Redox Pioneer: Professor Hideo Kimura.

David Lefer

doi:10.1089/ars.2018.7618

Abstract

Dr. Hideo Kimura is recognized as a redox pioneer because he has published an article in the field of antioxidant and redox biology that has been cited >1000 times, and 29 articles that have been cited >100 times. Since the first description of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) as a toxic gas 300 years ago, most studies have been devoted to its toxicity. In 1996, Dr. Kimura demonstrated a physiological role of H2S as a mediator of cognitive function and cystathionine β-synthase as an H2S-producing enzyme. In the following year, he showed H2S as a vascular smooth muscle relaxant in synergy with nitric oxide and its production by cystathionine γ-lyase in vasculature. Subsequently he reported the cytoprotective effect of H2S on neurons against oxidative stress. Since then, studies on H2S have unveiled numerous physiological roles such as the regulation of inflammation, cell growth, oxygen sensing, and senescence. He also discovered polysulfides (H2Sn), which have a higher number of sulfur atoms than H2S and are one of the active forms of H2S, as potent signaling molecules produced by 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase. H2Sn regulate ion channels and transcription factors to upregulate antioxidant genes, tumor suppressors, and protein kinases to, in turn, regulate blood pressure. These findings led to the re-evaluation of other persulfurated molecules such as cysteine persulfide and glutathione persulfide. Dr. Kimura is a pioneer of studies on H2S and H2Sn as signaling molecules.It is fortunate to come across a secret of nature and pick it up. —Prof. Hideo Kimura

Highlights

Development and TrainingDr Kimura graduated from the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, in 1980 and received his PhD from the University of Tokyo in 1985
He studied neurotransmitters in the cerebellum using electrophysiological techniques at the National Defense Medical College [33, 64], and the gene structure of cytochrome P-450 at the Cancer Institute [35, 36]. He completed his postdoctoral studies at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies where he identified a novel growth factor, Schwannoma-derived growth factor, as well as activin [28, 32, 34, 71]
He continued working at the Salk Institute as a senior staff scientist, where he identified presenilin-binding protein (PBP), a novel guanine nucleotide exchange factor that activates Rac [27]

Summary

Development and Training

Dr Kimura graduated from the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, in 1980 and received his PhD from the University of Tokyo in 1985. Dr Kimura showed that H2S enhances the activity of KATP and CFTR Cl- channels to suppress the excessive excitation of neurons by stabilizing membrane potential [37] (Fig. 7) This finding led to the identification of the cytoprotective effect of H2S on various tissues and organs, including the heart, kidney, retina, pancreas, and intestines, and the regulation of endoplasmic reticulum stress [14, 26, 45, 49, 72, 85, 93]. HNO is resistant to cyanolysis and SSNO- to reduction [10, 13] Considering these observations, Kimura’s group suggested that the production of H2Sn from H2S and NO may be one of the mechanisms for the synergistic effects of both molecules on various tissues, including vascular smooth muscle relaxation [12, 21]

Other Achievements

Current Position

Abbreviations Used