Shigetada Nakanishi
Shigetada Nakanishi ( Japanese 中西 重 忠 , Nakanishi Shigetada ; born January 7, 1942 in Ogaki ) is a Japanese biochemist and neuroscientist.
Live and act
Nakanishi studied medicine at the University of Kyoto with an MD degree in 1966 and the subsequent doctorate in biochemistry (Ph.D.) in 1974, after a stay from 1971 to 1974 at the laboratory for molecular biology of the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (with Ira Pastan ), where he learned the nascent recombinant DNA techniques and then applied them to the study of neuronal transmitter substances and hormones. After returning to Japan, he discovered several families of such transmitter substances. From 1974 he was Associate Professor in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at Kyoto University, where he became Professor in the Faculty of Biology at the Medical School in 1981 and Professor in the Department of Molecular and Systems Biology in 1999. From 2000 to 2002 he was dean of the Medical Faculty of Kyoto University. In 2005 he retired. He was then director of the Osaka Bioscience Institute.
Nakanishi developed a novel technique that made it possible to clone receptors for various (neural) transmitters in frog eggs. The m-RNA for the receptor from the brain was built into the frog's egg cell and the existence of the transcribed receptor in the cell membrane was demonstrated with the help of electrophysiological measurements. Among other things, he was able to investigate glutamate receptors in the nervous system and the role of the various receptors in processing sensory perception, for example in the visual and olfactory systems, but also in movement coordination and memory. His technique of identification and purification also found application in the development of new drugs.
To study the functional role of the receptors, he also developed a technique from Ira Pastan's cancer research (cell ablation), in which antibodies against a receptor are used coupled with a toxin that kills the associated cells.
In 2007 he received the Gruber Prize for Neuroscience , 1995 the Bristol-Myers-Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Neuroscience Research, 1996 the Keio Medical Science Prize (with Stanley Prusiner ), 1997 the Imperial Prize of the Japanese Academy of Sciences and 2006 he was appointed person with special cultural merit . He is a member of the Japanese Academy of Sciences (2009) and an external member of the National Academy of Sciences (2000) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1995). In 2015 he was honored with the Order of Culture .
swell
- Biography. In Larry Squire (Ed.), The History of Neuroscience in Autobiography , 2008
- Shigetada Nakanishi - The Gruber Foundation. In: gruber.yale.edu. June 28, 2007, accessed February 20, 2016 .
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Nakanishi, Shigetada |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | 中西 重 忠 (Japanese) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Japanese neuroscientist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 7, 1942 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Ogaki |