Published papers

Despite improved survival rates of infants, higher brain dysfunction in surviving infants remains a considerable problem. Most infants with higher brain dysfunctions are born preterm. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a useful tool to detect structural brain damage and provides important information to evaluate the neurologic sequelae of such preterm infants. AlthoughMRI can reveal detailed brain structure, it is not the best option to assess brain function in preterm infants because of various restrictions. To overcome this difficulty, a new imaging technique, called functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), can be used to evaluate brain function in preterm infants. fNIRS is a suitable method to examine infants because, unlikeMRI, it is not necessary to restrict movement and it is silent. In this review, we focus on language function, an important higher human brain function and one of the most prominent difficulties among grown preterm infants. We describe the development of speech perception in infants from preterm to age 1 year. First, we discuss the development of the brain hemodynamic response to speech stimulation in full-term infants, imaged using fNIRS. Second, we discuss the functional specialization in full-term infants for speech processing in the cerebral cortex as revealed by fNIRS. Third, we discuss potential interpretations of developmental changes in brain activation during speech perception in preterm infants. We present data that reveal the development of speech processing in full-term and preterm infants. We conclude that fNIRS can aid in the anticipation of language delay in preterm infants and may facilitate early intervention and treatment of such dysfunctions.

This study focuses on the early cerebral base of speech perception by examining functional lateralization in neonates for processing segmental and suprasegmental features of speech. For this purpose, auditory evoked responses of full-term neonates to phonemic and prosodic contrasts were measured in their temporal area and part of the frontal and parietal areas using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Stimuli used here were phonemic contrast /itta/ and /itte/ and prosodic contrast of declarative and interrogative forms /itta/ and /itta?/. The results showed clear hemodynamic responses to both phonemic and prosodic changes in the temporal areas and part of the parietal and frontal regions. In particular, significantly higher hemoglobin (Hb) changes were observed for the prosodic change in the right temporal area than for that in the left one, whereas Hb responses to the vowel change were similarly elicited in bilateral temporal areas. However, Hb responses to the vowel contrast were asymmetrical in the parietal area (around supra marginal gyrus), with stronger activation in the left. These results suggest a specialized function of the right hemisphere in prosody processing, which is already present in neonates. The parietal activities during phonemic processing were discussed in relation to verbal-auditory short-term memory. On the basis of this study and previous studies on older infants, the developmental process of functional lateralization from birth to 2 years of age for vowel and prosody was summarized. © 2011 Arimitsu, Uchida-Ota, Yagihashi, Kojima, Watanabe, Hokuto, Ikeda, Takahashi and Minagawa-Kawai.

Homeostasis of neuronal activity is crucial to neuronal physiology. In dendrites, hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channel (HCN) 1 is considered to play critical roles in this process. While electrophysiological studies have demonstrated the dynamic modulation of Ih current mediated by HCN1 proteins, little is known about the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms. In this study, we utilized cortical cultured neurons and biochemical methods to identify molecular and cellular mechanisms that mediate the physiological regulation of HCN1 channel functions in cortical neurons. Pharmacological manipulations of neuronal activity resulted in changes in the expression level of HCN1. In addition, the surface expression of HCN1 was dynamically regulated by neuronal activity. Both of these changes led to functional modulations of HCN1 channels. Our study suggests that coordinated changes in protein expression and surface expression of HCN1 serve as the key regulatory mechanisms controlling the function of endogenous HCN1 protein in cortical neurons. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) is expressed in the perivascular and subpial astrocytes end-feet in mammalian brain, and plays a critical component of an integrated water and potassium homeostasis. Here we examine whether AQP4 is phosphorylated in primary cultured mouse astrocytes. Astrocytes were metabolically labeled with [32P]phosphoric acid, then AQP4 was immunoprecipitated with anti-AQP4 antibody. We observed that AQP4 was constitutively phosphorylated, which is reduced by treatment with protein kinase CK2 inhibitors. To elucidate the phosphorylation of AQP4 by CK2, myc-tagged wild-type or mutant AQP4 was transiently transfected in primary cultured astrocytes. Substitution of Ala residues for four putative CK2 phosphorylation sites in the C terminus abolished the phosphorylation of AQP4. Immunofluorescent microscopy revealed that the quadruple mutant was localized in the Golgi apparatus. These observations indicate that the C-terminal domain of AQP4 is constitutively phosphorylated at least in part by protein kinase CK2 and it is required for Golgi transition. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neuromyelitis optica is a demyelinating disease characterized by a disease-specific autoantibody designated as NMO-IgG that specifically recognizes aquaporin-4, and the binding of NMO-IgG to AQP4 causes the progress of the disease. Prevention of the binding of NMO-IgG, therefore, may alleviate the disease. Here we have developed monoclonal antibodies against AQP4 with a baculovirus display system in order to obtain high affinity monoclonal antibodies against the extracellular domains of AQP4. Our monoclonal antibodies can block the binding of NMO-IgG in spite of their heterogeneity. Taken together, we propose that our monoclonal antibodies can be applied in clinical therapy for NMO patients. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.