As a professor of Department of Medical Chemistry, his studies on Human bioenergetics and nutrition have garnered international attention. Since his work on ATP synthases (FoF1) as a visiting professor of Cornell University, human nutrition has been studied based on data obtained in studies on TFoF1 (thermophilic FoF1) and HFoF1 (human FoF1). The chemiosmotic theory was established by proton-driven ATP synthesis in TFoF1 liposomes, and the rotational theory was established by observations of intra molecular rotation and ATP synthesis on externally added torque to TF1. TF1 is the only F1 sufficiently stable to be consistently analyzed by reconstitution, crystallography, mutagenesis, and nanotechnology. Based on the fundamental mechanism of ATP synthesis in FoF1, human bioenergetics was developed using plasmids, transgenic mice, cytoplasts and omics. HFoF1 differed from TFoF1 in complex structure, mitochondrial genetics, organ specificity and intricate biogenesis. The complex regulation of HFoF1 has been shown to be essential for daily human activity that is triggered by the brain, thus human bioenergetics is also applicable to obesity/diabetes. 
Nakayama K, Kagawa Y, et al.:A single nucleotide polymorphism in the FADS1/FADS2 gene is associated with plasma lipid profiles in two genetically similar Asian ethnic groups with distinctive differences in lifestyle. Hum Genet. In press. 2010 Munkhtulga, L.Kagawa, Y.: Regulatory SNP in the RBP 4 gene modified the expression in adipocytes and associated with BMI. Obesity in press, 2009 Higuchi, T., Kagawa, Y. et al. : Levels of plasma insulin, leptin and adiponectin, and activities of key enzymes in carbohydrate metabolism in skeletal muscle and liver in fasted ICR mice fed dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. J. Nutr. Biochem. 19: 577-586 2008. Nakayama, K., Kagawa, Y. et al.: Comparative study of polymorphisms on genes associated with lifestyle related diseases in Asian and Pacific Populations. Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health.,20, Supplement, 173-179 2008 Kageyama, M., Hiraoka, M., Kagawa, Y.: Relationship between genetic polymorphism, serum folate and homocysteine in Alzheimer’s Disease. Asia-Pacific Journal of PublicHealth.,20, Supplement, 111-117 2008 Hirai, C., Kagawa, Y.: The concentrations of blood sugar and HbA1c are significantly higher in g/g homozygotes of adiponectin t45g polymorphism than in heterozygotes and wild types. Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health.,20, Supplement, 80-86 2008. Kagawa, Y., Yanagisawa, Y., et al.: Human nutrigenomics of membrane transporters and receptors to control metabolic Syndrome. Current Topics in Biochem. Res. 9: 1-28, 2007. Higasa, S., Kagawa, Y. et al.: Polymorphism of glutathione S-transferase P1 gene affects human vitamin C metabolism. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 364(3) , 708-713, 2007 Kagawa, Y., Hiraoka, M., Hirai, C. Ishii, Y. Health promotion and genome in Japanese. Health Evaluation Promotion 34: 472-478, 2007 Kasashima, K., Ohta, E., Kagawa, Y., et al.: Mitochondrial functions and estrogen receptor- dependent nuclear translocation of pleiotropic human prohibitin 2 .J. Biol. Chem. 81: 36401-36410, 2006. Komatsu, F., Kagawa, Y. et al. Investigation of oxidative stress and dietary habits in Mongolian people, compared to Japanese people. Nutrition & Metabolism 3:21-27, 2006 |
