Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology
76 Lipman Drive
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8525
(732) 932-9763
Fax: (732) 932-9530
onishi@aesop.rutgers.edu
Curriculum Vitae
Visiting Assistant Research Professor
B.Sc. (Microbiology) Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 1970
Ph.D. ( Biochemistry) Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; New Brunswick, NJ, 1980
As an independent research scientist at Rutgers University, I have an opportunity to begin research in an area where new opportunities to improve human and animal health through studies involving diet and the gut microbiome are evolving. Research by numerous investigators has now led to new concepts that microorganisms in the intestinal tract contribute towards the development of an inflammatory disease such as obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetSyn). Various hypotheses are currently forming the basis of research to elucidate how microbes might contribute towards the development of the MetSyn.
My interest in this research was started with studies of equinelaminitis funded by the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station through the State Equine Initiative. Laminitis is a crippling inflammatory disease affecting the laminae tissue in the hoof. Horse owners commonly associate the development of the disease with the rapid consumption of pasture grasses rich in carbohydrates or inadvertent over-feeding of grain products. Based on results from an equine model of acute laminitis, multiple laboratories have shown that the gut microbiome rapidly changes when the horse is given a bolus infusion of cornstarch or oligofructan. Interestingly, some of the physiologic changes in the horse in this model are similar to those found in patients with MetSyn. How this rapid change in bacterial populations leads to a systemic inflammatory response and the biochemical alterations in the laminae associated with foundering remains unclear. Results of my studies will be published shortly but support the hypothesis that microbial derived metabolites produced in the gut contribute towards the development of laminitis. The known microbial derived metabolites of interest are endotoxin and vasoactive amines.
Prior to starting this independent research study, I was a pharmaceutical research scientist with extensive experience in the use of testing systems used in the discovery of novel natural products. My accomplishments include 19 patents describing the discovery of small molecules including 3 novel inhibitors of the sterol biosynthetic pathway and 2 novel inhibitors of fungal β-(1-3) glucan synthase, an essential enzyme involved in fungal cell wall biosynthesis. One discovery is now an antifungal drug, Cancidas®, which is used to treat life-threatening fungal infections. The success of the discovery efforts was dependent upon my research involving the study of microorganisms in both in vitro and in vivo systems. It is this experience that I plan to extend my studies to explore how changes in the gut microbiome, induced by ingested factors, might contribute towards the development of inflammation and MetSyn. The gut microbiome is a complex, dynamic microbial community whose effect on vertebrate health is now being explored in detail using metagenomic and metablomic approaches. Understanding this complex biological system involving both microbes, the cells lining the intestinal tract as well as numerous biologically active metabolites will require a multi-disciplinary effort. My goal now is to secure funding so that I can participate in research in this exciting new area of biology.
