Department of Cell Biology

Subjects:

1. The role of heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor in development.
2. The mode of actions of membrane-anchored growth factors.
3. Ectodomain shedding mechanism of EGF family growth factor.
4. Physiological role of CD9 and the tetraspanin family proteins.
5. Epigenetics in germ cells: During germ cell differentiation, epigenetic information undergoes drastically changes. We are analyzing the molecular mechanisms of the DNA methylation, histone modifications and histone to protamine transition in spermatogenesis.
6. Transcriptional regulation of germ cell specific genes: During male germ cell development, each differentiation step requires the expression of a specific set of precisely regulated genes. We are characterizing specific transcription initiation and epigenetic modifications underlie the regulation of gene expression in germ cells.

Papers published in 2012

1. Tetraspanin Is Required for Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species by the Dual Oxidase System in Caenorhabditis elegans.

   Hiroki Moribe, Ryouji Konakawa, Daisuke Koga, Tatsuo Ushiki, Kuniaki Nakamura and Eisuke Mekada

   PLoS Genet, 8 (9), e1002957, 2012.
2. MIG-13 controls anteroposterior cell migration by interacting with UNC-71/ADM-1 and SRC-1 in Caenorhabditis elegans.

   Hitomi Masuda, Kuniaki Nakamura, Nozomu Takata, Bunsho Itoh, Takashi Hirose, Hiroki Moribe, Eisuke Mekada and Masato Okada

   FEBS Lett, 586 (6), 740-746, 2012.
3. Development of anti-HB-EGF immunoliposomes for the treatment of breast cancer.

   Kaoru Nishikawa, Tomohiro Asai, Hirokazu Shigematsu, Tetsuo Minamino, Yoshihiro Asano, Seiji Takashima, Eisuke Mekada and Naoto Oku

   J Control Release, 160 (2), 274-280, 2012.

Link

http://www.biken.osaka-u.ac.jp/