Publications by authors named "Yukako Sagara"

Inherited retinal dystrophies (IRDs) are progressive diseases leading to vision loss. Mutation in the eyes shut homolog (EYS) gene is one of the most frequent causes of IRD. However, the mechanism of photoreceptor cell degeneration by mutant EYS has not been fully elucidated.

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Article Synopsis
  • The central nervous system's glial cells are primarily made up of astrocytes, whose impairment is linked to various disorders.
  • Researchers are trying to explore how to analyze astrocytes derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to understand their roles in disease conditions.
  • By modifying differentiation protocols and evaluating functions like cytokine release and calcium influx, the study developed a method to model astrocyte-related diseases, specifically Alexander disease, using iPSC-derived astrocytes.
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Retinal dystrophies (RDs) lead to irreversible vision impairment with no radical treatment. Although photoreceptor cells (PRCs) differentiated from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are essential for the study of RDs as a scalable source, current differentiation methods for PRCs require multiple steps. To address these issues, we developed a method to generate PRCs from human iPSCs by introducing the transcription factors, CRX and NEUROD1.

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Schizophrenia (SCZ) is one of the major psychiatric disorders. The genetic factor is certainly influential in the onset of the disease but is not decisive. There is no identified molecular/cellular marker of the disease, and the pathomechanism is still unknown.

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Idiopathic basal ganglia calcification (IBGC) is a rare neurodegenerative disease, characterized by abnormal calcium deposits in basal ganglia of the brain. The affected individuals exhibit movement disorders, and progressive deterioration of cognitive and psychiatric ability. The genetic cause of the disease is mutation in one of several different genes, SLC20A2, PDGFB, PDGFRB, XPR1 or MYORG, which inheritably or sporadically occurs.

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Glycogen storage disease type 1a (GSD1a) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations of the glucose-6-phosphatase (G6PC) gene. Mutations of the G6PC gene lead to excessive accumulation of glycogen in the liver, kidney, and intestinal mucosa due to the deficiency of microsomal glucose-6-phosphatase. Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) enable the production of patient-derived hepatocytes in culture and are therefore a promising tool for modeling GSD1a.

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Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a late-onset progressive blinding disease. We established human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from an AMD patient. The generated iPSC line showed pluripotency markers and three-germ layer differentiation ability in vitro.

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Best Disease is an inherited retinal dystrophy that results in progressive and irreversible central vision loss caused by mutations of BESTROPHIN1 (BEST1). We established human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from a Best disease patient with mutations R218H and A357V in the BEST1 gene. The generated iPSCs showed pluripotency markers and three-germ layer differentiation ability in vitro.

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Mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPS I) is a rare inherited metabolic disorder caused by defects in alpha-L-iduronidase (IDUA), a lysosomal protein encoded by IDUA gene. MPS I is a progressive multisystemic disorder with a wide range of symptoms, including skeletal abnormalities and cognitive impairment, and is characterized by a wide spectrum of severity levels caused by varied mutations in IDUA. A human iPSC line was established from an attenuated MPS I (Scheie syndrome) patient carrying an IDUA gene mutation (c.

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