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Saito Lab
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The lab works to uncover the mechanisms of dementia and neurodegeneration in search of starting points for new drugs.
AboutAbout the lab
Uncovering how dementia develops and linking it to drug discovery
The Saito Lab studies how neurodegenerative diseases arise, focusing on dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
The lab aims to go from elucidating these mechanisms to research on prevention, treatment, and drug discovery for delaying disease onset.
Using model mice that reproduce the pathology, the lab examines the molecules and cells involved in disease pathophysiology one by one.
Under a new setup in which Prof. Saito took up the post in February 2026, the lab is pursuing a wide range of collaborative research, including with pharmaceutical companies.
Key terms
- Neurodegenerative disease
- A group of diseases in which nerve cells are gradually lost. Examples include Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease
- Tauopathy
- A group of diseases caused by the accumulation of a protein called tau in the brain
- Biomarker
- A measurable indicator in the body that gives clues about whether a disease is present or how far it has progressed
NewsLab news
Paper on the mechanism of extracellular vesicle secretion under lysosomal stress published in iScience
An Assistant Professor and a doctoral student received an Excellent Presentation Award at the Young Researcher Training Dojo at Neuro2026
Role of the chemokine CXCL10 in tau pathology clarified and published in Journal of Neuroinflammation
A doctoral student received the FEBS Open Bio Oral Presentation Award at the Japanese Biochemical Society meeting
Results compiled by doctoral students and others reported in Brain Communications
ResearchResearch themes
The lab works to elucidate the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, focusing on dementia and Alzheimer's disease. It aims to build on this to pursue prevention, treatment, and drug discovery research for delaying disease onset.
*Illustrative imageElucidating disease pathophysiology with model mice
Using model animals that reproduce amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, the pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, the lab seeks to identify the molecules and cells involved in the formation of the disease state. The goal is to find targets for drug discovery.
*Illustrative imageTau pathology, glia, and peripheral immunity
Using tauopathy models and human samples, the lab studies how pathology and pathophysiology arise, from the perspectives of the connections between neurons and glial cells and between glial cells and the body's immune system.
*Illustrative imageSearching for early biomarkers
Focusing on the connection between the brain and the body, the lab broadly searches for biomarkers that appear at early stages of Alzheimer's disease and seeks to clarify how those molecules behave. It aims to lead to predicting onset and delaying it.
*Illustrative imageBeyond dementia to other brain diseases
The lab also works on elucidating the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease, and on elucidating the pathophysiology of stroke (intracerebral hemorrhage) and drug discovery for it. It also studies the co-occurrence of stroke and dementia through collaborative research.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Saito Lab are faculty, project researchers, doctoral students, a secretary, and technical assistants.As of 2026
- ProfessorTakashi Saito
- LecturerTomoki Kuwahara
- Assistant ProfessorMasanori Hijioka
- Assistant ProfessorTatsuya Manabe
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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: “The Glowing Emptiness of an Alzheimer's Disease Patient” Nicocapelo / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Elucidating disease pathophysiology with model mice: “Cerebral amyloid angiopathy Saimiri” Wikimedia Commons / CC0 (cropped)
- Tau pathology, glia, and peripheral immunity: “The Tiny, Circumspect Rival of the Central Nervous System” Nicocapelo / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Searching for early biomarkers: “Multicolor fluorescence image of a living HeLa cell” 8x57is / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Beyond dementia to other brain diseases: “Intracerebral hemorrage (CT scan)” Glitzy queen00 at English Wikipedia / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (神経生化学教室
（尾藤晴彦研究室） ): “Hippocampal neurons in culture” Guarnieri Fabrizia / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped) - Related lab (細胞構築学教室
（田中グループ） ): “Microtubules in Primary Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts” Howard Vindin / CC BY 4.0 (cropped) - Related lab (細胞分子生理学教室
（松崎政紀研究室） ): “Common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) Rio 2015” Aatu Dorochenko / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped) - Related lab (神経細胞生物学教室
（岡部繁男研究室） ): “Neuron in tissue culture” GerryShaw / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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