Ippei Shimizu1, Yohko Yoshida1, Tohru Minamino2. 1. Department of Cardiovascular Biology and Medicine, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan Division of Molecular Aging and Cell Biology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan. 2. Department of Cardiovascular Biology and Medicine, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan t_minamino@yahoo.co.jp.