Kazuyoshi Yonezawa

Led the Kobe University group that co-discovered raptor in 2002, in parallel with the Sabatini lab. His team then showed that raptor binds mTOR's substrates through their TOS motif and that PRAS40 is itself an mTORC1 substrate

Biosignal Research Center, Kobe University, Japan

Researcher record (KAKEN), Kobe University (Kobe, Japan) ↗

Kazuyoshi Yonezawa Portrait: Kobe University 21st Century COE Program faculty page (archived, Internet Archive)

Kazuyoshi Yonezawa led a biochemistry group at Kobe University's Biosignal Research Center that collaborated closely with mTOR labs in the United States through the early 2000s, contributing to some of the field's foundational papers on how mTOR recognizes its substrates.

His group co-discovered raptor as mTOR's substrate-presenting partner, showed that raptor binds mTOR's substrates p70 S6 kinase and 4E-BP1 through a shared TOS (TOR signalling) motif, and found that PRAS40, an insulin-regulated mTORC1 inhibitor described by several groups in 2007, is itself a physiological mTORC1 substrate, work that helped clarify how mTORC1 recognizes what to phosphorylate.

Yonezawa's own trail in this Atlas stops in the mid-2000s, and no later publications or current position could be confirmed.

The timeline below follows Yonezawa's contributions gathered in this Atlas.

Milestones in the Atlas

A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.

Year	Evidence	Study
1998	M	Amino acid sufficiency and mTOR regulate p70 S6 kinase and eIF-4E BP1 through a common effector mechanism HAR1998 Amino acid sufficiency signals through mTOR to p70 S6K and 4E-BP1 via a common effector, first linking nutrients to mTOR.
2002	M	Raptor, a binding partner of target of rapamycin (TOR), mediates TOR action HARA2002 Co-authors the identification of raptor as a binding partner that mediates mTOR's action.
2003	M	The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) partner, raptor, binds the mTOR substrates p70 S6 kinase and 4E-BP1 through their TOR signaling (TOS) motif NOJ2003 Shows raptor binds the mTOR substrates p70 S6 kinase and 4E-BP1 through their TOR signalling (TOS) motif.
2005	M	Rheb binds and regulates the mTOR kinase LON2005 Rheb binds the mTOR kinase domain and directly stimulates its activity.
2007	M	The proline-rich Akt substrate of 40 kDa (PRAS40) is a physiological substrate of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 OSH2007 Shows PRAS40 is a physiological substrate of mTORC1, phosphorylated on Ser183.

Co-authors in the Atlas 7

People with a profile here who share at least one study with Kazuyoshi Yonezawa.

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Joseph Avruch 5 shared studies Showed in 1998 that amino acids, not only insulin, are needed for mTOR to activate S6K1 and 4E-BP1. His Massachusetts General Hospital group, with Kazuyoshi Yonezawa's lab in Kobe, then co-discovered raptor in 2002 and found that Rheb binds mTOR directly
Kenta Hara 4 shared studies Showed in 1998 that amino acids are needed for mTOR to activate S6K1 and 4E-BP1, and as first author co-discovered raptor in 2002
Noriko Oshiro-Rapley 3 shared studies In one of several 2007 studies, identified PRAS40 as a raptor-bound mTORC1 substrate that gates access to mTORC1's other substrates
Chiharu Tokunaga 2 shared studies Member of Kazuyoshi Yonezawa's Kobe team that co-discovered raptor, and first author of a 2004 review on how mTOR combines amino acid and energy signals
Sujuti Hidayat 2 shared studies Member of Kazuyoshi Yonezawa's Kobe team that co-discovered raptor and worked out how mTOR senses amino acids, and first author of a study showing that a leucine derivative can block amino acid-mTOR signalling
Xiaomeng Long 2 shared studies Discovered that Rheb binds directly to the mTOR kinase domain and switches it on
Hiroki Nojima First author of the 2003 Kobe study showing that raptor grabs mTOR's targets through a short TOS motif, the docking step that lets mTORC1 reach its substrates

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