About

上野山　怜子

Reiko UENOYAMA, PhD

Research

"ネコにマタタビ"の謎に迫る

Why do cats love catnip and silver vine (Matatabi in Japanese)?

ネコをはじめとしたネコ科動物は、マタタビや西洋ハーブであるキャットニップの匂いを嗅ぐと、葉を舐める、噛む、顔や頭を擦り付ける、転げ回るといった特徴的な行動を示します。これらの植物が生産するイリドイドと呼ばれる化合物群がネコに対する活性物質として知られています。”猫にまたたび”ということわざがあるほど有名なこの行動ですが、その生物学的意義や反応メカニズムは長年謎に包まれていました。私はこのネコのマタタビ反応に魅了され、行動学的意義および分子メカニズムを明らかにすべく、岩手大学宮崎研究室で2018年10月から研究に参画しております。

Domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) and other felids display a characteristic response against catnip (Nepeta cataria) and silver vine (Actinidia polygama), wherein they lick and chew the plants, rub their faces and heads against them, and roll on them. Both plants contain chemicals called iridoids that are known to be the key to evoking this unique response. Cat owners give their cats these plants-filled toys to make them high. While this response is well-known, its biological significance and underlying mechanism have long been a mystery. I have been fascinated by this feline response and thus trying to uncover its behavioral function and molecular mechanism in Prof. Masao Miyazaki’s lab since October 2018. 

Our major findings:

①マタタビ葉に対する顔や体の擦り付けは、蚊の忌避活性を有するイリドイドをネコの被毛に付着させ、蚊への化学防除に有効な行動であることを明らかにしました

We found that self-anointing (rubbing) behavior transfers iridoids onto the feline fur where they repel mosquitoes and helps to protect cats against mosquito bites.


Uenoyama, R., Miyazaki, T., Hurst, J.L., Beynon, R.J., Adachi, M., Murooka, T., Onoda, I, Miyazawa, Y., Katayama, R., Yamashita, T., Kaneko, S., Nishikawa, T., and Miyazaki, M. The characteristic response of domestic cats to plant iridoids allows them to gain chemical defense against mosquitoes. (2021) Science Advances 7(4) eabd9135. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd9135.

②ネコが舐めたり噛んだりしてマタタビ葉を傷つけることで、イリドイド化合物群の放出量が増え組成も複雑化し、これによってマタタビに対するネコの反応性と蚊の忌避効果が増大し、より効果的に防虫効果が得られることを明らかにしました

 We found that the plant-damaging behavior of cats plays an important role in gaining pest-repellency effectively. Feline licking and chewing increases the emission of mosquito repellent iridoids from both catnip and silver vine while also diversifying iridoids in silver vine. Cats show an equivalently prolonged response to the low level of complex cocktail of iridoids in damaged silver vine and to the much higher level of a single iridoid in damaged catnip. Furthermore, the complex iridoid in damaged silver vine repels mosquitoes at low concentration. 


Uenoyama, R., Miyazaki, T., Adachi, M., Nishikawa, T., Hurst, J.L., and Miyazaki, M. Domestic cat damage to plant leaves containing iridoids enhances chemical repellency to pests. (2022) iScience DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.104455

③マタタビをネコに与えても依存性や毒性が見られず安全性が高いことを初めて科学的に立証し、加えて、マタタビ葉を乾燥させると有効成分の組成が変化してネコへの効果が高まることを明らかにしました

We established the safety of silver vine by statistical analyses of behavioral data and blood tests and the most suitable harvest and drying methods of silver vine for producing an effective olfactory enrichment for cats.


Uenoyama, R., Ooka, S., Miyazaki, T., Mizumoto, H., Nishikawa, T., Hurst, J.L., and Miyazaki, M. Assessing the safety and suitability of using silver vine as an olfactory enrichment for cats. (2023) iScience DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.107848 

Education and Academic Career

April 2013 - March 2016

岩手県立盛岡第一高等学校　卒業

Iwate Prefectural Morioka Daiichi High School

April 2016 - March 2020

岩手大学農学部応用生物化学科　卒業

Department of Biological Chemistry and Food Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Iwate University

April 2020 - March 2022

岩手大学大学院総合科学研究科農学専攻応用生物化学コース　修士課程　修了

Division of Agriculture, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Iwate University

April 2022 - March 2025

岩手大学大学院連合農学研究科生物資源科学専攻生物分子機能学連合講座　博士課程　修了　博士（農学）

Department of Bioresources Science, United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences (UGAS), Iwate University

April 2022 - March 2025

日本学術振興会特別研究員（DC1）

Research Fellow (DC1) of Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS)

April 2025 -

  岩手大学農学部生命科学科分子生命医科学コース　助教

Assistant professor, Course of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, Department of Life Sciences, Iwate University

Prizes

Research Grants

Skills

動物行動学

分析化学

生化学・分子生物学

統計解析