Updated on 2026/05/01

写真a

 
AKAHORI Yuichi
 
Organization
Research Field in ? Assistant Professor
Title
Assistant Professor
Degree
(Kyoto University)

Research Interests

  • 肝炎ウイルス

  • ウイルス学

  • SARS-CoV-2

Research Areas

Virology

Education

  • 2011.4 - 2021.3    Kyoto University   Graduate School of Biostudies

Research History

  • 2026.4    長崎大学パンデミック総合研究センター   客員研究員（兼務教員）

  • 2024.4    Joint Research Center for Human Retrovirus Infection Kagoshima University Campus   Div. of Antiviral Therapy   Assistant Professor

  • 2023.4 - 2024.3    Institute for Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University   Department of Biosystems Science, Lab. of Regulatory Information

  • 2021.4 - 2023.3    Institute for Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University   Department of Virus Research, Lab. of Tumor Viruses

Professional Memberships

  •    日本再生医療学会

  •    日本ウイルス学会

 

Papers

  • Yasuhiro Hayashi, Sei Arizono, Nanami Higa, Trianda Ayuning Tyas, Yuichi Akahori, Kenji Maeda, Masaaki Toyama, Kanami Mori-Yasumoto, Mina Yasumoto-Hirose, Kei Miyakawa, Junichi Tanaka, Takahiro Jomori .  Onnamides A and B Suppress Hepatitis B Virus Transcription by Inhibiting Viral Promoter Activity .  Marine Drugs24 ( 1 ) 21 - 21   2026.1Reviewed

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：MDPI AG  

    We recently reported that onnamide A, a marine-derived natural compound isolated from the sponge Theonella sp., inhibits the entry process of SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, its antiviral activity against other viruses remains largely unexplored. Here, we investigated the effects of onnamide A and its structurally related analog, onnamide B, on hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Using iNTCP cells, a hepatoblastoma-derived cell line permissive to HBV infection, we found that onnamides A and B exhibited cytotoxicity, with CC50 values of 0.53 ± 0.10 μM and 2.37 ± 0.25 μM, respectively. Following HBV infection, the levels of total HBV RNA were significantly reduced by onnamide A (IC50 = 0.06 ± 0.01 μM) and onnamide B (IC50 = 0.23 ± 0.06 μM). Notably, both compounds markedly decreased the levels of HBV pregenomic RNA. Furthermore, significant inhibition was particularly evident when onnamide treatment was initiated after HBV infection. Consistent with these observations, onnamides did not affect HBV binding, entry, or covalently closed circular DNA formation, but they significantly suppressed HBV RNA transcription. In particular, the transcriptional activities driven by the core and X promoters were markedly inhibited by onnamide treatment. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that onnamides possess potent anti-HBV activity and highlight their potential as candidate compounds targeting HBV RNA transcription.

    DOI： 10.3390/md24010021

    Scopus

    PubMed

  • Yuichi Akahori, Hiroki Kato, Takashi Fujita, Kohji Moriishi, Yasuhito Tanaka, Koichi Watashi, Michio Imamura, Kazuaki Chayama, Takaji Wakita, Makoto Hijikata .  Establishment of a novel hepatitis B virus culture system using immortalized human hepatocytes .  Scientific Reports   2020.12Reviewed

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    Authorship：Lead author   Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

    DOI： 10.1038/s41598-020-78655-x

  • Yasunori Nio, Machiko Sasai, Yuichi Akahori, Hitomi Okamura, Hikari Hasegawa, Mizuki Oshima, Koichi Watashi, Takaji Wakita, Akihide Ryo, Yasuhito Tanaka, Makoto Hijikata .  Bardoxolone methyl as a novel potent antiviral agent against hepatitis B and C viruses in human hepatocyte cell culture systems .  Antiviral Research   2019.6Reviewed

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    Authorship：Lead author   Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

    DOI： 10.1016/j.antiviral.2019.104537

  • Yasunori Nio, Yuichi Akahori, Hitomi Okamura, Koichi Watashi, Takaji Wakita, Makoto Hijikata .  Inhibitory effect of fasiglifam on hepatitis B virus infections through suppression of the sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide .  Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications   2018.6Reviewed

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

    DOI： 10.1016/j.bbrc.2018.04.199

  • Hitomi Okamura, Yasunori Nio, Yuichi Akahori, Sulyi Kim, Koichi Watashi, Takaji Wakita, Makoto Hijikata .  Fatty acid biosynthesis is involved in the production of hepatitis B virus particles .  Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications   2016.7Reviewed

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

    DOI： 10.1016/j.bbrc.2016.05.043

  • Yasunori Nio, Hikari Hasegawa, Hitomi Okamura, Yohei Miyayama, Yuichi Akahori, Makoto Hijikata .  Liver-specific mono-unsaturated fatty acid synthase-1 inhibitor for anti-hepatitis C treatment .  Antiviral Research   2016.7Reviewed

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

    DOI： 10.1016/j.antiviral.2016.07.003

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MISC

  • 肝炎ウイルス培養系と抗ウイルス薬開発への応用

    赤堀 祐一, 土方 誠

    日本臨床   81 ( 増刊7 ウイルス性肝炎学2023 )   65 - 71   2023.7

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    Authorship：Lead author   Language：Japanese   Publisher：(株)日本臨床社  

  • Development of hepatitis B virus culture systems

    70 ( 2 )   135 - 145   2020.12

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    Authorship：Lead author   Language：Japanese  

    DOI： https://doi.org/10.2222/jsv.70.135

Research Projects

  • SARS-CoV-2感染マウスモデルを用いたCOVID-19病態制御に向けた創薬研究

    2025.6 - 2026.3

    ヒトレトロウイルス学共同研究センター  キャンパス間共同研究推進プロジェクト 

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    Authorship：Principal investigator 

  • 難治性ウイルスを標的としたウイルス横断的な創薬研究

    Grant number：25K19633  2025.4 - 2028.3

    日本学術振興会  科学研究費助成事業  若手研究

    赤堀 祐一

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    Grant amount：\4810000 （ Direct Cost: \3700000 、 Indirect Cost：\1110000 ）

  • RNAウイルスの複製を阻害する新規宿主因子の同定に関する研究

    2022.4 - 2023.3

    一般財団法人 伊藤忠兵衛基金  2022年（令和４年）度学術研究助成金 

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    Authorship：Principal investigator 

  • Elucidation of virus-host cell interaction using bardoxolone methyl

    Grant number：21K20758  2021.8 - 2022.3

    Japan Society for the Promotion of Science  Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up  Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up

    Akahori Yuichi

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    Grant amount：\1560000 （ Direct Cost: \1200000 、 Indirect Cost：\360000 ）

    We have previously reported that bardoxolone methyl (BARD), known as Nrf2 activator, promotes degradation of intracellular hepatitis B virus (HBV) RNA in HBV-producing cells. In this study, we analyzed the gene expression profile in BARD-treated cells using RNA-Seq and found that several genes are novel anti-HBV host restriction factors. In particular, the identification of Nrf2-independent anti-HBV factors that are activated by BARD treatment is an important achievement in our study.

  • ＨＢＶ ｐｇＲＮＡの安定性を制御する宿主因子の同定

    Grant number：20H01083  2020.4 - 2021.3

    日本学術振興会  科学研究費助成事業 奨励研究  奨励研究

    赤堀 祐一

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    Grant amount：\480000 （ Direct Cost: \480000 ）

    本研究では、所属研究室で見出したBardoxolone methyl（BARD）によるB 型肝炎ウイルス（HBV）pregenome RNA（pgRNA）の分解促進による増殖抑制効果に関してその分子機構の解析を行った。ルシフェラーゼ遺伝子を組み込んだHBV pgRNA発現レポータープラスミドとその各種欠損型変異体を作製し、BARD効果を解析したところ、HBV pgRNAの特定の領域がBARD処理に応答することが明らかになった。このことからBARDの効果はHBV RNA特異的に相互作用する細胞因子を介したものである可能性が考えられ、HBV RNA分解の新たな分子機構の存在が示唆された。