Mitsuhiro Morita, PhD
Mitsuhiro Morita, PhD
Research Associate Professor of
Neurosurgery
UNM School of Medicine
Education
*University of Tokyo, Japan, Biochemistry, B.Sc., 1990
*University of Tokyo, Japan, Biochemistry, M.Sc., 1992
*Kobe University, Japan, Biology, Ph.D., 2004
Research / job experience
*Japan Tobacco Inc., Japan, Research Scientist, 1992-1997
*Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Science, Japan, Research Associate, 1997-2004
*Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Science, Japan, Assistant Professor, 2004-2008
*University of New Mexico, Neurosurgery, Research Associate Professor, 2008-present
Honors
*Nihon Ikueikai Scholarship, Japan (1990-1991)
*International Collaboration Fellowship, Japan Neuroscience Society, Japan (1993)
*Mizushima Mermorial Science Prize, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Science, Japan (2004)
*Journal of Pharmacological Science Prize (2005)
*Sabbatical Fellowship, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Science, Japan (2006-2007)
Research Interests:
My research interest is cell physiological aspects of astrocyte, ranging cellular calcium dynamics, nitric oxide, gap junction hemichannel, exocytotic release of gliotransmitters and growth factor and cytokine signaling, and their implications in brain function and pathology, including synaptic plasticity, neurodegeneration and regeneration, brain aging. My current project is focusing on astrocyte activation, and calcium and gliotransmitter release alteration in traumatic brain injury, using two photon microscopic analysis of calcium and vesicle in brain slice and in vivo preparation. We also analyzing molecular mechanisms of intracellular calcium dynamics and vesicular release in cell culture model.
Selected Publications
Llinas, R., Sugimori, M., Lang, E. J., Morita, M., Fukuda, M., Niinobe, M., and Mikoshiba, K. (1994). The inositol high-polyphosphate series blocks synaptic transmission by preventing vesicular fusion: a squid giant synapse study. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 91, 12990-12993.
Llinas, R., Sugimori, M., Chu, D., Morita, M., Blasi, J., Herreros, J., Jahn, R., and Marsal, J. (1994). Transmission at the squid giant synapse was blocked by tetanus toxin by affecting synaptobrevin, a vesicle-bound protein. J Physiol 477 ( Pt 1), 129-133.
Yamada, H., Yamamoto, A., Yodozawa, S., Kozaki, S., Takahashi, M., Morita, M., Michibata, H., Furuichi, T., Mikoshiba, K., and Moriyama, Y. (1996). Microvesicle-mediated exocytosis of glutamate is a novel paracrine-like chemical transduction mechanism and inhibits melatonin secretion in rat pinealocytes. J Pineal Res 21, 175-191.
Yoshikawa, F., Morita, M., Monkawa, T., Michikawa, T., Furuichi, T., and Mikoshiba, K. (1996). Mutational analysis of the ligand binding site of the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor. J Biol Chem 271, 18277-18284.
Hirasawa, T., Nakamura, T., Mizushima, A., Morita, M., Ezawa, I., Miyakawa, H., and Kudo, Y. (2000). Adverse effects of an active fragment of parathyroid hormone on rat hippocampal organotypic cultures. Br J Pharmacol 129, 21-28.
Yatsushiro, S., Hayashi, M., Morita, M., Yamamoto, A., and Moriyama, Y. (2000). Glutamate receptor subunit delta2 is highly expressed in a novel population of glial-like cells in rat pineal glands in culture. J Neurochem 75, 1115-1122.
Tsuchiya, R., Yoshiki, F., Kudo, Y., and *Morita, M. (2002). Cell type-selective expression of green fluorescent protein and the calcium indicating protein, yellow cameleon, in rat cortical primary cultures. Brain Res 956, 221-229.
*Morita, M., Higuchi, C., Moto, T., Kozuka, N., Susuki, J., Itofusa, R., Yamashita, J., and Kudo, Y. (2003). Dual regulation of calcium oscillation in astrocytes by growth factors and pro-inflammatory cytokines via the mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade. J Neurosci 23, 10944-10952.
*Morita, M., Yoshiki, F., and Kudo, Y. (2003). Simultaneous imaging of phosphatidyl inositol metabolism and Ca2+ levels in PC12h cells. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 308, 673-678.
*Morita, M., Susuki, J., Moto, T., Higuchi, C., and Kudo, Y. (2004). A novel method to quantify calcium response pattern and oscillation using fura2 and acridine orange. J Pharmacol Sci 94, 25-30.
Muroyama, A., Uehara, S., Yatsushiro, S., Echigo, N., Morimoto, R., Morita, M., Hayashi, M., Yamamoto, A., Koh, D. S., and Moriyama, Y. (2004). A novel variant of ionotropic glutamate receptor regulates somatostatin secretion from delta-cells of islets of Langerhans. Diabetes 53, 1743-1753.
Kozuka, N., Itofusa, R., Kudo, Y., and *Morita, M. (2005). Lipopolysaccharide and proinflammatory cytokines require different astrocyte states to induce nitric oxide production. J Neurosci Res 82, 717-728.
*Morita, M., Kozuka, N., Itofusa, R., Yukawa, M., and Kudo, Y. (2005). Autocrine activation of EGF receptor promotes oscillation of glutamate-induced calcium increase in astrocytes cultured in rat cerebral cortex. J Neurochem 95, 871-879.
Nakahara, M., Shimozawa, M., Nakamura, Y., Irino, Y., Morita, M., Kudo, Y., and Fukami, K. (2005). A novel phospholipase C, PLC(eta)2, is a neuron-specific isozyme. J Biol Chem 280, 29128-29134.
*Morita, M., Susuki, J., Amino, H., Yoshiki, F., Moizumi, S., and Kudo, Y. (2006). Use of the exogenous Drosophila octopamine receptor gene to study Gq-coupled receptor-mediated responses in mammalian neurons. Neuroscience, 137, 545-553
Kozuka, N., Kudo, Y. and *Morita, M. (2007). Multiple inhibitory pathways for LPS- and pro-inflammatory cytokine-induced nitric oxide production in cultured astrocytes, Neuroscience 144, 911-919
*Morita, M., Saruta, C., Kozuka, N., Okubo, Y., Itakura, M., Takahashi, M and Kudo, Y., (2007). Dual regulation of astrocyte gap junction hemichannels by growth factors and a pro-inflammatory cytokine via the mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade Glia 55, 508-515
Blagoev, K. B., Mihaila, B., Travis, B. J., Alexandrov, L. B., Bishop, A. R., Ranken, D., Posse, S., Gasparovic, C., Mayer, A., Aine, C. j., Ulbert, I., Morita, M., Müller, W., Connor, J., Halgren, E., (2007). Modelling the magnetic signature of neuronal tissue NeuroImage 37, 137–148
Morita, M., Yoshiki, F., Nakane, A., Okubo, Y., Kudo, Y., (2007). Receptor- and calcium-dependent induced inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate increases in PC12h cells as shown by fluorescence resonance energy transfer imaging. FEBS J 274, :5147-5157.