Toshifumi Yokota

From Wikitia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Toshifumi Yokota
Add a Photo
Born
Japan
NationalityJapanese
TitleProfessor
Academic background
EducationUniversity of Tokyo
Academic work
InstitutionsImperial College London

National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry Children's National Medical Center

University of Alberta

Toshifumi Yokota is a medical scientist and Professor of medical genetics at the University of Alberta, holding the title of the Friends of Garrett Cumming Research & Muscular Dystrophy Canada HM Toupin Neurological Science Research Chair[1]. He is best known for pioneering studies of antisense oligonucleotide-based therapeutics for muscular dystrophy[2][3]. His research interests include precision health and personalized genetic medicine for muscular dystrophy and genetic diseases[4]. He edited books “Gapmers” and “Exon skipping and Inclusion Therapies”, both published from Springer Nature[5] [6]. He serves as a member of editorial board for the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Genes, and Frontiers in Genome Editing[7][8][9][10].

Biography

Yokota was born in Morioka, a city in Iwate Prefecture|Iwate Prefecture, and raised in several cities including Tsu, Mie and Nerima, Tokyo, in Japan[11][12]. He was initially interested in astrophysics; however, his interests changed after taking a genetics class and hearing about gene therapy research on muscular dystrophy at the University of Tokyo[13]. After receiving research training at the University of Tokyo and the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, he received his Ph.D. in Biological science|Biological Science, where he studied the mechanisms underlying muscle regeneration[14]. He completed his post-doctoral training at Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus[15]. He was a Research Associate at Children's National Medical Center before joining the University of Alberta[16]. Currently, he is a tenured Professor at the University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, serving as the Friends of Garrett Cumming Research & Muscular Dystrophy Canada HM Toupin Neurological Science Research Chair since 2011[17].

Major contributions

His study demonstrated therapeutic effects of synthetic antisense oligonucleotides, which can restore the function of a mutated gene by modulating pre-mRNA RNA splicing|splicing, called exon skipping, and improvement of muscle function for the first time in a severe animal model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)[18][19][20]. Based on his study, viltolarsen, a phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer antisense oligonucleotide, was developed for the treatment of DMD in collaboration with a Japanese pharmaceutical company Nippon Shinyaku (also known as NS Pharma), which was later approved in Japan and by the Food and Drug Administration|FDA in the United States in 2020 after clinical trials in Japan, Canada, and the United States[21][22]. In 2020, he identified antisense oligonucleotides that knockdown the expression of a toxic gene called DUX4 for the treatment of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy[23][24].

Honors

  • The Friends of Garrett Cumming Research & Muscular Dystrophy Canada HM Toupin Neurological Science Research Chair (2011-)[25]
  • National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (2010) [26]

References

  1. ↑ "Seeking a cure for muscular dystrophy". WCHRI. 2020-05-16. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
  2. ↑ O'Byrne, Ryan. "FDA approves new drug to treat common form of muscular dystrophy based on research from U of A scientist". www.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
  3. ↑ "Researchers find DNA therapy could treat patients with DMD". Drug Target Review. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  4. ↑ "Profile | Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry". www.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
  5. ↑ Yokota, T.; et al. (2019). Gapmers. Springer Nature. doi:10.1007/978-1-0716-0771-8. ISBN 978-1-0716-0770-1.
  6. ↑ Yokota, T.; et al. (2017). Exon skipping and Inclusion Therapies. Springer Nature. doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-8651-4. ISBN 978-1-4939-8650-7.
  7. ↑ "International Journal of Molecular Sciences". www.mdpi.com. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  8. ↑ "Genes". www.mdpi.com. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  9. ↑ "Frontiers in Genome Editing". www.frontiersin.org. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  10. ↑ "Loop | Toshifumi Yokota". loop.frontiersin.org. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  11. ↑ "Toshifumi Yokota | Medical Genetics". www.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
  12. ↑ 4581857. "HEROES - Spring 2016". Issuu. Retrieved 2021-08-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ↑ 4581857. "HEROES - Spring 2016". Issuu. Retrieved 2021-08-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑ "Profile | Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry". www.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
  15. ↑ "Profile | Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry". www.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
  16. ↑ "Edmonton researchers at the University of Alberta have found a way to regrow a protien missing in Duchenne muscular dystrophy in mice". edmontonsun. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  17. ↑ "University of Alberta". Department of Medical Genetics. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  18. ↑ Yokota, T.; et al. (2009-06-01). "Efficacy of systemic morpholino exon‐skipping in Duchenne dystrophy dogs". Annals of Neurology. 65 (6): 667–676. doi:10.1002/ana.21627. PMC 5951302. PMID 19288467.
  19. ↑ "First treatment for muscular dystrophy in sight: Scientists successfully harness exon-skipping". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
  20. ↑ "Researchers Develop DNA "Patch" For Canine Form of Muscular Dystrophy". National Institutes of Health (NIH). 2015-08-28. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
  21. ↑ Roshmi, R.; et al. (2019-10-01). "Viltolarsen for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy". Drugs of Today. 55 (10): 627–639. doi:10.1358/dot.2019.55.10.3045038. PMID 31720560.
  22. ↑ O'Byrne, Ryan. "FDA approves new drug to treat common form of muscular dystrophy based on research from U of A scientist". www.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
  23. ↑ Zahid, Hina (2020-07-15). "New promising treatment for common form of muscular dystrophy". medicaldialogues.in. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  24. ↑ Lim, Kenji Rowel Q.; Maruyama, Rika; Echigoya, Yusuke; Nguyen, Quynh; Zhang, Aiping; Khawaja, Hunain; Sen Chandra, Sreetama; Jones, Takako; Jones, Peter; Chen, Yi-Wen; Yokota, Toshifumi (2020-07-14). "Inhibition of DUX4 expression with antisense LNA gapmers as a therapy for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 117 (28): 16509–16515.
  25. ↑ "Seeking a cure for muscular dystrophy". WCHRI. 2020-05-16. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
  26. ↑ "Federal RePORTER - Project Details". federalreporter.nih.gov. Retrieved 2021-08-18.

External links

Add External links

This article "Toshifumi Yokota" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles taken from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be accessed on Wikipedia's Draft Namespace.

Retrieved from "https://wikitia.com/index.php?title=Toshifumi_Yokota&oldid=122780"