Kazushige Touhara

Kazushige Touhara
Born	Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Alma mater	The University of Tokyo
Known for	Olfaction,Pheromone,Taste,Neuroscience
Scientific career
Fields	Chemoreception
Institutions	The University of Tokyo
Doctoral advisor	Glenn D. Prestwich
Other academic advisors	Robert Lefkowitz

Kazushige Touhara (ja: 東原 和成) is a Japanese biologist, neuroscientist, and a professor at the University of Tokyo, Japan.

After training in the field of organic chemistry,[1] insect endocrinology,[2] and GPCR signaling,[3] he began to establish his team to conducted research on chemoreception with support from Hiroshi Kataoka.[4]

In 2024, he serves as the head of the Union of Japanese Societies for Biological Science and is involved in initiatives such as advocating for the doubling of Japan's scientific research funding.[5] Additionally, he has published several essays focused on improving education and scientific research in Japan.[6][7]

Research

Plants

• Discovery that transcriptional regulatory factors are involved in plant chemical sensing.[8][9]

Insects

• Detection of olfactory signals using Xenopus oocytes with using a co-receptor.[10]
• Demonstration that insect olfactory receptors are ion channels, not GPCRs.[11]
• Detection of taste signals using Xenopus oocytes without using any co-receptors.[12]

Mammals

• Functional characterization of an olfactory receptor expressed in olfactory neurons.[13]
• Functional characterization of an olfactory receptor expressed in tissues other than olfactory neurons.[14]
• Detection of olfactory signals in vitro.[15]
• Identification of a natural ligand of an olfactory receptor.[16]
• Identification of a musk olfactory receptor.[17]
• Discovery of tears as a pheromone source.[18][19][20][21][22]
• Discovery of blood as a chemosensory cue.[23]

Human

• Clarification of the spatiotemporal dynamics of odor representations in the brain.[24]

Awards and honors

• Frank Allison Linville's RH Wright Award in Olfactory Research (2006)
• Japan Academy Medal (2009)
• Kunio Yamazaki Distinguished Lectureship Award (2017)

Early life

He was well known as a tennis player at his university during his college years.[25] It is said that he once aspired to be an actor.[26]

Career

• 1989 B.Sc. (Department of Agricultural Chemistry, The University of Tokyo, Japan)
• 1993 Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry (Department of Chemistry, State University of New York at Stony Brook, U.S.A.)
• 1993.7-1995.9 Post doctoral fellow, Duke University Medical Center
• 1995.10-1998.3 Assistant Professor, The University of Tokyo, School of Medicine, Department of Neurochemistry
• 1998.4-1999.3 Assistant professor, Kobe University, Biosignal Research Center
• 1999.4-2009.11 Associate Professor, The University of Tokyo, Department of Integrated Biosciences
• 2009.12-present Professor, The University of Tokyo, Department of Applied Biological Chemistry

Just before he was hired as an associate professor at the University of Tokyo, Nature published an article addressing concerns about the employment of younger researchers.[27]

References

1. Kitahara, Takeshi; Touhara, Kazushige; Watanabe, Hidenori; Mori, Kenji (1989). "Stereocontrolled synthesis of both the enantiomers of phaseic acid and its methyl ester, a pivotal metabolite of abscisic acid". Tetrahedron. 45 (20): 6387–6400. doi:10.1016/S0040-4020(01)89516-8.
2. 東原, 和成 (1994). "昆虫の成長・変態を制御するしくみ" (in Japanese). doi:10.1271/kagakutoseibutsu1962.32.13.
3. "膜受容体の存在の実証から結晶構造の解明まで" (in Japanese). 2012: 羊土社（実験医学2012年12月号 www.yodosha.co.jp/yodobook/book/9784758100908/）.
4. "とことん論理的に考え、魂を注ぎこんだときにブレークスルーが生まれる" (PDF). NATURE DIGEST (in Japanese). 2005.
5. Ikarashi, Anna (2024-07-04). "Japan's scientists demand more money for basic science". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-024-00942-8. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 38961217.
6. 東原, 和成. "サイエンスにおける私にとっての日本語 「蛋白質・核酸・酵素」2006年10月号５０周年記念号" (in Japanese).
7. "巻頭言 日本味と匂学会誌 Vol.31 No.1 PP.1-2 2024 年 5 月" (PDF) (in Japanese).
8. Nagashima, Ayumi; Higaki, Takumi; Koeduka, Takao; Ishigami, Ken; Hosokawa, Satoko; Watanabe, Hidenori; Matsui, Kenji; Hasezawa, Seiichiro; Touhara, Kazushige (2019-02-15). "Transcriptional regulators involved in responses to volatile organic compounds in plants". Journal of Biological Chemistry. 294 (7): 2256–2266. doi:10.1074/jbc.RA118.005843. PMC 6378981. PMID 30593507.
9. "I smell a winner: Linking plant olfactory stimuli to genetic regulation". www.asbmb.org. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
10. Nakagawa, Takao; Sakurai, Takeshi; Nishioka, Takaaki; Touhara, Kazushige (2005-03-11). "Insect Sex-Pheromone Signals Mediated by Specific Combinations of Olfactory Receptors". Science. 307 (5715): 1638–1642. Bibcode:2005Sci...307.1638N. doi:10.1126/science.1106267. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 15692016.
11. Sato, Koji; Pellegrino, Maurizio; Nakagawa, Takao; Nakagawa, Tatsuro; Vosshall, Leslie B.; Touhara, Kazushige (2008-04-13). "Insect olfactory receptors are heteromeric ligand-gated ion channels". Nature. 452 (7190): 1002–1006. Bibcode:2008Natur.452.1002S. doi:10.1038/nature06850. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 18408712.
12. Sato, Koji; Tanaka, Kana; Touhara, Kazushige (2011-07-12). "Sugar-regulated cation channel formed by an insect gustatory receptor". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 108 (28): 11680–11685. Bibcode:2011PNAS..10811680S. doi:10.1073/pnas.1019622108. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 3136286. PMID 21709218.
13. Touhara, Kazushige; Sengoku, Shintaro; Inaki, Koichiro; Tsuboi, Akio; Hirono, Junzo; Sato, Takaaki; Sakano, Hitoshi; Haga, Tatsuya (1999-03-30). "Functional identification and reconstitution of an odorant receptor in single olfactory neurons". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 96 (7): 4040–4045. Bibcode:1999PNAS...96.4040T. doi:10.1073/pnas.96.7.4040. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 22416. PMID 10097159.
14. Fukuda, Nanaho; Yomogida, Kentaro; Okabe, Masaru; Touhara, Kazushige (2004-11-15). "Functional characterization of a mouse testicular olfactory receptor and its role in chemosensing and in regulation of sperm motility". Journal of Cell Science. 117 (24): 5835–5845. doi:10.1242/jcs.01507. ISSN 1477-9137. PMID 15522887.
15. Kajiya, Kentaro; Inaki, Koichiro; Tanaka, Motonari; Haga, Tatsuya; Kataoka, Hiroshi; Touhara, Kazushige (2001-08-15). "Molecular Bases of Odor Discrimination: Reconstitution of Olfactory Receptors that Recognize Overlapping Sets of Odorants". The Journal of Neuroscience. 21 (16): 6018–6025. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.21-16-06018.2001. ISSN 0270-6474. PMC 6763140. PMID 11487625.
16. Yoshikawa, Keiichi; Nakagawa, Hiroaki; Mori, Naoki; Watanabe, Hidenori; Touhara, Kazushige (2013-01-13). "An unsaturated aliphatic alcohol as a natural ligand for a mouse odorant receptor". Nature Chemical Biology. 9 (3): 160–162. doi:10.1038/nchembio.1164. ISSN 1552-4450. PMID 23314914.
17. Shirasu, Mika; Yoshikawa, Keiichi; Takai, Yoshiki; Nakashima, Ai; Takeuchi, Haruki; Sakano, Hitoshi; Touhara, Kazushige (2014-01-08). "Olfactory Receptor and Neural Pathway Responsible for Highly Selective Sensing of Musk Odors". Neuron. 81 (1): 165–178. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2013.10.021. PMID 24361078.
18. Kimoto, Hiroko; Haga, Sachiko; Sato, Koji; Touhara, Kazushige (2005-10-06). "Sex-specific peptides from exocrine glands stimulate mouse vomeronasal sensory neurons". Nature. 437 (7060): 898–901. Bibcode:2005Natur.437..898K. doi:10.1038/nature04033. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 16208374.
19. "Kazushige Touhara". Nature. 437 (7060): xiii. 2005-10-05. doi:10.1038/7060xiiia. ISSN 0028-0836.
20. Haga, Sachiko; Hattori, Tatsuya; Sato, Toru; Sato, Koji; Matsuda, Soichiro; Kobayakawa, Reiko; Sakano, Hitoshi; Yoshihara, Yoshihiro; Kikusui, Takefumi; Touhara, Kazushige (2010-07-01). "The male mouse pheromone ESP1 enhances female sexual receptive behaviour through a specific vomeronasal receptor". Nature. 466 (7302): 118–122. Bibcode:2010Natur.466..118H. doi:10.1038/nature09142. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 20596023.
21. Ishii, Kentaro K.; Osakada, Takuya; Mori, Hiromi; Miyasaka, Nobuhiko; Yoshihara, Yoshihiro; Miyamichi, Kazunari; Touhara, Kazushige (2017-07-05). "A Labeled-Line Neural Circuit for Pheromone-Mediated Sexual Behaviors in Mice". Neuron. 95 (1): 123–137.e8. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2017.05.038. PMID 28648498.
22. Tsunoda, Mai; Miyamichi, Kazunari; Eguchi, Ryo; Sakuma, Yasuo; Yoshihara, Yoshihiro; Kikusui, Takefumi; Kuwahara, Masayoshi; Touhara, Kazushige (2018-04-23). "Identification of an Intra- and Inter-specific Tear Protein Signal in Rodents". Current Biology. 28 (8): 1213–1223.e6. Bibcode:2018CBio...28E1213T. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.02.060. PMID 29606417.
23. Osakada, Takuya; Abe, Takayuki; Itakura, Takumi; Mori, Hiromi; Ishii, Kentaro K.; Eguchi, Ryo; Murata, Ken; Saito, Kosuke; Haga-Yamanaka, Sachiko; Kimoto, Hiroko; Yoshihara, Yoshihiro; Miyamichi, Kazunari; Touhara, Kazushige (2022-02-03). "Hemoglobin in the blood acts as a chemosensory signal via the mouse vomeronasal system". Nature Communications. 13 (1): 556. Bibcode:2022NatCo..13..556O. doi:10.1038/s41467-022-28118-w. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 8814178. PMID 35115521.
24. Kato, Mugihiko; Okumura, Toshiki; Tsubo, Yasuhiro; Honda, Junya; Sugiyama, Masashi; Touhara, Kazushige; Okamoto, Masako (2022-05-24). "Spatiotemporal dynamics of odor representations in the human brain revealed by EEG decoding". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 119 (21): e2114966119. Bibcode:2022PNAS..11914966K. doi:10.1073/pnas.2114966119. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 9173780. PMID 35584113.
25. "おもしろ研究室". TOUDAI TLO (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2008-02-19.
26. 岡勇輝 (2019). "私のメンター 東原和成―化学感覚の真理を嗅ぎ分ける探究者". 実験医学 (in Japanese). 37 (4). ISBN 978-4-7581-2517-8.
27. Saegusa, Asako (1998-04-02). "Tokyo's plan for new campus under threat". Nature. 392 (6675): 429. Bibcode:1998Natur.392..429S. doi:10.1038/32991. ISSN 0028-0836.

External links

• Touhara lab (Laboratory of Biological Chemistry, Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo)
• A 2005 video of the Touhara Laboratory focused on research on odorants
• A 2005 video of the Touhara Laboratory focused on research on pheromones