji Sakai

Tokushima University

Toshiyuki Kowada

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Junichi Kikuta

University of Tsukuba

Keisuke Ikawa

Nagoya University

Masaki Takasugi

Osaka Metropolitan University

Daisuke Ino

Osaka University

June-Sik Kim

RIKEN

Satoru Morimoto

Keio University

Yukiko Kimura

National Institutes of Natural Sciences

Masato Yamamichi

Research Organization of Information and Systems

Arisa Hirano

University of Tsukuba

Kunio Kondoh

Kenichi Kimura

University of Tokyo

Takuya Matsumoto

Osaka Prefecture University