2023/04/27 Decoding the mechanisms behind the assembly of BAR proteins that dictate cell curvature
2023/06/22 Cancer cells on a tight rope
2022/08/30 At Bio Summer Camp2022, two students got the award
2021/08/06 AI knows where your proteins go
2021/03/23 How cellular fingertips may help cells “speak” to each other
2019/10/21 GAS7 protein allows cells to eat
Cellular membrane is the essential component of cells that distinguishes the inside and the outside of the cells. Each type of cell has a specific shape that is determined by the plasma membrane. The membrane receives every stimulus from cells, but its behavior is poorly understood. The support of the cytoskeleton determines the shape of the plasma membrane. Our lab will focus on the mechanisms connecting the membrane to the cytoskeleton. Our lab also focuses on the membrane-binding proteins connecting the membrane to the intracellular signaling for various cellular functions, including proliferation and morphological changes.
The intracellular signaling cascade became understood by observing molecule-molecule interactions. However, the spatial organization of these signaling cascades has not been studied so well. We found the BAR domain superfamily proteins that remodel membrane shape and then, presumably, dictate the intracellular signaling cascades.
The parts of the cells are released and delivered to the neighboring cells. These extracellular vesicles (exosomes and ectosomes) are also regulated by the BAR domain superfamily proteins.
Thus, the critical questions are how the BAR domain superfamily proteins are regulated and how they assemble the downstream molecules.
Given the importance of membrane lipids as essential components of cells, we suppose many lipid-binding molecules have not been clarified. We are searching for novel lipid-binding proteins using a variety of methods.
Another point for understanding the cellular membrane is the importance of the fatty-acid tails of lipids. Although the importance of saturated or unsaturated lipids in nutrients is well-known, the mechanism of importance is not understood at molecular levels in cell biology. We will examine how fatty acids are essential in intracellular signaling, including that for cancer, using the proteins listed above.
The above complexity of proteins and lipids results in the complex cell morphology. The complex cell morphology can be divided into subcellular structures, which can be described using proteins and lipids. To understand such complexity and the connectivity between subcellular structures, we will cross-correlate the localizations of the proteins and the lipid membrane in space and time by using information technologies including deep-learning. The expected results will compensate the above research and also will predict the behavior of the cells.
Cell biology, Biochemistry, Biophysics, Molecular Biolgoy
Extracellular vesicles, Exosomes, Cancer, Neuron, Diseases
