Emeritus Professor
Yamagata University School of Medicine
Yamagata, Yamagata, Japan
Prof. Dr. Akitada Ichinose, MD and PhD, is the ex-chairman of the Department of Molecular Patho-Biochemistry and Patho-Biology, Yamagata University School of Medicine, and emeritus professor of Yamagata University. He started his research in 1978, studying clinical aspects of hemophilia, DIC, and cerebral thrombosis and conducted basic biochemical research on the cross-linking of 2-plasmin inhibitors, initiation of fibrinolysis, activation of tissue plasminogen activator and pro-urokinase, and fibrin binding.
In the mid-1980s, Prof. Ichinose started molecular biology studies on coagulation factors, determined the primary and genomic structure of A and B subunits of factor XIII/13 (FXIII), and elucidated the genetic and molecular defects of hereditary FXIII deficiency. His group established FXIII-A and FXIII-B subunit knockout mice and demonstrated recurrent spontaneous miscarriages due to placental bleeding and excessive cardiac fibrosis. Prof. Ichinose also cloned the plasminogen gene, determined its regulation, and identified the genetic mutations underlying abnormal plasminogen expression. He was the first to clone the gene encoding apolipoprotein(a) and characterize the relationship between its genetic polymorphisms and differential expression levels. He cloned the cDNA for protein Z (PZ) and determined its genomic structure and the basis of PZ gene regulation. He was also the first to characterize the genetic and molecular defects associated with congenital deficiencies.
Since 2009, Prof. Ichinose has conducted a nationwide survey on acquired/autoimmune hemorrhaphilia caused by anti-FXIII autoantibodies and proposed its international diagnostic criteria. Recently, he has established autoimmune FXIII (AiF13D), factor VIII/8, von Willebrand factor, factor V/5, and factor X/10 deficiencies as “designated intractable disease-282” in Japan. In 2023, his research team isolated 17 “human monoclonal” antibody cDNAs from a single AiF13D patient and elucidated their epitopes and the mechanisms of action of autoantibodies for the first time. Prof. Ichinose won the 2023 Eberhard F. Mammen award from the journal Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis.
Monday, June 24, 2024
08:50 – 09:10 ICT