is a Japanese scientist who was the sole recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1987 for his discovery of V(D)J recombination, the genetic mechanism which produces antibody diversity. Although he won the Nobel Prize for his work in immunology, Tonegawa is a molecular biologist by training and he again changed fields following his Nobel Prize win; he now studies neuroscience, examining the molecular, cellular and neuronal basis of memory formation and retrieval.

Early life and education
Tonegawa was born in Nagoya, Japan and attended Hibiya High School in Tokyo. While a student at Kyoto University, Tonegawa became fascinated with operon theory after reading papers by François Jacob and Jacques Monod, whom he credits in part for inspiring his interest in molecular biology. Tonegawa graduated from Kyoto University in 1963 and, due to limited options for molecular biology study in Japan at the time, moved to the University of California, San Diego to do his doctorate study under Dr. Masaki Hayashi. He received his Ph.D. in 1968.

Career
Tonegawa conducted post-doctoral work at the Salk Institute in San Diego in the laboratory of Renato Dulbecco. With encouragement from Dr. Dulbecco, Tonegawa moved to the Basel Institute for Immunology in Basel, Switzerland in 1971, where he transitioned from molecular biology into immunology studies and carried out his landmark immunology studies.

In 1981, Tonegawa became a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1994, he was appointed as the first Director of the MIT Center for Learning and Memory, which developed under his guidance into The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory. Tonegawa resigned his directorship in 2006 and currently serves as a Picower Professor of Neuroscience and Biology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.

Tonegawa also served as Director of the RIKEN Brain Science Institute from 2009 to 2017.

Research

Immunology 
Tonegawa's Nobel Prize work elucidated the genetic mechanism of the adaptive immune system, which had been the central question of immunology for over 100 years. Prior to Tonegawa's discovery, one early idea to explain the adaptive immune system suggested that each gene produces one protein; however, there are under 19,000 genes in the human body which nonetheless can produce millions of antibodies. In experiments beginning in 1976, Tonegawa showed that genetic material rearranges itself to form millions of antibodies. Comparing the DNA of B cells (a type of white blood cell) in embryonic and adult mice, he observed that genes in the mature B cells of the adult mice are moved around, recombined, and deleted to form the diversity of the variable region of antibodies. This process is known as V(D)J recombination.

In 1983, Tonegawa also discovered a transcriptional enhancer element associated with antibody gene complex, the first cellular enhancer element.

Neuroscience 
Shortly following his Nobel Prize in 1990, Tonegawa again changed fields from immunology to neuroscience, where he has focused his research in the ensuing years.

Tonegawa's lab pioneered introductory transgenic and gene-knockout technologies in mammalian systems. He was involved in early work demonstrating the importance of CaMKII- (1992) and the NMDA receptor-dependent synaptic plasticity (1996) in memory formation.

Tonegawa's lab discovered that dendritic neuronal spines in the temporal cortex are a likely target for treatment of Fragile X Syndrome. With one dosage of the inhibitor drug FRAX586, Tonegawa showed a marked reduction of FXS symptoms in the mouse model.

Tonegawa was an early adopter of optogenetics and biotechnology in neuroscience research, leading to his groundbreaking work identifying and manipulating memory engram cells. In 2012, his lab demonstrated that the activation of a specific sub-population of mouse hippocampal neurons, labelled during a fear conditioning paradigm, is sufficient to evoke a behavioral response correlated with a precise memory trace. This demonstrated for the first time that memory information is stored in specific cellular ensembles in the hippocampus, now frequently called memory engram cells.

More recently, his lab continues to employ optogenetic technology and virus injection techniques to expand their findings on the engram cell ensemble. Notably, Tonegawa has uncovered the role of memory engram cell ensembles in memory valence, social memory, as well as their role in brain disorders such as depression, amnesia, and Alzheimer's disease. These works provide proofs of concept for future medical treatments in humans through the manipulation of memory engram ensembles.

Personal life
Tonegawa currently resides in the Boston area with his wife, Mayumi Yoshinari Tonegawa, who worked as an NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) director/interviewer and is now a freelance science writer. The Tonegawas have three children, Hidde Tonegawa, Hanna Tonegawa, and Satto Tonegawa (deceased).

Tonegawa is a fan of the Boston Red Sox, and threw out an opening pitch during their 2004 World Series championship season.

Selected awards and honors
1982 – Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize
1983 – Gairdner Foundation International Award
1984 – Order of Culture (Bunkakunsho), Emperor of Japan
1984 – Foreign Associate, American Academy of Arts and Sciences of the United States
1986 – Foreign Associate, National Academy of Sciences of the United States
1986 – Robert Koch Prize
1987 – Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research
1987 – Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine
1995 – honored on a stamp (Scott No. 1635c) issued by Gambia
2004 – Honorary Degree, Kyoto University
2006 – Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science
2007 – RIKEN Fellow
2009 – Honorary Degree, City University of Hong Kong
2010 – David M. Bonner Lifetime Achievement Award, UCSD

Selected publications
 List of publications by Susumu Tonegawa
 Tonegawa, S. (1983). Somatic generation of antibody diversity. Nature, 302(5909), 575-581.
 Gillies, S. D., Morrison, S. L., Oi, V. T., & Tonegawa, S. (1983). A tissue-specific transcription enhancer element is located in the major intron of a rearranged immunoglobulin heavy chain gene. Cell, 33(3), 717-728.
 Mombaerts, P., Iacomini, J., Johnson, R. S., Herrup, K., Tonegawa, S., & Papaioannou, V. E. (1992). RAG-1-deficient mice have no mature B and T lymphocytes. Cell, 68(5), 869-877.
 Silva, A. J., Stevens, C. F., Tonegawa, S., & Wang, Y. (1992). Deficient hippocampal long-term potentiation in alpha-calcium-calmodulin kinase II mutant mice. Science, 257(5067), 201-206.
 Haas, W., Pereira, P., & Tonegawa, S. (1993). Gamma/delta cells. Annual review of immunology, 11(1), 637-685.
 
 Poss, K. D., & Tonegawa, S. (1997). Reduced stress defense in heme oxygenase 1-deficient cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 94(20), 10925-10930.
 Shen, J., Bronson, R. T., Chen, D. F., Xia, W., Selkoe, D. J., & Tonegawa, S. (1997). Skeletal and CNS defects in Presenilin-1-deficient mice. Cell, 89(4), 629-639.
 Nakazawa, K., Quirk, M. C., Chitwood, R. A., Watanabe, M., Yeckel, M. F., Sun, L. D., Kato, A., Carr, C.A., Johnston, D., Wilson, M.A., & Tonegawa, S. (2002). Requirement for hippocampal CA3 NMDA receptors in associative memory recall. Science, 297(5579), 211-218.
 Liu, X., Ramirez, S., Pang, P. T., Puryear, C. B., Govindarajan, A., Deisseroth, K., & Tonegawa, S. (2012). Optogenetic stimulation of a hippocampal engram activates fear memory recall. Nature, 484(7394), 381-385.
 Ramirez, S., Liu, X., Lin, P. A., Suh, J., Pignatelli, M., Redondo, R. L., Ryan, T.J., & Tonegawa, S. (2013). Creating a false memory in the hippocampus. Science, 341(6144), 387-391.

See also
Long-term potentiation
 List of Japanese Nobel laureates
 List of Nobel laureates affiliated with Kyoto University

References

External links

Faculty Webpage at MIT Biology
Description of research at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
The Official Site of Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize
www.tonegawalab.org
Susumu Tonegawa on The Picower Institute

1939 births
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Living people
Japanese immunologists
Japanese molecular biologists
Japanese neuroscientists
Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine
Japanese Nobel laureates
Recipients of the Order of Culture
Kyoto University alumni
Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization
Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science faculty
People from Nagoya
University of California, San Diego alumni
Recipients of the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research
Scripps Research
Howard Hughes Medical Investigators
Riken personnel
도네가와 스스무(, 1939년 9월 5일 ~ )는 일본의 분자생물학자이다. 1987년에 항체 생산 유전자의 면역 매커니즘을 밝힌 공로로 노벨 생리학·의학상을 수상했다.

현재 매사추세츠 공과대학교 교수(생물학과, 뇌인지학과) 외에 하워드 휴즈 의학연구소 연구원, RIKEN-MIT 신경 과학 연구 센터 소장 겸 연구원 등도 겸임하고 있다.

주요 업적 
도네가와는 순응적인 면역 시스템에서 유전자의 매커니즘을 설명한 것으로 유명하다. 어느 종류의 항원이든지 그에 반대하여 몸을 보호하기 위해서 필요한 항체들의 다양성을 확보하기 위해서 만약 각 항체가 하나의 유전자에 암호화되어 있을지라도 면역 체계는 수백만개의 유전자들이 다른 항체들을 유전암호를 지정하도록 요구한다. 대신에 1976년에 시작된 일련의 획기적인 실험에서 도네가와가 보여준 것과 같이 유전 물질은 쓸모있는 항체들의 광대한 배열을 형성하기 위해 스스로 자신을 재배열할 수 있다. 태아와 어른 쥐의 B림프구의 DNA를 비교해 본 결과 그는 어른 쥐의 성숙한 B세포의 유전자들이 변동하는 지역의 항체들의 다양성을 형성하기 위해 돌아다니고 재결합하고 삭제되었다는 것을 알게 되었다.

주요 경력 
 1939년 : 아이치현 나고야시에서 태어남.
 1958년 : 도쿄 도립 히비야 고등학교를 졸업, 부친도 히비야 고등학교 출신임. 대학 입시에서 1년 재수한 뒤 1959년에 교토 대학 이학부에 입학.
 1963년 : 교토 대학 이학부 화학과를 졸업하고 같은 해 4월에는 동 대학원 이학 연구과에 진학, 분자생물학을 연구하기 위해 설립된 지 얼마 안된 캘리포니아 대학교 샌디에이고교 대학원으로 유학을 감.
 1968년 : 캘리포니아 대학교 샌디에이고교 박사 과정 수료(Ph.D. in molecular biology)
 1969년 : 미국 소크 생물학 연구소·둘베코 연구실에서 연구원 생활을 함.
 1971년 : 스위스 바젤 면역학 연구소 주임연구원
 1981년 : 매사추세츠 공과대학교 생물학부 및 암연구소 교수.
 1987년 : 항체생산 유전자의 면역 매커니즘 밝힌 업적에 의해 노벨 생리학·의학상을 수상.
 1994년 : 매사추세츠 공과대학교 학습·기억 연구 센터장.
 2006년 : MIT내 타 연구소의 교관으로 공모하면서 연구 내용이 경합 중이라는 이유로 여성 연구자에게 자진 사퇴를 강요하는 내용의 메일을 보낸 사실이 드러나면서 고발됐다. 당시 매사추세츠 공과대학교의 내부 조사에서 부적절한 내용을 인정하면서도 여성 차별의 증거는 없었다고 보고된 바있다. 2006년을 마지막으로 센터장직에서 물러났다.
 2009년 : 이화학연구소 뇌과학종합연구센터

수상 경력 
 1981년 : 제53회 아사히상
 1983년 : 가드너 국제상
 1984년 : 문화훈장
 1986년 : 로베르트 코흐상
 1987년 : 앨버트 래스커 기초 의학 연구상
 1987년 : 노벨 생리학·의학상
 1990년 : 신초 출판사 학예상(다치바나 다카시와의 공저 《정신과 물질 - 분자생물학은 어디까지 수수께끼를 풀 수 있는 것인가》)

저서 
 《정신과 물질 - 분자생물학은 어디까지 생명의 수수께끼를 풀 수 있을까》 문예춘추·1990년(분슌분고·1993년) 
 《나의 뇌과학 강의》(이와나미 신서 이와나미 서점, 2001년) 
 Tonegawa, S. (1983). Somatic generation of antibody diversity. Nature, 302(5909), 575-581.
 Gillies, S. D., Morrison, S. L., Oi, V. T., & Tonegawa, S. (1983). A tissue-specific transcription enhancer element is located in the major intron of a rearranged immunoglobulin heavy chain gene. Cell, 33(3), 717-728.
 Mombaerts, P., Iacomini, J., Johnson, R. S., Herrup, K., Tonegawa, S., & Papaioannou, V. E. (1992). RAG-1-deficient mice have no mature B and T lymphocytes. Cell, 68(5), 869-877.
 Silva, A. J., Stevens, C. F., Tonegawa, S., & Wang, Y. (1992). Deficient hippocampal long-term potentiation in alpha-calcium-calmodulin kinase II mutant mice. Science, 257(5067), 201-206.
 Haas, W., Pereira, P., & Tonegawa, S. (1993). Gamma/delta cells. Annual review of immunology, 11(1), 637-685 .
 Tsien, J. Z., Huerta, P. T., & Tonegawa, S. (1996). The essential role of hippocampal CA1 NMDA receptor–dependent synaptic plasticity in spatial memory. Cell, 87(7), 1327-1338.
 Poss, K. D., & Tonegawa, S. (1997). Reduced stress defense in heme oxygenase 1-deficient cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 94(20), 10925-10930.
 Shen, J., Bronson, R. T., Chen, D. F., Xia, W., Selkoe, D. J., & Tonegawa, S. (1997). Skeletal and CNS defects in Presenilin-1-deficient mice. Cell, 89(4), 629-639.
 Nakazawa, K., Quirk, M. C., Chitwood, R. A., Watanabe, M., Yeckel, M. F., Sun, L. D., Kato, A., Carr, C.A., Johnston, D., Wilson, M.A., & Tonegawa, S. (2002). Requirement for hippocampal CA3 NMDA receptors in associative memory recall. Science, 297(5579), 211-218.
 Liu, X., Ramirez, S., Pang, P. T., Puryear, C. B., Govindarajan, A., Deisseroth, K., & Tonegawa, S. (2012). Optogenetic stimulation of a hippocampal engram activates fear memory recall. Nature, 484(7394), 381-385.
 Ramirez, S., Liu, X., Lin, P. A., Suh, J., Pignatelli, M., Redondo, R. L., Ryan, T.J., & Tonegawa, S. (2013). Creating a false memory in the hippocampus. Science, 341(6144), 387-391.

각주

외부 링크 

  The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1987 - Susumu Tonegawa - 노벨 재단
  Faculty Webpage at MIT Biology
  Description of research at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
  노벨상 100주년 기념전 - 도네가와 스스무 

1939년 출생
살아있는 사람
일본의 생물학자
일본의 신경과학자
분자생물학자
일본의 면역학자
일본의 노벨상 수상자
노벨 생리학·의학상 수상자
문화훈장 수훈자
미국 과학 아카데미의 회원
이화학연구소 사람
나고야시 출신
교토 대학 동문
캘리포니아 대학교 샌디에고 동문
매사추세츠 공과대학교 교수
앨버트 래스커 기초 의학 연구상 수상자
루이자 그로스 호르위츠상 수상자