RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research Laboratory for Heart Regeneration
Team Leader: Wataru Kimura (Ph.D.)
Research Summary

Heart disease is the number one killer of humankind mainly because the heart does not have regenerative capabilities. Our previous study indicated that oxidative stress is the main inducer of cell cycle arrest in postnatal mammalian heart muscle cells, cardiomyocytes. Our research interest is focused on why postnatal mammalian cardiomyocytes do not proliferate after injury- and age-related myocardial damage, and whether it is possible to re-awaken endogenous regenerative capacity. We utilize molecular and cellular tools and mouse genetics to understand the role of oxidative metabolism in cardiomyocyte cell cycle regulation throughout the life cycle of mammals.
Main Research Fields
- Biology
Related Research Fields
- Medicine, Dentistry & Pharmacy
Keywords
- myocardial regeneration
- oxidative stress
- DNA damage
- cell cycle
Selected Publications
Papers with an asterisk(*) are based on research conducted outside of RIKEN.
- 1.
Nishiyama C, Saito Y, Sakaguchi A, Kaneko M, Kiyonari H, Xu Y, Arima Y, Uosaki H, Kimura W.:
"Prolonged Myocardial Regenerative Capacity in Neonatal Opossum"
Circulation 146, 125-139 (2022) - 2.
Saito, Y. and Kimura, W.:
"Roles of phase separation for cellular redox maintenance",
Front. Genet. 12, 691946 (2021) - 3.
Sakaguchi, A. and Kimura, W.:
"Metabolic regulation of cardiac regeneration: oles of hypoxia, energy homeostasis, and mitochondrial dynamics",
Curr. Opin. Genet. Dev. 70, 54-60 (2021) - 4.
Sakaguchi, A., Nishiyama C. and Kimura, W.:
"Cardiac Regeneration as an Environmental Adaptation."
Biochim. Biophys.Acta Mol. Cell Res. 1867(4):118623 (2020) - 5.*Nakada, Y., Canseco, D. C., Thet S., Abdisalaam S., Asaithaymby A., Santos C. X., Shah A., Zhang, H., Faber, J. E., Kinter M. T., Szweda, L. I., Xing, C., Deberardinis, R., Oz O., Lu Z., Zhang C. C., #Kimura, W. and #Sadek, H. A.;
"Hypoxia induces heart regeneration in adult mice"
Nature 541, 222-227 (2017) - 6.*Kimura, W., Xiao, F., Canseco, D. C., Muralidhar, S., Thet S., Zhang, H. M., Abderrahman, Y., Chen, R., Garcia, J. A., Shelton, J. M., Richardson, J. A., Ashour, A. M., Asaithamby, A., Liang, H., Xing, C., Lu, Z., Zhang, C. C. and Sadek, H. A.:
"Hypoxia fate mapping identifies cycling cardiomyocytes in the adult heart"
Nature 523, 226-230 (2015) - 7.
*Canseco, D. C., Kimura, W., Garg, S., Mukherjee, S., Bhattacharya, S., Abdisalaam, S., Das, S., Asaithamby. A., Mammen, P. P. and Sadek, H. A.:
"Human ventricular unloading induces cardiomyocyte proliferation"
J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 65, 892-900 (2015) - 8.
*Puente, B. N., *Kimura, W., Muralidhar, S. A., Moon, J., Amatruda, J. F., Phelps, K. L., Grinsfelder, D., Rothermel, B. A., Chen, R., Garcia, J. A., Santos, C. X., Thet, S., Mori, E., Kinter, M. T., Rindler, P. M., Zacchigna, S., Mukherjee, S., Chen, D. J., Mahmoud, A. I., Giacca, M., Rabinovitch, P. S., Aroumougame, A., Shah, A. M., Szweda, L. I. and Sadek, H. A.:
"The oxygen rich postnatal environment induces cardiomyocyte cell cycle arrest through DNA damage response"
Cell 157, 565-579 (2014)
Recent Research Results
Aug. 25, 2022
Harnessing the heart regeneration ability of marsupials
Related Links
Lab Members
Principal investigator
- Wataru Kimura
- Team Leader
Core members
- Akane Sakaguchi
- Research Scientist
- Yuichi Saito
- Special Postdoctoral Researcher
- Nobutoshi Ota
- Research Scientist
- Chihiro Nishiyama
- Technical Staff I
- Miwa Kawasaki
- Technical Staff I
- Tai Sada
- Junior Research Associate
- Taketo Fukuhara
- Student Trainee
Contact Information
4F, RIKEN BDR Developmental Biology Bldg.A,
2-2-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku
Kobe, Hyogo
650-0047 Japan
Email: wataru.kimura [at] riken.jp