Education & Training:
Tokyo Metropolitan University, 1994, B.S. in Chemistry
University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, 2004, Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Johns Hopkins University, 2005-2009, Postdoctoral Fellow
Research Interests:
My research addresses molecular mechanisms that control establishment of the peripheral nervous system (PNS). A precise PNS circuitry is essential not only for neonatal survival but also for postnatal development and function throughout life. Furthermore, how the nervous system becomes correctly wired remains one of the major unexplained mysteries of biology. My lab uses mouse genetics and physiological assessment to dissect the biological roles of several signaling pathways in peripheral neural development, coupled with molecular and biochemical approaches to understand the underlying mechanisms in each process. All of these have direct application to human disease.
Some of our current major projects include:
Sympathetic axon guidance to the heart (relevant to arrhythmia)
Molecular mechanisms that control migration and fate specification of the enteric nervous system (relevant to Hirschsprung disease, a common pediatric syndrome of inadequate bowel peristalsis)
Genome-wide association screen in a new mouse model of Waardenburg-Shah syndrome to identify genetic loci that contribute to congenital deafness
Sympathetic synapse formation and function in heart (relevant to arrhythmia) and kidney (relevant to kidney failure)
Highlight Publications:
1. Poltavski DM, Colombier P, Hu J, Duron A, Black BL, Makita T. Venous endothelin modulates responsiveness of cardiac
sympathetic axons to arterial semaphorin. Elife. 2019 Feb 8;8 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6389285
.
2. Poltavski DM, Cunha AT, Tan J, Sucov HM, Makita T. Lineage-specific intersection of endothelin and GDNF signaling in
enteric nervous system development. Elife. 2024 Dec 6;13 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11623925
.
3. Tan J, Duron A, Sucov HM, Makita T. Placode and neural crest origins of congenital deafness in mouse models of
Waardenburg-Shah syndrome. iScience. 2025 Jan 17;28(1):111680. PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11762213
.
4. Sato S, Sucov HM, Makita T. The Placode Lineage Contributes to the Enteric Nervous System: A Caution for Cell
Transplantation Therapy for Hirschsprung Disease. Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2026;20(2):101657. PubMed Central
PMCID: PMC12686883
.
5. Sucov HM, Makita T. Non-neural crest lineage contributions to the enteric nervous system: Moving a 50 year conclusion. Dev
Biol. 2026 Aug;536:85-94. PubMed PMID: 42092670 .