Research

Our laboratory aims at arbitrarily designing functional cells for applications in regenerative medicine and drug discovery as well as creation and functional control of artificial cells. Particularly, we develop platform technologies for these applications by artificially designing signal transduction which plays pivotal roles in cell fate control.

Cell fate-controlling systems using chimeric receptors :

We develop antigen-responsive chimeric receptors whose ligand recognition domain is replaced with antigen variable regions. The chimeric receptors control various cell fates with specific antigens, which is useful for regenerative medicine and gene therapy.

Drug discovery platforms using cell fate signals :

We design fusion proteins composed of proteins of interest and growth-signaling molecules. Such fusion proteins transduce growth signals when the proteins of interest interact with each other. Based on this principle, we screen antibody, peptide, and chemical compound libraries on the surface or in the cytosol of cells.

Custom designs of intracellular signal transduction :

We artificially locate signaling molecule-binding motifs in the cytoplasmic domain of synthetic receptors, which enables specific activation of target signaling molecules. Using the synthetic receptors, we analyze contribution of signaling molecules related to cell fate control, and screen motif sequences that efficiently induce specific cell fates.

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