RIKEN BioResource Research Center (BRC®) Experimental Animal Division
Division Director: Atsushi Yoshiki (Ph.D.)
Research Summary

The Experimental Animal Division contributes to the advancement of life science research through the collection, preservation, quality control, and provision of model mice created in Japan for studies of physiological functions and human diseases. Since 2002, we have been designated as a core center for mice by the National BioResource Project of the MEXT, and participate as a key member in the International Mouse Strain Resource, collaborating with mouse research institutions in Europe, America, Asia, and Australia. Furthermore, we participate in the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium, elucidating all gene functions by using KO mice, and contributing to the biomedical research community.
Main Research Fields
- Biological Sciences
Related Research Fields
- Complex Systems
- Biology
- Medicine, Dentistry & Pharmacy
- Bioresource
- Disease model
- Genome function
Keywords
- Mouse resources
- Genome editing
- Mouse model for human disease
- Quality contro
- Reproducibility of experiments
Selected Publications
- 1.
Vo P, Imai-Leonard DM, Yang B, Briere A, Shao A, Casanova MI, Adams D, Amano T, Amarie O, Berberovic Z, Bower L, Braun R, Brown S, Burrill S, Cho SY, Clementson-Mobbs S, D'Souza A, Dickinson M, Eskandarian M, Flenniken AM, Fuchs H, Gailus-Durner V, Heaney J, Hérault Y, Angelis MH, Hsu CW, Jin S, Joynson R, Kang YK, Kim H, Masuya H, Meziane H, Murray S, Nam KH, Noh H, Nutter LMJ, Palkova M, Prochazka J, Raishbrook MJ, Riet F, Ryan J, Salazar J, Seavey Z, Seavitt JR, Sedlacek R, Selloum M, Seo KY, Seong JK, Shin HS, Shiroishi T, Stewart M, Svenson K, Tamura M, Tolentino H, Udensi U, Wells S, White J, Willett A, Wotton J, Wurst W, Yoshiki A; International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium; Lanoue L, Lloyd KCK, Leonard BC, Roux MJ, McKerlie C, Moshiri A.
"Systematic ocular phenotyping of 8,707 knockout mouse lines identifies genes associated with abnormal corneal phenotypes."
BMC Genomics. 2025 Jan 20;26(1):48. - 2.
Kurasawa S, Ganaha A, Ayabe S, Yoshiki A, Kawama F, Kitayama S, Tabuchi K, Yamashita K, Ueyama T.
"Hearing loss occurs prior to thrombocytopenia in both mice and humans with DFNA1."
FASEB J. 2025 Jan 31;39(2):e70309. - 3.
Mizuno-Iijima S, Kawamoto S, Asano M, Mashimo T, Wakana S, Nakamura K, Nishijima KI, Okamoto H, Saito K, Yoshina S, Miwa Y, Nakamura Y, Ohkuma M, Yoshiki A.
"Mammalian genome research resources available from the National BioResource Project in Japan."
Mamm Genome 35(4):497-523. (2024). - 4.
Teboul L, Amos-Landgraf J, Benavides FJ, Birling MC, Brown SDM, Bryda E, Bunton-Stasyshyn R, Chin HJ, Crispo M, Delerue F, Dobbie M, Franklin CL, Fuchtbauer EM, Gao X, Golzio C, Haffner R, Hérault Y, Hrabe de Angelis M, Lloyd KCK, Magnuson TR, Montoliu L, Murray SA, Nam KH, Nutter LMJ, Pailhoux E, Pardo Manuel de Villena F, Peterson K, Reinholdt L, Sedlacek R, Seong JK, Shiroishi T, Smith C, Takeo T, Tinsley L, Vilotte JL, Warming S, Wells S, Whitelaw CB, Yoshiki A; Asian Mouse Mutagenesis Resource Association; CELPHEDIA infrastructure; INFRAFRONTIER consortium; International Mammalian Genome Society; International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium; International Society for Transgenic Technologies; Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Centers; Phenomics Australia; RRRC- Rat Resource and Research Center; Pavlovic G.
"Improving laboratory animal genetic reporting: LAG-R guidelines."
Nat Commun 15(1):5574. (2024). - 5.
Saito A, Tahara R, Hirose M, Kadota M, Hasegawa A, Kondo S, Kato H, Amano T, Yoshiki A, Ogura A, Kiyosawa H.
"Inter-subspecies mouse F1 hybrid embryonic stem cell lines newly established for studies of allelic imbalance in gene expression."
Exp Anim 73(3):310-318. (2024). - 6.
Nakashiba T, Ogoh K, Iwano S, Sugiyama T, Mizuno-Iijima S, Nakashima K, Mizuno S, Sugiyama F, Yoshiki A, Miyawaki A, Abe K.
"Development of two mouse strains conditionally expressing bright luciferases with distinct emission spectra as new tools for in vivo imaging."
Lab Anim (NY), 52(10):247-257. (2023). - 7.
Yamada M, Nitta Y, Uehara T, Suzuki H, Miya F, Takenouchi T, Tamura M, Ayabe S, Yoshiki A, Maeno A, Saga Y, Furuse T, Yamada I, Okamoto N, Kosaki K, Sugie A.
"Heterozygous loss-of-function DHX9 variants are associated with neurodevelopmental disorders: Human genetic and experimental evidences."
Eur J Med Genet 66(8):104804. (2023). - 8.
Tamari T, Ikeda Y, Morimoto K, Kobayashi K, Mizuno-Iijima S, Ayabe S, Kuno A, Mizuno S, Yoshiki A.
"A universal method for generating knockout mice in multiple genetic backgrounds using zygote electroporation."
Biol Open 12(9): bio059970. (2023). - 9.
Kuno A, Ikeda Y, Ayabe S, Kato K, Sakamoto K, Suzuki SR, Morimoto K, Wakimoto A, Mikami N, Ishida M, Iki N, Hamada Y, Takemura M, Daitoku Y, Tanimoto Y, Dinh TTH, Murata K, Hamada M, Muratani M, Yoshiki A, Sugiyama F, Takahashi S, Mizuno S.
"DAJIN enables multiplex genotyping to simultaneously validate intended and unintended target genome editing outcomes."
PLoS Biol 20(1):e3001507. (2022). - 10.
Mizuno-Iijima S, Nakashiba T, Ayabe S, Nakata H, Ike F, Hiraiwa N, Mochida K, Ogura A, Masuya H, Kawamoto S, Tamura M, Obata Y, Shiroishi T, Yoshiki A.
"Mouse resources at the RIKEN BioResource Research Center and the National BioResource Project core facility in Japan."
Mamm Genome 33(1):181-191. (2022).
Publications
Related Links
Lab Members
Principal investigator
- Atsushi Yoshiki
- Division Director
Core members
- Toshiaki Nakashiba
- Senior Research Scientist
- Shinya Ayabe
- Senior Research Scientist
- Hatsumi Nakata
- Senior Technical Scientist
- Masayo Kadota
- Expert Technician
- Saori Mizuno
- Research & Development Scientist
- Keisuke Sato
- Special Fixed Term Contract Researcher
- Megumi Tanaka
- Technical Staff II
- Mizuho Iwama
- Technical Staff II
- Maiko Ijuin
- Technical Staff II
- Tomomi Hashimoto
- Technical Staff II
- Ayako Kajita
- Technical Staff II
Contact Information
BRC108, RIKEN BioResource Research Center
RIKEN BioResource Research Center,
3-1-1 Koyadai,
Tsukuba, Ibaraki,
305-0074 Japan
Tell: 029-836-9192
Email: atsushi.yoshiki@riken.jp