Tsuneya Ikezu, MD, PhD

Adjunct Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

My expertise is biomedical research on neurodegenerative disorders, neuroinflammation, and molecular pharmacologic interventions. Specifically, I have been studying the therapeutic potentials of select anti-inflammatory and neurotrophic factors on animal models of Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia using virus-mediated gene delivery system. The virus systems include adeno-associated virus, adenovirus, and lentivirus. I have also been investigating the role of innate immunity, more specifically the functions of macrophages and microglia, on HIV-1 infection and neuroinflammation in the context of HIV-associated neurocognitive dysfunction and Alzheimer's disease.

Publications

  • Published 6/23/2025

    Ikezu T, Bodart-Santos V, Ravula AR, You Y, Abdullah M, Ruan Z, Ellison J, Radhakishun S, Ray NB, Melvin B, Kurti A, Liang Z, Sakai Y, O'Brien D, Nguyen S, Shaffer S, Fiddes L, Butovsky O, Springer W, Ikezu S. P2RX7 regulates tauopathy progression via tau and mitochondria loading in extracellular vesicles. Res Sq. 2025 Jun 23. PMID: 40678243.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 5/30/2025

    You Y, Zhang Z, Cortes S, Nguyen SN, Vadakattu P, Melvin BC, Jr Mann SD, Ray NB, Bregendahl M, McLean PJ, Gonzalez-Perez MP, Ikezu S, Ikezu T. Rapid and high-yield recovery of plasma-derived extracellular vesicles using modified chromatography with soluble protein depletion for biomarker discovery. Cell Commun Signal. 2025 May 30; 23(1):253. PMID: 40448170.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 5/26/2025

    Ikezu T, Zhang Z, Yu K, Bao H, Ikezu T, Ravula AR, Melvin B, Scholes C, You Y, Ellison J, Kanekiyo T, Wszolek Z, DeTure M, Dickson D, Han X, Peng J, Ikezu S. Unique lipid cargoes in APOE4 human brain-derived extracellular vesicles recruit cell adhesion molecules and promote tauopathy in Alzheimer's disease. Res Sq. 2025 May 26. PMID: 40502793.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 4/1/2025

    Yeapuri P, Machhi J, Foster EG, Kadry R, Bhattarai S, Lu Y, Sil S, Sapkota R, Srivastava S, Kumar M, Ikezu T, Poluektova LY, Gendelman HE, Mosley RL. Amyloid precursor protein and presenilin-1 knock-in immunodeficient mice exhibit intraneuronal Aß pathology, microgliosis, and extensive neuronal loss. Alzheimers Dement. 2025 Apr; 21(4):e70084. PMID: 40195277.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 1/25/2025

    Yeh H, De Cruz MA, You Y, Ikezu S, Ikezu T. Development and characterization of in vitro inducible immortalization of a murine microglia cell line for high throughput studies. Sci Rep. 2025 Jan 25; 15(1):3207. PMID: 39863723.

    Read at: PubMed

Other Positions

  • Professor, Neurology
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research
    Boston University
  • Graduate Faculty (Primary Mentor of Grad Students)
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences

Education

  • Tokyo Medical and Dental University, MD
  • Tokyo Medical and Dental University, PhD
  • University of Tokyo, BS