Miyuki Shimoji
University of the Ryukyus, Japan
Biography
Miyuki has her expertise in study of drug metabolizing enzymes as microsomal glutathione transferase 1 (MGST1) and cytochrome P450s (CYPs). In her CYP project, she has cloned plant cDNAs and addressed the substrate preference in
the fatty acid hydroxylation on active site modeling. In her MGST1 study, she has purified MGST1 protein and characterized its activation capacity and catalytic activity. Recently she designed and generated K mutants to understand the physiological function of MGST1 in addition to the traditional role of detoxifying xenobiotics on Phase II. She believes that MGST1 has critical cellular protective functions of scavenging the damaged cells in mitochondria and that the evidence will be shown in future. Currently she is focused on the study of brain infarction therapy using a MCAO (middle cerebral artery occlusion) model of mice using the basis of her experience of oxidative stress and prion studies.