Education

Ph.D. in Medical Science, Department of Physiology, Okayama University, 2006

Current position

Associate Professor, Department of Molecular Physiology, Kumamoto University, Japan

Publications

1. Wei, F. Y., Zhou, B., Suzuki, T., Miyata, K., Ujihara, Y., Horiguchi, H., Takahashi, N., Xie, P., Michiue, H., Fujimura, A., Kaitsuka, T., Matsui, H., Koga, Y., Mohri, S., Suzuki, T., Oike, Y. and Tomizawa, K. (2015). Cdk5rap1-mediated 2-methylthio modification of mitochondrial tRNAs governs protein translation and contributes to myopathy in mice and humans. Cell Metab 21(3): 428-442.
   
2. Locke, J. M., Wei, F. Y., Tomizawa, K., Weedon, M. N. and Harries, L. W. (2015). A cautionary tale: the non-causal association between type 2 diabetes risk SNP, rs7756992, and levels of non-coding RNA, CDKAL1-v1. Diabetologia 58(4): 745-748.   
   
3. Zhou, B.^#, Wei, F. Y.^#, Kanai, N., Fujimura, A., Kaitsuka, T. and Tomizawa, K. (2014). Identification of a splicing variant that regulates type 2 diabetes risk factor CDKAL1 level by a coding-independent mechanism in human. Hum Mol Genet 23(17): 4639-4650. (^#Contribute equally)
4. Kaitsuka, T., Noguchi, H., Shiraki, N., Kubo, T., Wei, F. Y., Hakim, F., Kume, S. and Tomizawa, K. (2014). Generation of functional insulin-producing cells from mouse embryonic stem cells through 804G cell-derived extracellular matrix and protein transduction of transcription factors. Stem Cells Transl Med 3(1): 114-127.
   
5. Hakim, F., Kaitsuka, T., Raeed, J. M., Wei, F. Y., Shiraki, N., Akagi, T., Yokota, T., Kume, S. and Tomizawa, K. (2014). High oxygen condition facilitates the differentiation of mouse and human pluripotent stem cells into pancreatic progenitors and insulin-producing cells. J Biol Chem 289(14): 9623-9638.
   
6. Gotanda, Y., Wei, F. Y., Harada, H., Ohta, K., Nakamura, K., Tomizawa, K. and Ushijima, K. (2014). Efficient transduction of 11 poly-arginine peptide in an ischemic lesion of mouse brain. J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis 23(8): 2023-2030.
   
7. Xie, P.^#, Wei, F. Y.^#, Hirata, S., Kaitsuka, T., Suzuki, T., Suzuki, T. and Tomizawa, K. (2013). Quantitative PCR measurement of tRNA 2-methylthio modification for assessing type 2 diabetes risk. Clin Chem 59(11): 1604-1612. (^#Contribute equally)
   
8. Fujimura, A., Michiue, H., Cheng, Y., Uneda, A., Tani, Y., Nishiki, T., Ichikawa, T., Wei, F. Y., Tomizawa, K. and Matsui, H. (2013). Cyclin G2 promotes hypoxia-driven local invasion of glioblastoma by orchestrating cytoskeletal dynamics. Neoplasia 15(11): 1272-1281.
   
9. Ueda, Y., Wei, F. Y., Hide, T., Michiue, H., Takayama, K., Kaitsuka, T., Nakamura, H., Makino, K., Kuratsu, J., Futaki, S. and Tomizawa, K. (2012). Induction of autophagic cell death of glioma-initiating cells by cell-penetrating D-isomer peptides consisting of Pas and the p53 C-terminus. Biomaterials 33(35): 9061-9069.
   
10. Sato, Y., Hatta, M., Karim, M. F., Sawa, T., Wei, F. Y., Sato, S., Magnuson, M. A., Gonzalez, F. J., Tomizawa, K., Akaike, T., Yoshizawa, T. and Yamagata, K. (2012). Anks4b, a novel target of HNF4alpha protein, interacts with GRP78 protein and regulates endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced apoptosis in pancreatic beta-cells. J Biol Chem 287(27): 23236-23245.
    
11. Okimoto, N., Bosch, O. J., Slattery, D. A., Pflaum, K., Matsushita, H., Wei, F. Y., Ohmori, M., Nishiki, T., Ohmori, I., Hiramatsu, Y., Matsui, H., Neumann, I. D. and Tomizawa, K. (2012). RGS2 mediates the anxiolytic effect of oxytocin. Brain Res 1453: 26-33.
12. Wei, F. Y., Suzuki, T., Watanabe, S., Kimura, S., Kaitsuka, T., Fujimura, A., Matsui, H., Atta, M., Michiue, H., Fontecave, M., Yamagata, K., Suzuki, T. and Tomizawa, K. (2011). Deficit of tRNA(Lys) modification by Cdkal1 causes the development of type 2 diabetes in mice. J Clin Invest 121(9): 3598-3608.   
    
13. Fujimura, A., Michiue, H., Nishiki, T., Ohmori, I., Wei, F. Y., Matsui, H. and Tomizawa, K. (2011). Expression of a constitutively active calcineurin encoded by an intron-retaining mRNA in follicular keratinocytes. PLoS One 6(3): e17685.
    
14. Arragain, S., Handelman, S. K., Forouhar, F., Wei, F. Y.^*, Tomizawa, K., Hunt, J. F., Douki, T., Fontecave, M., Mulliez, E. and Atta, M. (2010). Identification of eukaryotic and prokaryotic methylthiotransferase for biosynthesis of 2-methylthio-N6-threonylcarbamoyladenosine in tRNA. J Biol Chem 285(37): 28425-28433. (*Corresponding author)
15. Liang, S., Wei, F. Y., Wu, Y. M., Tanabe, K., Abe, T., Oda, Y., Yoshida, Y., Yamada, H., Matsui, H., Tomizawa, K. and Takei, K. (2007). Major Cdk5-dependent phosphorylation sites of amphiphysin 1 are implicated in the regulation of the membrane binding and endocytosis. J Neurochem 102(5): 1466-1476.
    
16. Ishihama, Y.^#, Wei, F. Y.^#, Aoshima, K., Sato, T., Kuromitsu, J. and Oda, Y. (2007). Enhancement of the efficiency of phosphoproteomic identification by removing phosphates after phosphopeptide enrichment. J Proteome Res 6(3): 1139-1144. (^#Contribute equally)
17. Wei, F. Y., Nagashima, K., Ohshima, T., Saheki, Y., Lu, Y. F., Matsushita, M., Yamada, Y., Mikoshiba, K., Seino, Y., Matsui, H. and Tomizawa, K. (2005). Cdk5-dependent regulation of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Nat Med 11(10): 1104-1108.
    
18. Wei, F. Y., Tomizawa, K., Ohshima, T., Asada, A., Saito, T., Nguyen, C., Bibb, J. A., Ishiguro, K., Kulkarni, A. B., Pant, H. C., Mikoshiba, K., Matsui, H. and Hisanaga, S. (2005). Control of cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) activity by glutamatergic regulation of p35 stability. J Neurochem 93(2): 502-512.
    
19. Saheki, Y., Li, S. T., Matsushita, M., Wu, Y. M., Cai, W. H., Wei, F. Y., Lu, Y. F., Moriwaki, A., Tomizawa, K. and Matsui, H. (2005). A new approach to inhibiting astrocytic IP3-induced intracellular calcium increase in an astrocyte-neuron co-culture system. Brain Res 1055(1-2): 196-201.
20. Matsushita, M., Kozak, J. A., Shimizu, Y., McLachlin, D. T., Yamaguchi, H., Wei, F. Y., Tomizawa, K., Matsui, H., Chait, B. T., Cahalan, M. D. and Nairn, A. C. (2005). Channel function is dissociated from the intrinsic kinase activity and autophosphorylation of TRPM7/ChaK1. J Biol Chem 280(21): 20793-20803.   
    
21. Michiue, H., Tomizawa, K., Wei, F. Y., Matsushita, M., Lu, Y. F., Ichikawa, T., Tamiya, T., Date, I. and Matsui, H. (2005). The NH₂ terminus of influenza virus hemagglutinin-2 subunit peptides enhances the antitumor potency of polyarginine-mediated p53 protein transduction. J Biol Chem 280(9): 8285-8289.    
    
22. Noguchi, H., Matsumoto, S., Okitsu, T., Iwanaga, Y., Yonekawa, Y., Nagata, H., Matsushita, M., Wei, F. Y., Matsui, H., Minami, K., Seino, S., Masui, Y., Futaki, S. and Tanaka, K. (2005). PDX-1 protein is internalized by lipid raft-dependent macropinocytosis. Cell Transplant 14(9): 637-645.
    
23. Noguchi, H., Bonner-Weir, S., Wei, F. Y., Matsushita, M. and Matsumoto, S. (2005). BETA2/NeuroD protein can be transduced into cells due to an arginine- and lysine-rich sequence. Diabetes 54(10): 2859-2866.    
    
24. Kumashiro, S., Lu, Y. F., Tomizawa, K., Matsushita, M., Wei, F. Y. and Matsui, H. (2005). Regulation of synaptic vesicle recycling by calcineurin in different vesicle pools. Neurosci Res 51(4): 435-443.
    
25. Wu, H. Y., Tomizawa, K., Oda, Y., Wei, F. Y., Lu, Y. F., Matsushita, M., Li, S. T., Moriwaki, A. and Matsui, H. (2004). Critical role of calpain-mediated cleavage of calcineurin in excitotoxic neurodegeneration. J Biol Chem 279(6): 4929-4940.
    
26. Tomizawa, K., Sunada, S., Lu, Y. F., Oda, Y., Kinuta, M., Ohshima, T., Saito, T., Wei, F. Y., Matsushita, M., Li, S. T., Tsutsui, K., Hisanaga, S., Mikoshiba, K., Takei, K. and Matsui, H. (2003). Cophosphorylation of amphiphysin I and dynamin I by Cdk5 regulates clathrin-mediated endocytosis of synaptic vesicles. J Cell Biol 163(4): 813-824.
    
27. Tokuoka, H., Saito, T., Yorifuji, H., Wei, F., Kishimoto, T. and Hisanaga, S. (2000). Brain-derived neurotrophic factor-induced phosphorylation of neurofilament-H subunit in primary cultures of embryo rat cortical neurons. J Cell Sci 113 ( Pt 6): 1059-1068.