Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: Dr. Shin-Ichi Nishikawa is a world leader in the field of stem cells, who has made enormous contributions to the identification and characterization of melanocyte stem cells. He has played major roles both in advancing this important field of research and in training a future generation of scientists who have extended his legacy through their own discoveries. His research focus is on bridging basic understanding of stem cell biology to its clinical applications within regenerative medicine. Kobe, Japan, is particularly famous for both its exceptionally tender beef and the laboratory of Professor Nishikawa. There he has served as Director of the Institute of Biomedical Research and Innovation and Deputy Director of the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology. He received his MD in 1973 and Ph.D. in 1987 from the Kyoto University School of Medicine, where he started his career as a biomedical investigator. In 1980, he was awarded the Humboldt Research Fellowship and joined Dr. Klaus Rajewsky’s laboratory at the University of Cologne’s Institute for Genetics in Germany. Following 2 yr of fellowship, he returned to Kyoto University to start his own laboratory in 1983. Initially, he was interested in B-cell development, and addressed mechanisms underlying B-cell differentiation from stem cells. He subsequently became interested in stem cells themselves, and finally he has extended his studies on various distinct stem cell systems, including embryonic stem cells, hematopoietic stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, and melanocyte stem cells, aiming to achieve a comparative understanding of both conserved and divergent stem cell regulation mechanisms. He moved to the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology after 2002, where he extensively studied stem cell biology in multiple cell lineages. The critical point that led Shin-Ichi to immerse himself in melanocyte research was when he established an antagonistic anti-c-Kit (Ack2) antibody. His application of this antibody to explore the physiological role of c-Kit signaling in melanocytes has uncovered the fascinating and pleiotrophic functions of this signaling pathway in melanocyte survival, migration, proliferation, and differentiation. Indeed, he made the interesting observation that mice receiving the c-Kit blocking antibody exhibited loss of hair pigmentation. But even more exciting was the fact that the Ack2-treated mice recovered their pigmentation during subsequent hair cycles. This remarkable observation inspired them to establish the existence of melanocyte stem cells. After intensive study, his research team located melanocyte stem cells within the mouse hair follicle bulge/sub-bulge region. This work led to a groundbreaking publication (Nishimura et al. 2002, Nature, 416: 854–60) whose description of melanocyte stem cells has profoundly impacted the field of pigment cell biology. For approximately the last 5 yr, he has systematically utilized molecular and genetic approaches to dissect the molecular basis of melanocyte stem cell regulation. The fact that genetical alterations involved in melanocyte regulation result in abnormal coat pigmentation phenotypes has had enormous advantages for him (and the broad pigmentation community) in the identification of important melanocyte stem cell genes. The findings from Shin-Ichi’s work will not only have a strong impact on our basic understanding of melanocyte biology, but also provide new insights into understanding causative molecular mechanisms underlying melanocyte-related disorders such as senile hair graying and malignant melanoma. His discoveries also impact importantly on fundamental mechanisms of regenerative biology, extending beyond the melanocyte lineage. Shin-Ichi has a multi-core CPU in his brain. He carries out multiple tasks in parallel and enjoys numerous hobbies such as wine, opera, and philosophy. Recently, he has started to apply his findings of melanocyte stem cells to other clinically important stem cell systems to establish conditions for manipulating and generating stem cells in culture. He has been accelerating the process of translating his basic science discoveries to the clinical setting. His creative and insightful approaches will continue to lead both basic discovery and (hopefully) clinical application of that knowledge in the field of pigment cell biology.
Source: Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research
Language: English
Topic: Hair Growth and Disorders
Subfield: Urology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2044405096