Kazuhiro Abe

Outline of research

In response to food intake, the pH in our stomach decreases to around 1. This highly acidic environment, generated by the gastric proton pump (H+,K+-ATPase), is indispensable for digestion, but in some cases it can cause gastric ulcer or gastroesophageal-reflux disease. By determining structures of proton pumps by electron crystallography, I hope to address the unique mechanisms by which acid-suppressing drugs block proton secretion, and to determine how the gastric proton pump manages in such an acidic environment, conditions that are not encountered by any other membrane pump in nature.

Professional career

1999	BS, HokkaidoUniversity
2004	PhD, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University
2003	JSPS Research Fellow (DC2), Hokkaido University
2004	JSPS Research Fellow (PD), Kyoto University
2008	JBiCresearch associate, Kyoto University
2012	Assistant Professor, Cellular and Structural Physiology Institute (CeSPI) and Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Science, Nagoya University

External Links

Paper

1.	Cryo-EM structure of gastric H+,K+-ATPase with a single occupied cation-binding site. Abe, K., Tani, K., Friedrich, T. &Fujiyoshi, Y. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA., 109, 18401-18406 (2012)
2.	Conformational rearrangement of gastric H+,K+-ATPase with an acid suppressant. Abe, K., Tani, K. &Fujiyoshi, Y. Nat. Commun., 2, 155 (2011).
3.	Structural and functional characterization of H+,K+-ATPase with bound fluorinated phosphate analogs. Abe, K., Tani, K. &Fujiyoshi, Y. J. Struct. Biol., 170, 60-68 (2010).
4.	Inter-subunit interaction of gastric H+,K+-ATPase prevents reverse reaction of the transport cycle. Abe, K., Tani, K., Nishizawa, T. &Fujiyoshi, Y. EMBO J., 28, 1637-1643 (2009)
5.	Structural analysis of 2D crystals of gastric H+,K+-ATPase in different states of the transport cycle. Nishizawa, T.†, Abe, K.†, Tani, K. &Fujiyoshi, Y. (†co-first authors) J. Struct. Biol., 162, 219-228 (2008)