Richard I. Morimoto is a Japanese American molecular biologist. He is the William and Gayle Cook Professor of Biology and Director of the Rice Institute for Biomedical Research at Northwestern University.

Education and academic career

He holds a B.S. from the University of Illinois at Chicago, received a Ph.D. in biology (laboratory of Professor Murray Rabinowitz) from The University of Chicago in 1978, and was a postdoctoral fellow in the (laboratory of Professor Matthew Meselson) and was a Tutor in Biochemical Sciences at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA. In 1982, Morimoto joined the faculty of the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. He served previously as the Chair of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology, the Dean of The Graduate School, and the Associate Provost of Graduate Education at Northwestern University.

Civic leadership

Science

Morimoto is widely recognized for his research on the regulation of the heat shock stress response and the function of molecular chaperones. His current research is to understand how organisms sense and respond to physiologic and environmental stress through the activation of genetic pathways that integrate stress responses with molecular and cellular responses that determine cell growth and cell death. The stress of misfolded and damaged proteins influences neuronal function and lifespan at the level of the organism. Consequently, these studies provide a molecular basis to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases including Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, ALS, and Alzheimer's disease. His laboratory has published over 250 papers and three monographs including two books on the Heat Shock Response and Molecular Chaperones from Cold Spring Harbor Press. During that period he received two MERIT awards from the National Institutes of Health and has been supported by the grants from the National Institutes for General Medical Science, National Institutes of Aging, National Institutes for Neurological Diseases and Stroke, American Cancer Society, Huntington's Disease Society of America, the Hereditary Disease Foundation, and the ALS Association. In addition to giving frequent talks at universities and scientific symposia throughout the world, he has been a visiting professor at the Technion University in Israel, Osaka University, Kyoto University, Kyoto Sangyo University, University of Rome, Beijing University, Åbo Akademi University in Finland, and École Normale Supérieure in Paris. He is a founder of Proteostasis Therapeutics, Inc. in Cambridge, MA, a biotech company that is discovering and developing novel small molecule therapeutics designed to control the body's protein homeostasis. These novel therapies are designed to treat multiple degenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, cancer, and type II diabetes.

Science recognition

Significant papers

  • Wu, B.; Hunt, C.; Morimoto, R.I. (1985). . Mol. Cell. Biol. 5 (2): 330–341. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Abravaya, K.; Phillips, B.; Morimoto, R.I. (1991). . Genes & Development. 5 (11): 2117–27. doi:. PMID .
  • Sarge, K.; Zimarino, V.; Holm, K.; Wu, C.; Morimoto, R.I. (1991). . Genes & Development. 5 (10): 1902–1911. doi:. PMID .
  • Abravaya, K.; Myers, M.; Murphy, S.; Morimoto, R.I. (1992). . Genes & Development. 6 (7): 1153–1164. doi:. PMID .
  • Jurivich, D.; Sistonen, L.; Kroes, R.; Morimoto, R.I. (1992). "Effects of Sodium Salicylate on the Human Heat Shock Response". Science. 255 (5049): 1243–1245. Bibcode:. doi:. PMID .
  • Lee, B.; Chen, J.; Jurivich, D.; Angelidis, C.; Morimoto, R.I. (1995). . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 92 (16): 7207–7211. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Freeman, B.C.; Morimoto, R.I. (1996). . EMBO Journal. 15 (12): 2969–2979. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Freeman, B.C.; Toft, D.; Morimoto, R.I.; Chaperone Machines, Molecular (1996). "Chaperone Activities of the Cyclophilin CyP-40 and the Steroid Aporeceptor Associated Protein p23". Science. 274 (5293): 1718–1720. doi:. PMID . S2CID .
  • Kanei-Ishii, C. Tanikawa J. Nakai A. Morimoto R.I.; Ishii, S. (1997). "Activation of heat shock transcription factor 3 by c-Myb in the absence of cellular stress". Science. 277 (5323): 246–8. doi:. PMID .
  • Shi, Y. D. Mosser; Morimoto, R.I. (1998). . Genes & Development. 12 (5): 654–666. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Morimoto, R.I. (1998). . Genes & Development. 12 (24): 3788–3796. doi:. PMID .
  • Satyal, S.; Schmidt, E.; Kitagawa, K.; Sondheimer, N.; Lindquist, S.; Morimoto, R.I. (2000). . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 97 (11): 5750–5755. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Thress, K.; Song, J.; Morimoto, R.I.; Kornbluth, S. (2001). . EMBO Journal. 20 (5): 103–1041. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Song, J.; Takeda, M.; Morimoto, R.I. (2001). "Hsp70-Bag1 Complex Mediates a Physiological Stress Signaling Pathway that Regulates Raf-1/Erk and Cell Growth". Nature Cell Biology. 3 (3): 276–282. doi:. PMID . S2CID .
  • Shen, X.; Ellis, R.E.; Lee, K.; Liu, C.-Y.; Yang, K.; Solomon, A.; Yoshida, H.; Morimoto, R.; Kurnit, D.M.; Mori, K.; Kaufman, R.J. (2001). . Cell. 107 (7): 893–903. doi:. PMID . S2CID .
  • Morley, J. F.; Brignull, H. R.; Weyers, J. J.; R. I., Morimoto (2002). . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 99 (16): 10417–10422. Bibcode:. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Morimoto, R.I. (2002). . Cell. 110 (3): 281–284. doi:. PMID . S2CID .
  • Kim, S.; Nollen, E.A.A.; Kitagawa, K.; Bindokas, V.; Morimoto, R.I. (2002). "Polyglutamine Protein Aggregates are Dynamic". Nature Cell Biology. 4 (10): 826–831. doi:. PMID . S2CID .
  • Holmberg, C.; Staniszewski, K.; Mensah, K.; Chavez, A.; Matouschek, A.; Morimoto, R.I. (2004). . EMBO Journal. 23 (21): 4307–4318. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Morley, J.F.; Morimoto, R.I. (2004). . Mol. Biol. Cell. 15 (2): 657–664. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Brignull, H.; Moore, F.; Tang, S.; Morimoto, R.I. (2006). . Journal of Neuroscience. 26 (29): 7597–7606. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Gidalevitz, T.; Ben-Zvi, A.; Ho, K.; Brignull, H.; Morimoto, R.I. (2006). . Science. 311 (5766): 1471–1474. Bibcode:. doi:. PMID . S2CID .
  • Garcia, S.; Casanueva, M.O.; Silva, C.; Amaral, M.; Morimoto, R.I. (2007). . Genes & Development. 21 (22): 3006–3016. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Balch, W. E.; Morimoto, R.I.; Dillin, A.; Kelly, J. W. (2008). "Adapting Proteostasis for Disease Intervention". Science. 319 (5865): 916–919. Bibcode:. doi:. PMID . S2CID .
  • Morimoto, R.I. (2008). . Genes & Development. 22 (11): 1427–1438. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Prahlad, V.; Cornelius, T.; Morimoto, R.I. (2008). . Science. 320 (5877): 811–814. Bibcode:. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Powers, E.T.; Morimoto, R.I.; Dillin, A.; Kelly, J.W.; Balch, W.E. (2009). "Biological and Chemical Approaches to Diseases of Proteostasis Deficiency". Annual Review of Biochemistry. 78: 959–991. doi:. PMID .
  • Westerheide, S.D.; Anckar, J.; Stevens, S.; Sistonen, L.; Morimoto, R.I. (2009). . Science. 323 (5917): 1063–1066. Bibcode:. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Ben-Zvi-A; Miller, E.A.; Morimoto, R.I. (2009). . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 106 (35): 14914–14919. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Åkerfelt, M.; Morimoto, R.I.; Sistonen, L. (2010). . Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology. 11 (8): 545–555. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Gidalevitz, T; Prahlad, V; Morimoto, RI (June 2011). . Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 3 (6) a009704. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Prahlad, V; Morimoto, RI (2011). . Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 108 (34): 14204–9. Bibcode:. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Teixeira-Castro, A; Ailion, M; Jalles, A; et al. (August 2011). . Hum. Mol. Genet. 20 (15): 2996–3009. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Calamini, B.; Silva, C.; Madoux, F.; Hutt, D. M.; Khanna, S.; Chalfant, M.; Hodder, P.; Tait, B.; Garza, D.; Balch, W.; Morimoto, R.I. (2012). . Nature Chemical Biology. 8 (2): 185–196. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Morimoto, RI (2011). . Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 76: 91–9. doi:. PMID .
  • Silva, M. C.; Fox, S.; Thakkar, H.; Beam, M. J. Rivera; Amaral, M. D.; Morimoto, R.I. (2011). . PLOS Genetics. 7 (12) e1002438. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Rampelt, H; Kirstein-Miles, J; Nillegoda, NB; Chi, K; Scholz, SR; Morimoto, RI; Bukau, B (2012). . EMBO J. 31 (21): 4221–35. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Labbadia, J.; Morimoto, R.I. (2013). . Trends in Biochemical Sciences. 38 (8): 378–385. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • van Oosten-Hawle, P.; Porter, R.; Morimoto, R. I. (2013). . Cell. 153 (6): 1366–1378. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Kirstein-Miles, J; Scior, A; Deuerling, E; Morimoto, RI (2013). . EMBO J. 32 (10): 1451–68. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Guisbert, E.; Czyz, D. M.; Richter, K.; McMullen, P. D.; Morimoto, R. I. (2013). . PLOS Genetics. 9 (4) e1003466. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Krammer, C.; Park, K.W.; Li, L.; Melki, R.; Morimoto, R.I. (2013). . PLOS Genetics. 9 (3) e1003351. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Ciryam, P; Morimoto, RI; Vendruscolo, M; Dobson, CM; O'Brien, EP (2013). . Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 110 (2): E132-40. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Ciryam, P.; Tartaglia, G. G.; Morimoto, R. I.; Dobson, C. M.; Vendruscolo, M. (2013). . Cell Reports. 5 (3): 781–790. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Gidalevitz, G.; Wang, N.; Deravaj, T.; Morimoto, R.I. (2013). . BMC Biology. 11: 100. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Silva, M. C.; Amaral, M. D.; Morimoto, R.I. (2013). . PLOS Genetics. 9 (8) e1003711. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Roth, DM; Hutt, DM; Tong, J; Bouchecareilh, M; Wang, N; Seeley, T; Dekkers, JF; Beekman, JM; Garza, D; Drew, L; Masliah, E; Morimoto, RI; Balch, WE (2014). . PLOS Biol. 12 (11) e1001998. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Kennedy, BK; Berger, SL; Brunet, A; Campisi, J; Cuervo, AM; Epel, ES; Franceschi, C; Lithgow, GJ; Morimoto, RI; Pessin, JE; Rando, TA; Richardson, A; Schadt, EE; Wyss-Coray, T; Sierra, F (2014). . Cell. 159 (4): 709–13. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Brehme, M; Voisine, C; Rolland, T; Wachi, S; Soper, JH; Zhu, Y; Orton, K; Villella, A; Garza, D; Vidal, M; Ge, H; Morimoto, RI (2014). . Cell Rep. 9 (3): 1135–50. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • van Oosten-Hawle, P; Morimoto, RI (2014). . Genes Dev. 28 (14): 1533–43. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Shibata, Y; Morimoto, RI (2014). . Curr Biol. 24 (10): R463-74. Bibcode:. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Yu, A; Shibata, Y; Shah, B; Calamini, B; Lo, DC; Morimoto, RI (2014). . Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 111 (15): E1481-90. Bibcode:. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Tatum, MC; Ooi, FK; Chikka, MR; Chauve, L; Martinez-Velazquez, LA; Steinbusch, HW; Morimoto, RI; Prahlad, V (2015). . Curr Biol. 25 (2): 163–74. Bibcode:. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Teixeira-Castro, A; Jalles, A; Esteves, S; Kang, S; da Silva Santos, L; Silva-Fernandes, A; Neto, MF; Brielmann, RM; Bessa, C; Duarte-Silva, S; Miranda, A; Oliveira, S; Neves-Carvalho, A; Bessa, J; Summavielle, T; Silverman, RB; Oliveira, P; Morimoto, RI; Maciel, P (2015). . Brain. 138 (11): 3221–37. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Nillegoda, NB; Kirstein, J; Szlachcic, A; Berynskyy, M; Stank, A; Stengel, F; Arnsburg, K; Gao, X; Scior, A; Aebersold, R; Guilbride, DL; Wade, RC; Morimoto, RI; Mayer, MP; Bukau, B (2015). . Nature. 524 (7564): 247–51. Bibcode:. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Kirstein, J; Morito, D; Kakihana, T; Sugihara, M; Minnen, A; Hipp, MS; Nussbaum-Krammer, C; Kasturi, P; Hartl, FU; Nagata, K; Morimoto, RI (2015). . EMBO J. 34 (18): 2334–49. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Labbadia, J.; Morimoto, R.I. (2015). . Molecular Cell. 59 (4): 639–650. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Walther, DM; Kasturi, P; Zheng, M; Pinkert, S; Vecchi, G; Ciryam, P; Morimoto, RI; Dobson, CM; Vendruscolo, M; Mann, M; Hartl, FU (2015). . Cell. 161 (4): 919–32. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Labbadia, J; Morimoto, RI (2015). . Annu Rev Biochem. 84: 435–64. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Yu, MS; Kim, BH; Kang, SH; Lim, DJ (2015). "Combined use of crushed cartilage and fibrin sealant for radix augmentation in Asian rhinoplasty". Plast Reconstr Surg. 135 (2): 293e–300e. doi:. PMID . S2CID .
  • Ciryam, P.; Kundra, R.; Freer, R.; Morimoto, R. I.; Dobson, C. M.; Vendruscolo, M. (2016). . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 113 (17): 4753–4758. Bibcode:. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Li, J.; Chauve, L.; Phelps, G.; Brielmann, R.; Morimoto, R. I. (2016). . Genes & Development. 30 (18): 2062–2075. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Winter, P. B.; Brielmann, R. M.; Timkovich, N. P.; Navarro, H. T.; Teixeira-Castro, A.; Morimoto, R. I.; Amaral, L. A. N. (2016). . Scientific Reports. 6 34859. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Labbadia, J.; Brielmann, R.; Neto, M.; Lin, Y.-F.; Haynes, C. M.; Morimoto, R. I. (2017). . Cell Reports. 21 (6): 1481–1494. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Ciryam, P.; Lambert-Smith, I.; Bean, D. M.; Saunders, D. N.; Wilson, M. R.; Morimoto, R. I.; Oliver, S. G.; Dobson, C. M.; Vendruscolo, M.; Favrin, G.; Yerbury, J. J. (2017). . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 114 (20): E3935–E3943. doi:. hdl:. PMC . PMID .
  • Sala, A. J.; Bott, L. C.; Morimoto, R. I. (2017). . Journal of Cell Biology. 216 (5): 1231–1241. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Kundra, R.; Ciryam, P.; Morimoto, R. I.; Dobson, C. M.; Vendruscolo, M. (2017). . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 114 (28): E5703–E5711. Bibcode:. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Li, J.; Labbadia, J.; Morimoto, R. I. (2017). . Trends in Cell Biology. 27 (12): 895–905. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Kirstein, J.; Arnsburg, K.; Scior, A.; Szlachcic, A.; Lys Guilbride, D.; Morimoto, R. I.; Bukau, B.; Nillegoda, N. B. (2017). . Aging Cell. 16 (6): 1414–1424. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Stoeger, T.; Gerlach, M.; Morimoto, R. I.; Amaral, L. N. (2018). . PLOS Biology. 16 (9) e2006643. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Yu, A.; Fox, S. G.; Cavallini, A.; Kerridge, C.; O'Neill, M. J.; Wolak, J.; Bose, S.; Morimoto, R. I.; et al. (2019). . Journal of Biological Chemistry. 294 (19): 7917–7930. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Morimoto, R. I. (2019). . Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology. 12 (4) a034074. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Morimoto, R. I. (April 2020). Morimoto, R. I.; Hartl, F. U.; Kelly, J. W. (eds.). . Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology. 12 (4) a034074. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Sala, A. J.; Bott, L. C.; Brielmann, R. M.; Morimoto, R. I. (2020). . Genes & Development. 34 (9–10): 678–687. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Sinnige, T.; Meisl, G.; Michaels, T. C. T.; Vendruscolo, M.; Knowles, T. P. J.; Morimoto, R. I.; et al. (2021). . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 118 (11). doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Capano, L. S.; Sato, C.; Ficulle, E.; Yu, A.; Horie, K.; Barthelemy, N. R.; Fox, S. G.; Karch, C. M.; Bateman, R. J.; Houlden, H.; Morimoto, R. I.; Holtzman, D. M.; Duff, K. E.; Yoo, A. S.; et al. (2022). . Cell Stem Cell. 29 (6): 918–932. doi:. PMC . PMID .
  • Morimoto, R. I.; Budinger, G.S. (2022). "Ch. 491: Protein Folding Disorders". In Loscalzo, J.; Fauci, A.; Kasper, D. L.; Hauser, S. L.; Longo, D. L.; Jameson, J. L. (eds.). Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. p. 21.
  • Sala, A. J.; Morimoto, R. I. (2022). . Trends in Cell Biology. 32 (3): 202–215. doi:. PMC . PMID .

In pop culture

In a YouTube video published in 2009, members of the Morimoto lab showed C. elegans forming a smiley face on a culture plate. The video description jokes that when a post doc in the lab told them to smile, the C. elegans, lacking faces as individuals, formed the smiley face as a group, suggesting that they are intelligent, have ears, and can work in groups. In reality, the footage is playing in reverse: the C. elegans were placed into that formation on the plate by a human and then crawled away. By reversing the footage, it looks like the C. elegans spontaneously form a smiley face. The video manipulation is hinted at in the description that reminds the viewers that the YFP is brighter in the individuals' head than their tails.

External links

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