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Muscle Cell Biology Lab
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A lab that studies how chicken muscle develops in order to address food problems and human health.
AboutAbout the lab
Uncovering how muscle forms to tackle food problems and health
Prof. Nakamura's lab studies the process by which skeletal muscle and smooth muscle form, using chicken muscle as its subject.
At the School of Interdisciplinary Science and Innovation, the professor is in charge of courses aimed at solving global food problems and of degree projects (graduation research) that use biological methods.
The lab aims to develop technologies to increase the number of edible cuts of meat and to produce cultured meat, and it also aims to apply its findings to health science, such as maintaining muscle strength and preventing sarcopenia.
Drawing on experience working overseas, the professor supports students who take on study abroad and internships, and also promotes participation in international joint research.
Key terms
- Smooth muscle
- Muscle that forms the walls of the digestive tract, such as the stomach and intestines. It is a different type from skeletal muscle, which attaches to bones.
- Differentiation
- The process by which a precursor cell changes into a cell with a specific role, such as a muscle cell.
- Sarcopenia
- A condition in which muscle mass and strength decline, for example with aging.
- Cultured meat
- Meat made by growing animal cells outside the body.
ResearchResearch themes
Chicken muscle is a cut of meat and a valuable source of protein for humanity. The lab aims to clarify scientifically how skeletal muscle and smooth muscle form, and thereby to increase the number of edible meat cuts, make currently discarded parts of the digestive tract edible, and develop cultured meat technology.
*Illustrative imageOrigin and Differentiation of Smooth Muscle Cells
Using chicken embryos, the lab investigates which cells smooth muscle cells arise from (their cell lineage). It also works to clarify the mechanisms by which smooth muscle cells differentiate.
*Illustrative imageSearching for Stem Cells in Skeletal Muscle and Meat
The lab searches within skeletal muscle cells for the stem cells that give rise to meat. Identifying cells from meat-producing species that are suited to cellular agriculture, such as cultured meat, is also one of its research themes.
*Illustrative imageApplications to Health Science
The lab also aims at applications in health science, including maintaining muscle strength and preventing sarcopenia in an aging society, improving contractile function of the digestive tract, and clarifying how uterine fibroids develop.
MembersFaculty
- ProfessorMako Nakamura
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Chick embryo 3d” PaulT (Gunther Tschuch) / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Origin and Differentiation of Smooth Muscle Cells: “Embryonic smooth muscle cell” National Institutes of Health (NIH) / Public domain (cropped)
- Searching for Stem Cells in Skeletal Muscle and Meat: “First cultured hamburger unfried” World Economic Forum / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Applications to Health Science: “Food-healthy-vegetables-potatoes ( )” www.Pixel.la Free Stock Photos / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (〈生態工学〉): “202608 Nankan River mouth panorama 02” Junyu-K / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (〈鉱物学〉): “Brown calcite crystals ( )” James Petts from London, England / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
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