RESEARCH

 

The Imamura lab aims to understand the brain from the olfactory system. The laboratory is studying the mouse olfactory system to: (1) reveal the mechanisms/rules underlying sensory information processing in our brain; and (2) understand the effects of olfactory inflammation on brain function.

 

[Olfactory Information Processing]

Humans have excellent olfactory abilities that are comparable to other mammalian species, and the olfactory bulb is the first relay station of the olfactory information in the central nervous system. The olfactory system is an excellent model system to study the sensory information processing because neurons performing the distinct functions are localized in six different organized layers in the olfactory bulb. The Imamura lab is studying the mechanisms for generating functional neuronal circuits in the mouse olfactory bulb from the developmental perspective. Specifically, the laboratory is actively engaged in identifying the molecules that are involved in the formation of the olfactory bulb and in the neurogenesis. We are also pursuing the mechanisms/rules regulating the formation of a functional neural circuit between the olfactory bulb and olfactory cortex.

 

[Olfactory Inflammation]

We are continuously exposed to a variety of potentially harmful environmental agents, such as bacteria, virus, mold, dust, and pollens, that induce inflammatory responses in the nasal passage and paranasal sinuses (rhinitis, sinusitis, rhinosinusitis). Prolonged olfactory inflammation is a symptom of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), which causes long-lasting, sometimes permanent, olfactory dysfunction. The Imamura lab has established a mouse model of chronic olfactory inflammation. Using this mouse model, we are studying the underlying mechanisms of olfactory dysfunctions observed in CRS patients. In addition, the olfactory dysfunction is one of the earliest symptoms of several neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. Since nasal passage is a possible route through which environmental agents can affect brain function, the laboratory is also actively studying the effects of long-term olfactory inflammation on brain functions.

 

Publications from Imamura lab
2024
  • Imamura F. Effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on the olfactory system development. Front Neural Circuits. 2024 May 15;18:1408187. View in: PubMed
  • Ito A, Miller C, Imamura F. Suppression of BMP signaling restores mitral cell development impaired by FGF signaling deficits in mouse olfactory bulb. Mol Cell Neurosci 2024; 128, 103913. View in: PubMed
2022
  • LaFever BJ, Imamura F. Effects of nasal inflammation on the olfactory bulb. J. Neuroinflammation 2022 Dec 9;19(1):294. View in: PubMed
  • Kishimoto-Urata M, Urata S, Kagoya R, Imamura F, Nagayama S, Reyna RA, Maruyama J, Yamasoba T, Kondo K, Hasegawa-Ishii S, Paessler S. Prolonged and extended impacts of SARS-CoV-2 on the olfactory neurocircuit. Sci Rep. 2022 Apr 6;12(1):5728. View in: PubMed
  • LaFever BJ, Kawasawa YI, Ito A, Imamura F. Pathological consequences of chronic olfactory inflammation on neurite morphology of olfactory bulb projection neurons. Brain Behav Immun Health. 2022 Mar 18;21:100451. View in: PubMed
  • Ito A, Imamura F. Expression of Maf family proteins in glutamatergic neurons of the mouse olfactory bulb. Dev Neurobiol. 2022 Jan;82(1):77-87. View in: PubMed
2021
  • Yang Y, Lee SM, Imamura F, Gowda K, Amin S, Mailman RB. D1 intrinsic activity and functional selectivity affect working memory in prefrontal cortex. Molecular Psychiatry 2021 Feb;26(2):645-655. View in: PubMed
2020
  • Chon U, LaFever, BJ, Nguyen U, Kim Y, Imamura F. Topographically distinct projection patterns of early- and late-generated projection neurons in the mouse olfactory bulb. eNeuro. 2020 Nov 4:ENEURO.0369-20.2020. View in: PubMed
  • Imamura F, Ito A, LaFever BJ. Subpopulations of projection neurons in the olfactory bulb. Front Neural Circuits. 2020 Aug 28;14:561822. View in: PubMed
  • Hasegawa-Ishii S, Imamura F, Nagayama S, Murata M, Shimada A. Differential effects of nasal inflammation and odor deprivation on layer-specific degeneration of the mouse olfactory bulb. eNeuro. 2020 Apr 17;7(2):ENEURO.0403-19.2020. View in: PubMed
  • Mohammad S, Page SJ, Wang L, Ishii S, Li P, Sasaki T, Basha A, Salzberg A, Quezado Z, Imamura F, Nishi H, Isaka K, Corbin JG, Liu JS, Kawasawa YI, Torii M, Hashimoto-Torii K. Kcnn2 blockade reverses learning deficits in a mouse model of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Nat Neurosci. 2020 Apr;23(4):533-543. View in: PubMed
2019
  • Nguyen UP, Imamura F. Regional differences in mitral cell development in mouse olfactory bulb. Journal of Comparative Neurology. 2019 Oct 1; 527:2233-2244. View in: PubMed
  • Hasegawa-Ishii S, Shimada A, Imamura F. Neuroplastic changes in the olfactory bulb associated with nasal inflammation in mice. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2019 Mar;143(3):978-989. View in: PubMed
  • Homma R, Lv X, Sato T, Imamura F, Zeng S, Nagayama S. Narrowly Confined and Glomerulus-Specific Onset Latencies of Odor-Evoked Calcium Transients in the Juxtaglomerular Cells of the Mouse Main Olfactory Bulb. eNeuro. 2019 Feb 28;6(1). pii: ENEURO.0387-18.2019. View in: PubMed
2017
  • Imamura F, Cooper TK, Hasegawa-Ishii S, Sonobe T, Haouzi P. Hydrogen Sulfide Specifically Alters NAD(P)H Quinone Dehydrogenase 1 (NQO1) Olfactory Neurons in the Rat. Neuroscience. 2017 Dec 16; 366:105-112. View in: PubMed
  • Hasegawa-Ishii S, Shimada A, Imamura F. Lipopolysaccharide-initiated persistent rhinitis causes gliosis and synaptic loss in the olfactory bulb. Sci Rep. 2017 Sep 14; 7(1):11605. View in: PubMed
  • Inokuchi K, Imamura F, Takeuchi H, Kim R, Okuno H, Nishizumi H, Bito H, Kikusui T, Sakano H. Nrp2 is sufficient to instruct circuit formation of mitral-cells to mediate odour-induced attractive social responses. Nat Commun. 2017 Jul 21; 8:15977. View in: PubMed
2016
  • Imamura F, Hasegawa-Ishii S. Environmental Toxicants-Induced Immune Responses in the Olfactory Mucosa. Front Immunol. 2016; 7:475. View in: PubMed
  • Kawasawa YI, Salzberg AC, Li M, Sestan N, Greer CA, Imamura F. RNA-seq analysis of developing olfactory bulb projection neurons. Mol Cell Neurosci. 2016; 74:78-86. View in: PubMed
2015
  • Rodriguez-Gil DJ, Bartel DL, Jaspers AW, Mobley AS, Imamura F, Greer CA. Odorant receptors regulate the final glomerular coalescence of olfactory sensory neuron axons. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 May 05; 112(18):5821-6. View in: PubMed
  • Imamura F, Greer CA. Segregated labeling of olfactory bulb projection neurons based on their birthdates. Eur J Neurosci. 2015 Jan; 41(2):147-56. View in: PubMed
2014
  • Nagayama S, Homma R, Imamura F. Neuronal organization of olfactory bulb circuits. Front Neural Circuits. 2014; 8:98. View in: PubMed
  • Mobley AS, Rodriguez-Gil DJ, Imamura F, Greer CA. Aging in the olfactory system. Trends Neurosci. 2014 Feb; 37(2):77-84. View in: PubMed
Publications before joining Penn State (Postdoc and Ph. D. training)
  • Imamura F, Greer CA. Pax6 regulates Tbr1 and Tbr2 expressions in olfactory bulb mitral cells. Mol Cell Neurosci. 2013 May; 54:58-70. View in: PubMed
  • Imamura F, Ayoub AE, Rakic P, Greer CA. Timing of neurogenesis is a determinant of olfactory circuitry. Nat Neurosci. 2011 Mar; 14(3):331-7. View in: PubMed
  • Imamura F, Greer CA. Dendritic branching of olfactory bulb mitral and tufted cells: regulation by TrkB. PLoS One. 2009 Aug 25; 4(8):e6729. View in: PubMed
  • Fletcher ML, Masurkar AV, Xing J, Imamura F, Xiong W, Nagayama S, Mutoh H, Greer CA, Knöpfel T, Chen WR. Optical imaging of postsynaptic odor representation in the glomerular layer of the mouse olfactory bulb. J Neurophysiol. 2009 Aug; 102(2):817-30. View in: PubMed
  • Imamura F, Nagao H, Naritsuka H, Murata Y, Taniguchi H, Mori K. A leucine-rich repeat membrane protein, 5T4, is expressed by a subtype of granule cells with dendritic arbors in specific strata of the mouse olfactory bulb. J Comp Neurol. 2006 Apr 20; 495(6):754-68. View in: PubMed
  • Imamura F, Maeda S, Doi T, Fujiyoshi Y. Ligand binding of the second PDZ domain regulates clustering of PSD-95 with the Kv1.4 potassium channel. J Biol Chem. 2002 Feb 01; 277(5):3640-6. View in: PubMed
  • Imamura F, Arimoto I, Fujiyoshi Y, Doi T. W276 mutation in the endothelin receptor subtype B impairs Gq coupling but not Gi or Go coupling. Biochemistry. 2000 Feb 01; 39(4):686-92. View in: PubMed