Kei Okatsu

5.6k total citations · 3 hit papers
27 papers, 4.4k citations indexed

About

Kei Okatsu is a scholar working on Molecular Biology, Epidemiology and Neurology. According to data from OpenAlex, Kei Okatsu has authored 27 papers receiving a total of 4.4k indexed citations (citations by other indexed papers that have themselves been cited), including 21 papers in Molecular Biology, 16 papers in Epidemiology and 11 papers in Neurology. Recurrent topics in Kei Okatsu's work include Autophagy in Disease and Therapy (16 papers), Ubiquitin and proteasome pathways (13 papers) and Mitochondrial Function and Pathology (11 papers). Kei Okatsu is often cited by papers focused on Autophagy in Disease and Therapy (16 papers), Ubiquitin and proteasome pathways (13 papers) and Mitochondrial Function and Pathology (11 papers). Kei Okatsu collaborates with scholars based in Japan, United States and Poland. Kei Okatsu's co-authors include Noriyuki Matsuda, Keiji Tanaka, Mayumi Kimura, Fumika Koyano, Masaaki Komatsu, Nobutaka Hattori, Shigeto Sato, Hidetaka Kosako, Yu‐shin Sou and Yasushi Saeki and has published in prestigious journals such as Nature, Journal of the American Chemical Society and Journal of Biological Chemistry.

In The Last Decade

Kei Okatsu

21 papers receiving 4.4k citations

Hit Papers

align trajectories

What are hit papers?

Hit papers significantly outperform the citation benchmark for their cohort. A paper qualifies if it has ≥500 total citations, achieves ≥1.5× the top-1% citation threshold for papers in the same subfield and year (this is the minimum needed to enter the top 1%, not the average within it), or reaches the top citation threshold in at least one of its specific research topics.

PINK1 stabilized by mitochondrial depolarization recruits Parkin to damaged mitochondria and activates latent Parkin for mitophagy

2010 1.5k citations Noriyuki Matsuda, Shigeto Sato et al. The Journal of Cell Biology profile →
Ubiquitin is phosphorylated by PINK1 to activate parkin

2014 1.1k citations Fumika Koyano, Kei Okatsu et al. profile →
PINK1 autophosphorylation upon membrane potential dissipation is essential for Parkin recruitment to damaged mitochondria

2012 415 citations Kei Okatsu, Toshihiko Oka et al. Nature Communications profile →

Peers

Kei Okatsu

EPIDE

NEURO

PHYSI

Wolfdieter Springer United States

Seok Min Jin United States

Fabienne C. Fiesel United States

Sven Geisler Germany

Sumihiro Kawajiri Japan

Fumika Koyano Japan

Ashish C. Massey United States

Wencheng Liu Taiwan

Joo‐Ho Shin South Korea

Sarah Pickles Canada

Wolfdieter Springer United States

Kei Okatsu

2.5k ×0.9

EPIDE

2.9k ×1.0

2.0k ×1.3

NEURO

984 ×1.4

PHYSI

715 ×1.2

Citations per year, relative to Kei Okatsu Kei Okatsu (= 1×) peers Wolfdieter Springer

Countries citing papers authored by Kei Okatsu

Since Specialization

Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of Kei Okatsu's research. It shows the number of citations coming from papers published by authors working in each country. You can also color the map by specialization and compare the number of citations received by Kei Okatsu with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites Kei Okatsu more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by Kei Okatsu

Since Specialization

Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by Kei Okatsu. Nodes represent research fields, and links connect fields that are likely to share authors. Colored nodes show fields that tend to cite the papers produced by Kei Okatsu. The network helps show where Kei Okatsu may publish in the future.

Co-authorship network of co-authors of Kei Okatsu

This figure shows the co-authorship network connecting the top 25 collaborators of Kei Okatsu. A scholar is included among the top collaborators of Kei Okatsu based on the total number of citations received by their joint publications. Widths of edges represent the number of papers authors have co-authored together. Node borders signify the number of papers an author published with Kei Okatsu. Kei Okatsu is excluded from the visualization to improve readability, since they are connected to all nodes in the network.

All Works

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20 of 20 papers shown

Okatsu, Kei, Reika Kikuchi, Noriyuki Matsuda, Shuya Fukai, & Koji Yamano. (2025). Functional and Structural Insights Into Complex Formation Between OPTN Leucine Zipper Domain and RAB8A. Genes to Cells. 30(5). e70043–e70043.

Okatsu, Kei & Shuya Fukai. (2025). Ubiquitin signaling in PINK1/Parkin-dependent mitophagy. The Journal of Biochemistry. 179(3). 145–154.

Yamaguchi, Takayuki, Kei Okatsu, Masato Kubota, et al.. (2025). Structural insights into heterohexameric assembly of epilepsy-related ligand–receptor complex LGI1–ADAM22. eLife. 14.

Okatsu, Kei, et al.. (2024). Structural characterization of green fluorescent protein in the I-state. Scientific Reports. 14(1).

Sato, Yusuke, et al.. (2024). Chemical Diversification of Enzymatically Assembled Polyubiquitin Chains to Decipher the Ubiquitin Codes Programmed on the Branch Structure. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 1 indexed citations

Okatsu, Kei, Shuya Fukai, Hideo Ago, et al.. (2023). Structure of a putative immature form of a Rieske-type iron-sulfur protein in complex with zinc chloride. Communications Chemistry. 6(1). 190–190.

Li, Yanjun, Kei Okatsu, Shuya Fukai, & Yusuke Sato. (2021). Structural basis for specific recognition of K6-linked polyubiquitin chains by the TAB2 NZF domain. Biophysical Journal. 120(16). 3355–3362. 5 indexed citations

Yokoi, Norihiko, Yuko Fukata, Kei Okatsu, et al.. (2021). 14-3-3 proteins stabilize LGI1-ADAM22 levels to regulate seizure thresholds in mice. Cell Reports. 37(11). 110107–110107. 10 indexed citations

Sato, Yusuke, Hikaru Tsuchiya, Atsushi Yamagata, et al.. (2019). Structural insights into ubiquitin recognition and Ufd1 interaction of Npl4. Nature Communications. 10(1). 5708–5708. 32 indexed citations

10.

Okatsu, Kei, Yusuke Sato, Koji Yamano, et al.. (2018). Structural insights into ubiquitin phosphorylation by PINK1. Scientific Reports. 8(1). 10382–10382. 32 indexed citations

11.

Sato, Yusuke, Kei Okatsu, Yasushi Saeki, et al.. (2017). Structural basis for specific cleavage of Lys6-linked polyubiquitin chains by USP30. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. 24(11). 911–919. 61 indexed citations

12.

Akabane, Shiori, Shun‐ichi Yamashita, Kei Okatsu, et al.. (2016). Constitutive Activation of PINK1 Protein Leads to Proteasome-mediated and Non-apoptotic Cell Death Independently of Mitochondrial Autophagy. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 291(31). 16162–16174. 25 indexed citations

13.

Okatsu, Kei, Fumika Koyano, Mayumi Kimura, et al.. (2015). Phosphorylated ubiquitin chain is the genuine Parkin receptor. The Journal of Experimental Medicine. 212(4). 2124OIA14–2124OIA14. 1 indexed citations

14.

Iguchi, Masahiro, Kei Okatsu, Fumika Koyano, et al.. (2013). Parkin-catalyzed Ubiquitin-Ester Transfer Is Triggered by PINK1-dependent Phosphorylation. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 288(30). 22019–22032. 175 indexed citations

15.

Koyano, Fumika, Kei Okatsu, Shinsuke Ishigaki, et al.. (2013). The principal PINK1 and Parkin cellular events triggered in response to dissipation of mitochondrial membrane potential occur in primary neurons. Genes to Cells. 18(8). 672–681. 29 indexed citations

16.

Okatsu, Kei, Fumika Koyano, Mayumi Kimura, et al.. (2013). A Dimeric PINK1-containing Complex on Depolarized Mitochondria Stimulates Parkin Recruitment. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 288(51). 36372–36384. 185 indexed citations

17.

Okatsu, Kei, Toshihiko Oka, Masahiro Iguchi, et al.. (2012). PINK1 autophosphorylation upon membrane potential dissipation is essential for Parkin recruitment to damaged mitochondria. Nature Communications. 3(1). 1016–1016. 415 indexed citations breakdown →

18.

Matsuda, Noriyuki, Shigeto Sato, Kahori Shiba, et al.. (2010). PINK1 stabilized by mitochondrial depolarization recruits Parkin to damaged mitochondria and activates latent Parkin for mitophagy. The Journal of Cell Biology. 189(2). 211–221. 1542 indexed citations breakdown →

19.

Okatsu, Kei, Kazuto Nakada, Hiroshi Shitara, et al.. (2010). p62/SQSTM1 cooperates with Parkin for perinuclear clustering of depolarized mitochondria. Genes to Cells. 15(8). 887–900. 328 indexed citations

20.

Tanaka, Keiji, Noriyuki Matsuda, & Kei Okatsu. (2010). Mechanisms underling the cause of Parkinson's disease: The functions of Parkin/PINK1. Rinsho Shinkeigaku. 50(11). 867–867. 3 indexed citations

Rankless uses publication and citation data sourced from OpenAlex, an open and comprehensive bibliographic database. While OpenAlex provides broad and valuable coverage of the global research landscape, it—like all bibliographic datasets—has inherent limitations. These include incomplete records, variations in author disambiguation, differences in journal indexing, and delays in data updates. As a result, some metrics and network relationships displayed in Rankless may not fully capture the entirety of a scholar's output or impact.

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