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Sugimura Lab
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The lab studies how forces acting on cells shape the formation of tissues.
AboutAbout the lab
Reading the shapes of living things through the lens of physics and statistics.
The Sugimura Lab studies the mechanisms by which cells move collectively and form patterns.
The key to these mechanisms is the mechanical forces that drive deformation and movement.
By combining live imaging, mechanical measurements, and physical models, the lab investigates the principles by which order arises in multicellular systems.
The lab takes an interdisciplinary approach that integrates experimental biology, statistics and data analysis, and physics.
Key terms
- Epithelium
- A tissue made of tightly packed cells with no gaps that covers the surface of the body and lines the inside of internal organs
- Bayesian inference
- A statistical method that uses probability to estimate quantities that cannot be measured directly from the available data
- Live imaging
- Observing the movements of living cells or tissues by continuously recording them under a microscope
NewsLab news
View More ↗ResearchResearch themes
The lab combines live imaging, mechanical measurements, and physical models to address the principles of multicellular pattern formation. Its goal is to uncover the principles by which mechanical forces give rise to multicellular order.
*Illustrative imageBayesian Inference of Forces
The lab developed a method that uses Bayesian inference to estimate the forces acting on a tissue from images of cell shapes and cell connectivity. It makes it possible to examine the distribution of forces over time without damaging the tissue.
*Illustrative imageCell Rearrangement
The lab studies the process in which epithelial cells rearrange by exchanging the interfaces through which they contact one another. Using live imaging and physical models, it has shown the role that myosin plays around cell vertices.
*Illustrative imageHexagonal Ordering of Cells
In the pupal wing of Drosophila, the lab has shown that the direction of the forces acting on the tissue aligns the orientation of cell-cell interfaces and accelerates the arrangement of cells into a hexagonal pattern.
*Illustrative imageEstimation of Mechanical Parameters
The lab has developed a method to statistically estimate, from images, mechanical parameters that are difficult to measure in living organisms, such as the spring constant of the junctions between cells.
MembersFaculty
The Sugimura Lab consists of faculty members, doctoral and master's students, technical assistants, and administrative assistants.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorKaoru SugimuraPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorShinya MatsudaPublications ↗
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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: “Drosophila Melanogaster Wing” Kecko05 / CC0 (cropped)
- Bayesian Inference of Forces: “PeriodicVoronoiTessellation” Lerichard / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Cell Rearrangement: “Squamous Epithelium Microscopy” Moonchan93 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Hexagonal Ordering of Cells: “Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE) Cells” NIH Image Gallery / Public domain (cropped)
- Estimation of Mechanical Parameters: “Mattress Springs” Angie from Sawara, Chiba-ken, Japan / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Katoh Lab): “Tree of life by Haeckel” Ernst Haeckel / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Suzuki Lab): “Illumina HiSeq 2500” Konrad Förstner / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Frith Lab): “DNA double helix 45” Jerome Walker,Dennis Myts / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Kasahara Lab): “MinION portable sequencer” Mongan A.E. / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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