Ken Nakamura, MD, PhD

Professor in Residence
Physician-Scientist Career Development Program Council Member
Neurology
+1 415 734-2550

Dr. Ken Nakamura is a neurologist who specializes in diagnosing and treating patients with Parkinson’s disease at the Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Clinic. He also runs a research laboratory at the Gladstone Institutes, where he investigates how disruptions of mitochondria—the “power centers” of cells that convert nutrients into energy—contribute to the development and progression of Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

Nakamura earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and biological sciences from Cornell University, and an MD and PhD in neurobiology from the University of Chicago. His thesis work focused on the role of oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease. Nakamura then completed an internship in internal medicine and a residency in neurology at UCSF, and a clinical fellowship in movement disorders at UCSF and the San Francisco VA Medical Center. He also completed a research fellowship at UCSF, during which he investigated how alpha-synuclein disrupts mitochondrial morphology and function and contributes to the development of Parkinson’s disease. He has received several awards, including a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Medical Scientists.

Publications: 

Neurons require glucose uptake and glycolysis in vivo.

Cell reports

Li H, Guglielmetti C, Sei YJ, Zilberter M, Le Page LM, Shields L, Yang J, Nguyen K, Tiret B, Gao X, Bennett N, Lo I, Dayton TL, Kampmann M, Huang Y, Rathmell JC, Heiden MV, Chaumeil MM, Nakamura K

Ensembles of endothelial and mural cells promote angiogenesis in prenatal human brain.

Cell

Crouch EE, Bhaduri A, Andrews MG, Cebrian-Silla A, Diafos LN, Birrueta JO, Wedderburn-Pugh K, Valenzuela EJ, Bennett NK, Eze UC, Sandoval-Espinosa C, Chen J, Mora C, Ross JM, Howard CE, Gonzalez-Granero S, Lozano JF, Vento M, Haeussler M, Paredes MF, Nakamura K, Garcia-Verdugo JM, Alvarez-Buylla A, Kriegstein AR, Huang EJ

Primary and metastatic tumors exhibit systems-level differences in dependence on mitochondrial respiratory function.

PLoS biology

Bennett NK, Nakaoka HJ, Laurent D, Okimoto RA, Sei Y, Horvai AE, Bivona TG, Ten Hoeve J, Graeber TG, Nakamura K, Nakamura JL

Biallelic pathogenic variants in COX11 are associated with an infantile-onset mitochondrial encephalopathy.

Human mutation

Rius R, Bennett NK, Bhattacharya K, Riley LG, Yüksel Z, Formosa LE, Compton AG, Dale RC, Cowley MJ, Gayevskiy V, Al Tala SM, Almehery AA, Ryan MT, Thorburn DR, Nakamura K, Christodoulou J

Isoflurane inhibition of endocytosis is an anesthetic mechanism of action.

Current biology : CB

Jung S, Zimin PI, Woods CB, Kayser EB, Haddad D, Reczek CR, Nakamura K, Ramirez JM, Sedensky MM, Morgan PG

Mouse midbrain dopaminergic neurons survive loss of the PD-associated mitochondrial protein CHCHD2.

Human molecular genetics

Nguyen MK, McAvoy K, Liao SC, Doric Z, Lo I, Li H, Manfredi G, Nakamura K

Genetically encoded cell-death indicators (GEDI) to detect an early irreversible commitment to neurodegeneration.

Nature communications

Linsley JW, Shah K, Castello N, Chan M, Haddad D, Doric Z, Wang S, Leks W, Mancini J, Oza V, Javaherian A, Nakamura K, Kokel D, Finkbeiner S

Longitudinal tracking of neuronal mitochondria delineates PINK1/Parkin-dependent mechanisms of mitochondrial recycling and degradation.

Science advances

Li H, Doric Z, Berthet A, Jorgens DM, Nguyen MK, Hsieh I, Margulis J, Fang R, Debnath J, Sesaki H, Finkbeiner S, Huang E, Nakamura K

SARS-CoV-2 infection of human iPSC-derived cardiac cells reflects cytopathic features in hearts of patients with COVID-19.

Science translational medicine

Perez-Bermejo JA, Kang S, Rockwood SJ, Simoneau CR, Joy DA, Silva AC, Ramadoss GN, Flanigan WR, Fozouni P, Li H, Chen PY, Nakamura K, Whitman JD, Hanson PJ, McManus BM, Ott M, Conklin BR, McDevitt TC

Mitochondrial fission is a critical modulator of mutant APP-induced neural toxicity.

The Journal of biological chemistry

Shields LY, Li H, Nguyen K, Kim H, Doric Z, Garcia JH, Gill TM, Haddad D, Vossel K, Calvert M, Nakamura K

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

Autophagy

Klionsky DJ, Abdel-Aziz AK, Abdelfatah S, Abdellatif M, Abdoli A, Abel S, Abeliovich H, Abildgaard MH, Abudu YP, Acevedo-Arozena A, Adamopoulos IE, Adeli K, Adolph TE, Adornetto A, Aflaki E, Agam G, Agarwal A, Aggarwal BB, Agnello M, Agostinis P, Agrewala JN, Agrotis A, Aguilar PV, Ahmad ST, Ahmed ZM, Ahumada-Castro U, Aits S, Aizawa S, Akkoc Y, Akoumianaki T, Akpinar HA, Al-Abd AM, Al-Akra L, Al-Gharaibeh A, Alaoui-Jamali MA, Alberti S, Alcocer-Gómez E, Alessandri C, Ali M, Alim Al-Bari MA, Aliwaini S, Alizadeh J, Almacellas E, Almasan A, Alonso A, Alonso GD, Altan-Bonnet N, Altieri DC, Álvarez ÉMC, Alves S, Alves da Costa C, Alzaharna MM, Amadio M, Amantini C, Amaral C, Ambrosio S, Amer AO, Ammanathan V, An Z, Andersen SU, Andrabi SA, Andrade-Silva M, Andres AM, Angelini S, Ann D, Anozie UC, Ansari MY, Antas P, Antebi A, Antón Z, Anwar T, Apetoh L, Apostolova N, Araki T, Araki Y, Arasaki K, Araújo WL, Araya J, Arden C, Arévalo MA, Arguelles S, Arias E, Arikkath J, Arimoto H, Ariosa AR, Armstrong-James D, Arnauné-Pelloquin L, Aroca A, Arroyo DS, Arsov I, Artero R, Asaro DML, Aschner M, Ashrafizadeh M, Ashur-Fabian O, Atanasov AG, Au AK, Auberger P, Auner HW, Aurelian L, Autelli R, Avagliano L, Ávalos Y, Aveic S, Aveleira CA, Avin-Wittenberg T, Aydin Y, Ayton S, Ayyadevara S, Azzopardi M, Baba M, Backer JM, Backues SK, Bae DH, Bae ON, Bae SH, Baehrecke EH, Baek A, Baek SH, Baek SH, Bagetta G, Bagniewska-Zadworna A, Bai H, Bai J, Bai X, Bai Y, Bairagi N, Baksi S, Balbi T, Baldari CT, Balduini W, Ballabio A, Ballester M, Balazadeh S, Balzan R, Bandopadhyay R, Banerjee S, Banerjee S, Bánréti Á, Bao Y, Baptista MS, Baracca A, Barbati C, Bargiela A, Barilà D, Barlow PG, Barmada SJ, Barreiro E, Barreto GE, Bartek J, Bartel B, Bartolome A, Barve GR, Basagoudanavar SH, Bassham DC, Bast RC, Basu A, Batoko H, Batten I, Baulieu EE, Baumgarner BL, Bayry J, Beale R, Beau I, Beaumatin F, Bechara LRG, Beck GR, Beers MF, Begun J, Behrends C, Behrens GMN, Bei R, Bejarano E, Bel S, Behl C, Belaid A, Belgareh-Touzé N, Bellarosa C, Belleudi F, Belló Pérez M, Bello-Morales R, Beltran JSO, Beltran S, Benbrook DM, Bendorius M, Benitez BA, Benito-Cuesta I, Bensalem J, Berchtold MW, Berezowska S, Bergamaschi D, Bergami M, Bergmann A, Berliocchi L, Berlioz-Torrent C, Bernard A, Berthoux L, Besirli CG, Besteiro S, Betin VM, Beyaert R, Bezbradica JS, Bhaskar K, Bhatia-Kissova I, Bhattacharya R, Bhattacharya S, Bhattacharyya S, Bhuiyan MS, Bhutia SK, Bi L, Bi X, Biden TJ, Bijian K, Billes VA, Binart N, Bincoletto C, Birgisdottir AB, Bjorkoy G, Blanco G, Blas-Garcia A, Blasiak J, Blomgran R, Blomgren K, Blum JS, Boada-Romero E, Boban M, Boesze-Battaglia K, Boeuf P, Boland B, Bomont P, Bonaldo P, Bonam SR, Bonfili L, Bonifacino JS, Boone BA, Bootman MD, Bordi M, Borner C, Bornhauser BC, Borthakur G, Bosch J, Bose S, Botana LM, Botas J, Boulanger CM, Boulton ME, Bourdenx M, Bourgeois B, Bourke NM, Bousquet G, Boya P, Bozhkov PV, Bozi LHM, Bozkurt TO, Brackney DE, Brandts CH, Braun RJ, Braus GH, Bravo-Sagua R, Bravo-San Pedro JM, Brest P, Bringer MA, Briones-Herrera A, Broaddus VC, Brodersen P, Brodsky JL, Brody SL, Bronson PG, Bronstein JM, Brown CN, Brown RE, Brum PC, Brumell JH, Brunetti-Pierri N, Bruno D, Bryson-Richardson RJ, Bucci C, Buchrieser C, Bueno M, Buitrago-Molina LE, Buraschi S, Buch S, Buchan JR, Buckingham EM, Budak H, Budini M, Bultynck G, Burada F, Burgoyne JR, Burón MI, Bustos V, Büttner S, Butturini E, Byrd A, Cabas I, Cabrera-Benitez S, Cadwell K, Cai J, Cai L, Cai Q, Cairó M, Calbet JA, Caldwell GA, Caldwell KA, Call JA, Calvani R, Calvo AC, Calvo-Rubio Barrera M, Camara NO, Camonis JH, Camougrand N, Campanella M, Campbell EM, Campbell-Valois FX, Campello S, Campesi I, Campos JC, Camuzard O, Cancino J, Candido de Almeida D, Canesi L, Caniggia I, Canonico B, Cantí C, Cao B, Caraglia M, Caramés B, Carchman EH, Cardenal-Muñoz E, Cardenas C, Cardenas L, Cardoso SM, Carew JS, Carle GF, Carleton G, Carloni S, Carmona-Gutierrez D, et al

SARS-CoV-2 infection of human iPSC-derived cardiac cells predicts novel cytopathic features in hearts of COVID-19 patients.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology

Pérez-Bermejo JA, Kang S, Rockwood SJ, Simoneau CR, Joy DA, Ramadoss GN, Silva AC, Flanigan WR, Li H, Nakamura K, Whitman JD, Ott M, Conklin BR, McDevitt TC

Defining the ATPome reveals cross-optimization of metabolic pathways.

Nature communications

Bennett NK, Nguyen MK, Darch MA, Nakaoka HJ, Cousineau D, Ten Hoeve J, Graeber TG, Schuelke M, Maltepe E, Kampmann M, Mendelsohn BA, Nakamura JL, Nakamura K

Loss of HIPK2 Protects Neurons from Mitochondrial Toxins by Regulating Parkin Protein Turnover.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Zhang J, Shang Y, Kamiya S, Kotowski SJ, Nakamura K, Huang EJ

To be or not to be pink(1): contradictory findings in an animal model for Parkinson's disease.

Brain communications

de Haas R, Heltzel LCMW, Tax D, van den Broek P, Steenbreker H, Verheij MMM, Russel FGM, Orr AL, Nakamura K, Smeitink JAM

A high-throughput screen of real-time ATP levels in individual cells reveals mechanisms of energy failure.

PLoS biology

Mendelsohn BA, Bennett NK, Darch MA, Yu K, Nguyen MK, Pucciarelli D, Nelson M, Horlbeck MA, Gilbert LA, Hyun W, Kampmann M, Nakamura JL, Nakamura K

Mapping the Genetic Landscape of Human Cells.

Cell

Horlbeck MA, Xu A, Wang M, Bennett NK, Park CY, Bogdanoff D, Adamson B, Chow ED, Kampmann M, Peterson TR, Nakamura K, Fischbach MA, Weissman JS, Gilbert LA

A Map of Human Mitochondrial Protein Interactions Linked to Neurodegeneration Reveals New Mechanisms of Redox Homeostasis and NF-κB Signaling.

Cell systems

Malty RH, Aoki H, Kumar A, Phanse S, Amin S, Zhang Q, Minic Z, Goebels F, Musso G, Wu Z, Abou-Tok H, Meyer M, Deineko V, Kassir S, Sidhu V, Jessulat M, Scott NE, Xiong X, Vlasblom J, Prasad B, Foster LJ, Alberio T, Garavaglia B, Yu H, Bader GD, Nakamura K, Parkinson J, Babu M

Long-term oral kinetin does not protect against α-synuclein-induced neurodegeneration in rodent models of Parkinson's disease.

Neurochemistry international

Orr AL, Rutaganira FU, de Roulet D, Huang EJ, Hertz NT, Shokat KM, Nakamura K

The role of mitochondrially derived ATP in synaptic vesicle recycling.

The Journal of biological chemistry

Pathak D, Shields LY, Mendelsohn BA, Haddad D, Lin W, Gerencser AA, Kim H, Brand MD, Edwards RH, Nakamura K

Dynamin-related protein 1 is required for normal mitochondrial bioenergetic and synaptic function in CA1 hippocampal neurons.

Cell death & disease

Shields LY, Kim H, Zhu L, Haddad D, Berthet A, Pathak D, Lam M, Ponnusamy R, Diaz-Ramirez LG, Gill TM, Sesaki H, Mucke L, Nakamura K

Loss of mitochondrial fission depletes axonal mitochondria in midbrain dopamine neurons.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Berthet A, Margolis EB, Zhang J, Hsieh I, Zhang J, Hnasko TS, Ahmad J, Edwards RH, Sesaki H, Huang EJ, Nakamura K

β-cell telomere attrition in diabetes: inverse correlation between HbA1c and telomere length.

The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism

Tamura Y, Izumiyama-Shimomura N, Kimbara Y, Nakamura K, Ishikawa N, Aida J, Chiba Y, Mori S, Arai T, Aizawa T, Araki A, Takubo K, Ito H

Mutant LRRK2 toxicity in neurons depends on LRRK2 levels and synuclein but not kinase activity or inclusion bodies.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Skibinski G, Nakamura K, Cookson MR, Finkbeiner S

SIRT4 regulates ATP homeostasis and mediates a retrograde signaling via AMPK.

Aging

Ho L, Titus AS, Banerjee KK, George S, Lin W, Deota S, Saha AK, Nakamura K, Gut P, Verdin E, Kolthur-Seetharam U

Energy failure: does it contribute to neurodegeneration?

Annals of neurology

Pathak D, Berthet A, Nakamura K

The ubiquitin ligase parkin mediates resistance to intracellular pathogens.

Nature

Manzanillo PS, Ayres JS, Watson RO, Collins AC, Souza G, Rae CS, Schneider DS, Nakamura K, Shiloh MU, Cox JS

A neo-substrate that amplifies catalytic activity of parkinson's-disease-related kinase PINK1.

Cell

Hertz NT, Berthet A, Sos ML, Thorn KS, Burlingame AL, Nakamura K, Shokat KM

α-Synuclein and mitochondria: partners in crime?

Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics

Nakamura K

Mitochondrial dynamics in neurodegeneration.

Trends in cell biology

Itoh K, Nakamura K, Iijima M, Sesaki H

Direct membrane association drives mitochondrial fission by the Parkinson disease-associated protein alpha-synuclein.

The Journal of biological chemistry

Nakamura K, Nemani VM, Azarbal F, Skibinski G, Levy JM, Egami K, Munishkina L, Zhang J, Gardner B, Wakabayashi J, Sesaki H, Cheng Y, Finkbeiner S, Nussbaum RL, Masliah E, Edwards RH

Increased expression of alpha-synuclein reduces neurotransmitter release by inhibiting synaptic vesicle reclustering after endocytosis.

Neuron

Nemani VM, Lu W, Berge V, Nakamura K, Onoa B, Lee MK, Chaudhry FA, Nicoll RA, Edwards RH

The behavior of alpha-synuclein in neurons.

Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society

Fortin DL, Nemani VM, Nakamura K, Edwards RH

Optical reporters for the conformation of alpha-synuclein reveal a specific interaction with mitochondria.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Nakamura K, Nemani VM, Wallender EK, Kaehlcke K, Ott M, Edwards RH

Effects of unilateral subthalamic and pallidal deep brain stimulation on fine motor functions in Parkinson's disease.

Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society

Nakamura K, Christine CW, Starr PA, Marks WJ

Huntington's disease: clinical characteristics, pathogenesis and therapies.

Drugs of today (Barcelona, Spain : 1998)

Nakamura K, Aminoff MJ

Lipid rafts mediate the synaptic localization of alpha-synuclein.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Fortin DL, Troyer MD, Nakamura K, Kubo S, Anthony MD, Edwards RH

Vitamin B12 deficiency.

Archives of neurology

Nakamura K, Mukherjee P, Swanson RA

Daily treatment with human recombinant parathyroid hormone-(1-34), LY333334, for 1 year increases bone mass in ovariectomized monkeys.

The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism

Brommage R, Hotchkiss CE, Lees CJ, Stancill MW, Hock JM, Jerome CP

The role of glutathione in dopaminergic neuronal survival.

Journal of neurochemistry

Nakamura K, Wang W, Kang UJ

Single core polypeptide in the reaction center of the photosynthetic bacterium Heliobacillus mobilis: structural implications and relations to other photosystems.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Liebl U, Mockensturm-Wilson M, Trost JT, Brune DC, Blankenship RE, Vermaas W