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Physiological Chemistry Lab
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The lab investigates how cell division works, starting from the centrosome, and applies its findings to the development of anticancer drugs.
AboutAbout the lab
Uncovering the basic principles of cell division to advance drug discovery
The lab aims to understand the mechanisms of cell division, which proceeds through many stages, and to develop that understanding into drug discovery, including new anticancer drugs.
It focuses in particular on centrosome duplication and on how the spindle forms and segregates chromosomes.
Centering on the relationship between proteins and non-coding RNAs, the lab combines a wide range of methods, including cell biology, biochemistry, structural biology, and simulation.
The lab also reproduces in vitro the interactions between cells that take place in the body, in order to clarify the molecular mechanisms behind them.
Key terms
- Centrosome
- A small structure inside the cell that serves as the starting point of the spindle, which pulls the chromosomes apart during cell division
- Spindle
- A bundle of fibers made of microtubules that forms during cell division and distributes the chromosomes into two cells
- Cell division inhibitor
- A drug that stops cells from dividing. It is used as a drug to suppress the growth of cancer cells
NewsLab news
A master's student received the Best Presentation Award at the Pharma-Bio Forum 2026 for the Next Generation of Young Researchers
A student received the Student Excellent Poster Presentation Award at the 78th Annual Meeting of the Japan Society for Cell Biology
A master's student received a Poster Award at the 25th University of Tokyo Life Science Symposium
A student received the Student Excellent Presentation Award at the 146th Annual Meeting of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan
A student's review article was published in The Journal of Biochemistry
ResearchResearch themes
The centrosome is an organelle that, like DNA, is duplicated only once per cell cycle. The lab aims to uncover the basic principles underlying this self-duplication mechanism, and to apply them to clarifying the causes of carcinogenesis and to developing next-generation cell division inhibitors.
*Illustrative imageHow the centrosome is duplicated only once
The centrosome is assembled through the self-organization of many proteins. The lab investigates the basic principles of this self-duplication mechanism, aiming to clarify the causes of cancer development and genetic diseases involving the centrosome and to apply that knowledge to the development of next-generation cell division inhibitors.
*Illustrative imageReconstituting interactions between cells
The lab reconstitutes in vitro the interactions between cells in the body and applies the latest methods in cell genetics and next-generation sequencing, aiming to open up a new field.
MembersFaculty
The lab's members include faculty, students in the doctoral, master's, and undergraduate programs, secretaries, and technical assistants.As of 2026
- ProfessorDaiju KitagawaPublications ↗
- LecturerMasamitsu FukuyamaPublications ↗
- Project LecturerShoji HataPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorTakumi ChinenPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorShohei YamamotoPublications ↗
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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: “Mitotic LLC-PK1 cells, fluorescence microscopy ( )” ZEISS Microscopy from Germany / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- How the centrosome is duplicated only once: “Blausen 0214 Centrioles” BruceBlaus. When using this image in external sources it can be cited as: Blausen.com staff (2014). "Medical gallery of Blausen Medical 2014". WikiJournal of Medicine 1 (2). DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.010. ISSN . / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Reconstituting interactions between cells: “Co-culture spheroid of HT1376 and RT112 cells” Altyn0707 / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (遺伝学教室): “Drosophila melanogaster under microscope” Talita Oliveira / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (衛生化学教室): “Applied Biosystems 4000 QTrap Mass Spectrometer (detail) (11)” Hey Paul from Sacramento, CA, USA / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (蛋白質代謝学教室): “Proteasome (NIH BioArt )” Courtesy of NIAID Ryan Kissinger / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (河口研究室): “Normalized Linkage Heat Map” CP2000A / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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