Tanaka Group
Department of Cytoarchitectonics
The University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine
Cellular functions are regulated by the location, amount, and activity of bioactive substances. The intracellular transport and extracellular release of supramolecular complexes and membrane organelles by the intracellular ropeway-like kinesin molecular motor are important control systems for various cell and tissue functions. For this reason, kinesin molecular motor gene mutant mice have become models of many important human diseases, including liver cirrhosis, schizophrenia, diabetes, intractable neurological diseases, chronic pain, situs inversus, and polydactyly. Furthermore, we have discovered extracellular vesicles called large exosomes, which have extremely high tissue regeneration activity, and are conducting molecular and cellular biological analyses of their secretion and absorption mechanisms, as well as approaches to clinical applications.
Principal Investigator
Yosuke Tanaka, Senior Assistant Professor /PI
Born in Tokyo in 1969. Through research into molecular cell biology, he aims to discover completely new cellular phenomena and conduct their clinical applications.
April 1994 – April 1996 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Research Fellow (DC1))
Cell biological studies of microtubule-associated proteins
May 1996 – April 2017 Assistant, Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo
Mouse molecular genetics and molecular cell biology of intracellular transport
May 2017 – Present Senior Assistant Professor, Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo
September 2018 - Present Department head, Department of Cytoarchitecture, same university. Analysis of knockout mice of all major kinesin molecular motors as disease models for diabetes, steatohepatitis, schizophrenia, etc., and translational research using large exosomes as a starting point (6 reports in Cell, 2 reports in Nature [1 report each as first author], etc.)
April 2023 – Present Vice Director of the Art Creation Collaborative Research Organization, The University of Tokyo (April 2024-present)
Industry-academia-government collaboration, improving scientific innovation
Writing activities: 1998 Eureka Newcomer, 2022 Poetry and Literature Museum Award, Japan, on poetry publications
Projects
Team Members
We aim to be an international and passionate team.
Technical specialists: Nobuhisa Onouchi, Tsuyoshi Akamatsu Academic support staff: Kiyomi Hasegawa, Naoko Hamada, Mieko Masuda, Izumi Takemura, Hisayo Koike
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