Areas of Interest
The goal of research group is to elucidate chromatin regulatory mechanisms engaged in development and function of the brain. Chromatin deregulation has emerged as a major cause of neurodevelopmental disorders such as intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, and schizophrenia. Post-translational modifications of histones have been recognized as a "language" describing a variety of nuclear events. Numerous mutations associated with neurodevelopmental fall into such histone modification regulators. Accurate interpretation of the histone modification network, therefore, appears to be essential for proper brain development and function. However, little is known about what chromatin regulators do in the brain and how these mutations lead to neurodevelopmental disorders. Our group aims to reveal molecular underpinnings of histone regulation in the brain, thereby understanding of the roles of chromatin in normal and pathological brains.
Honors & Awards
- 2001-2003 Scholarship for Academic Excellence. Japan Student Services Organization
- 2003-2006 Graduate Student Scholarship. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
- 2008-2010 Japan Society for Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research Abroad
- 2008-2010 Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund (JCC)
- 2013-2015 Cooley's Anemia Foundation Research Fellowship Award
- 2014-2016 Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Research Award
Credentials
- 04/1997-03/2001 BS, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
- 04/2001-03/2006 PhD, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
- 04/2006-08/2012 Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA
- 09/2012-present Assistant Professor in Human Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
- 09/2019-present Associate Professor in Human Genetics, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Published Articles or Reviews
Vallianatos CN, Farrehi C, Friez MJ, Burmeister M, Keegan CE, Iwase S: Altered Gene-Regulatory Function of KDM5C by a Novel Mutation Associated With Autism and Intellectual Disability. Front Mol Neurosci 11: 104, 2018. PM29670509/PMC5893713
Porter RS, Murata-Nakamura Y, Nagasu H, Kim HG, Iwase S: Transcriptome analysis revealed impaired cAMP responsiveness in PHF21A-deficient human cells. Neuroscience 17: 30365-2, 2017. PM28571721
Iwase S*, Brookes E, Agarwal S, Badeaux AI, Ito H, Vallianatos CN, Tomassy GS, Kasza T, Lin G, Thompson A, Gu L, Kwan KY, Chen C, Sartor MA, Egan B, Xu J*, Shi Y* *Co-corresponding authors: A Mouse Model of X-linked Intellectual Disability Associated with Impaired Removal of Histone Methylation. Cell Reports 14(5): 1000-9, 2016. PM26804915/PMC4749408
Agarwal S, Macfarlan TS, Sartor MA, Iwase S : Sequencing of first-strand cDNA library reveals full-length transcriptomes. Nature communications 6: 6002, 2015. PM25607527
Iwase S, Xiang B, Ghosh S, Ren T, Lewis PW, Cochrane JC, Allis CD, Picketts DJ, Patel DJ, Li H, Shi Y: ATRX ADD domain links an atypical histone methylation recognition mechanism to human mentalretardation syndrome Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 18(7): 769-776, 2011. PM21666679
Iwase S, Lan F, Bayliss P, de la Torre-Ubieta L, Huarte M, Qi HH, Whetstine JR, Bonni A, Roberts TM, Shi Y: The X-Linked Mental Retardation Gene SMCX/JARID1C Defines a Family of Histone H3 Lysine 4 Demethylases Cell 128(6): 1077-1088, 2007. PM17320160