World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
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Microbiology
Japan
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Microbiology

D-Index
97
Citations
38425
World Ranking
474
National Ranking
12

Medicine

D-Index
97
Citations
38759
World Ranking
9199
National Ranking
245

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Microbiology in Japan Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Microbiology in Japan Leader Award

Overview

Takaji Wakita is affiliated with the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Japan. Their research primarily focuses on medicine, with significant contributions in the subfields of epidemiology, infectious diseases, hepatology, molecular biology, and modeling and simulation.

Wakita's work encompasses various main topics, including the study of hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 research, liver disease diagnosis and treatment, as well as COVID-19 clinical and epidemiological studies. Their expertise is reflected across a substantial number of publications in these areas.

Frequent coauthors of Wakita include:

  • Koichi Watashi
  • Masamichi Muramatsu
  • Motoi Suzuki
  • Shingo Iwami
  • Takanobu Kato

The venues where Wakita has published regularly include:

  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
  • Journal of Virology
  • Emerging infectious diseases
  • International Journal of Molecular Sciences
  • iScience

Notable recent publications by Wakita are:

  • "Closed environments facilitate secondary transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)", 2020, bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
  • "Novel SARS-CoV-2 Variant in Travelers from Brazil to Japan", 2021, Emerging infectious diseases
  • "Potential anti-COVID-19 agents, cepharanthine and nelfinavir, and their usage for combination treatment", 2021, iScience
  • "Temporal maturation of neutralizing antibodies in COVID-19 convalescent individuals improves potency and breadth to circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants", 2021, Immunity
  • "Initial Investigation of Transmission of COVID-19 Among Crew Members During Quarantine of a Cruise Ship - Yokohama, Japan, February 2020", 2020, MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

Best Publications

  • Production of infectious hepatitis C virus in tissue culture from a cloned viral genome

    Takaji Wakita;Thomas Pietschmann;Takanobu Kato;Takanobu Kato;Tomoko Date

  • Robust hepatitis C virus infection in vitro

    Jin Zhong;Pablo Gastaminza;Guofeng Cheng;Sharookh Kapadia

  • The lipid droplet is an important organelle for hepatitis C virus production.

    Yusuke Miyanari;Kimie Atsuzawa;Nobuteru Usuda;Koichi Watashi

  • Detection of hepatitis C virus by polymerase chain reaction and response to interferon-α therapy: Relationship to genotypes of hepatitis C virus

    Kentaro Yoshioka;Shinichi Kakumu;Takaji Wakita;Tetsuya Ishikawa

  • Hepatitis C Virus Entry Depends on Clathrin-Mediated Endocytosis

    Emmanuelle Blanchard;Sandrine Belouzard;Lucie Goueslain;Takaji Wakita

  • Efficient replication of the genotype 2a hepatitis C virus subgenomic replicon

    Takanobu Kato;Tomoko Date;Michiko Miyamoto;Akihiro Furusaka

  • Human P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 is a functional receptor for enterovirus 71

    Yorihiro Nishimura;Masayuki Shimojima;Yoshio Tano;Tatsuo Miyamura

  • Production of infectious genotype 1a hepatitis C virus (Hutchinson strain) in cultured human hepatoma cells.

    Min Kyung Yi;Rodrigo A. Villanueva;David L. Thomas;Takaji Wakita

  • Interaction of Hepatitis C Virus Nonstructural Protein 5A with Core Protein Is Critical for the Production of Infectious Virus Particles

    Takahiro Masaki;Ryosuke Suzuki;Kyoko Murakami;Hideki Aizaki

  • The RNA sensor RIG-I dually functions as an innate sensor and direct antiviral factor for hepatitis B virus

    Seiichi Sato;Kai Li;Takeshi Kameyama;Takaya Hayashi

  • Induction of incomplete autophagic response by hepatitis C virus via the unfolded protein response

    Donna Sir;Wen-ling Chen;Jinah Choi;Takaji Wakita

  • Sequence analysis of hepatitis C virus isolated from a fulminant hepatitis patient.

    Takanobu Kato;Akihiro Furusaka;Michiko Miyamoto;Tomoko Date

  • DDX3 DEAD-Box RNA Helicase Is Required for Hepatitis C Virus RNA Replication

    Yasuo Ariumi;Misao Kuroki;Ken Ichi Abe;Hiromichi Dansako

  • The native form and maturation process of hepatitis C virus core protein.

    Kohichiroh Yasui;Takaji Wakita;Kyoko Tsukiyama-Kohara;Shin-Ichi Funahashi

  • Scavenger receptor class B type I is a key host factor for hepatitis C virus infection required for an entry step closely linked to CD81

    Mirjam B. Zeisel;George Koutsoudakis;Eva K. Schnober;Anita Haberstroh;Anita Haberstroh

  • Apolipoprotein B-dependent hepatitis C virus secretion is inhibited by the grapefruit flavonoid naringenin.

    Yaakov Nahmias;Jonathan Goldwasser;Monica Casali;Daan van Poll

  • Characterization of Cell Lines Allowing Tightly Regulated Expression of Hepatitis C Virus Core Protein

    Darius Moradpour;Christoph Englert;Takaji Wakita;Jack R. Wands

  • Closed environments facilitate secondary transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

    Hiroshi Nishiura;Hitoshi Oshitani;Tetsuro Kobayashi;Tomoya Saito

  • Cyclosporin A and its analogs inhibit hepatitis B virus entry into cultured hepatocytes through targeting a membrane transporter, sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP)

    Koichi Watashi;Ann Sluder;Takuji Daito;Takuji Daito;Satoko Matsunaga

  • Evaluation and identification of hepatitis B virus entry inhibitors using HepG2 cells overexpressing a membrane transporter NTCP.

    Masashi Iwamoto;Koichi Watashi;Koichi Watashi;Senko Tsukuda;Hussein Hassan Aly

Frequent Co-Authors

Koichi Watashi
Koichi Watashi National Institute of Infectious Diseases
Tetsuro Suzuki
Tetsuro Suzuki Hamamatsu University
Hideki Aizaki
Hideki Aizaki National Institutes of Health
Masamichi Muramatsu
Masamichi Muramatsu National Institutes of Health
Masashi Mizokami
Masashi Mizokami National Center For Global Health and Medicine
Yasuhito Tanaka
Yasuhito Tanaka Kumamoto University
Nobuyuki Kato
Nobuyuki Kato Okayama University
Hiroyuki Shimizu
Hiroyuki Shimizu National Institutes of Health
Tatsuo Miyamura
Tatsuo Miyamura National Institutes of Health
Tomoichiro Oka
Tomoichiro Oka National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo

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