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Molecular Signal Regulation Lab
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The lab uncovers at the molecular level how information is transmitted inside cells, and applies this knowledge to the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
AboutAbout the lab
From cell signaling to overcoming disease.
The Molecular Signal Regulation Lab studies the mechanisms by which information is transmitted inside cells (signal transduction).
It focuses in particular on the “MAP kinase cascade,” which determines whether a cell proliferates, differentiates, survives, or dies, and on “stress granules,” which form inside cells under stress.
The lab aims to clarify why these mechanisms break down in cancer, autoimmune diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, and other conditions, and to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic methods.
Key terms
- Signal transduction
- A mechanism in which a stimulus received outside or inside a cell is relayed from molecule to molecule in sequence, triggering a cellular response
- MAP kinase cascade
- A pathway in which three types of phosphorylating enzymes (kinases) act in sequence to relay signals that determine whether a cell proliferates or dies
- Stress granules
- Temporary aggregates of mRNA and proteins that form inside cells under stress
- Apoptosis
- A mechanism by which unneeded or damaged cells die by themselves through a fixed sequence of steps
NewsLab news
A paper on how living organisms maintain homeostasis amid environmental change was published in Nature Communications
A student won an Excellent Poster Award at the 48th Annual Meeting of the Molecular Biology Society of Japan
A student won an Excellent Presentation Award at the 19th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Clinical Stress Response
A student won an Excellent Poster Award at the 84th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Cancer Association
A paper on the biological response to oncogene products and a new tumor-suppressing mechanism was published
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies the mechanisms of intracellular signal transduction, centered on the MAP kinase cascade, which determines cell proliferation, differentiation, survival, and death. Its goal is to clarify at the molecular level how the cascade's activity is regulated and how it relates to disease, leading to the development of drugs that target the MAPK pathway.
*Illustrative imageMTK1, a stress-responsive MAPKKK
The lab discovered MTK1, an enzyme that activates stress-responsive MAP kinase pathways. It has shown how a molecule called GADD45 activates MTK1 to induce cell death, and has also revealed MTK1's role as a sensor of oxidative stress.
*Illustrative imageHow stress-response pathways are shut off, and carcinogenesis
The lab studied phosphatases that shut off the activation of stress-response pathways, and clarified the functions of PP2Cα and of Wip1, which suppresses apoptosis after DNA damage. Wip1 was later found to be an oncogene whose gene is amplified in various cancers.
*Illustrative imageHow signaling pathways avoid crosstalk
As a mechanism that prevents signal crosstalk among the ERK, p38, and JNK pathways, the lab found a new docking site through which kinases bind to each other. It showed that a peptide that blocks this binding can suppress MAPKK activation, indicating the potential for developing new drugs.
*Illustrative imageStress granules, cell death, and resistance to anticancer drugs
The lab found that stress granules take in signaling molecules and thereby suppress cell death, and showed that this is one reason cancer cells in hypoxic tumors become resistant to anticancer drugs. It is also investigating the link between stress granules and neuronal cell death in neurodegenerative diseases.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Molecular Signal Regulation Lab consist of faculty, senior technical specialists, postdoctoral researchers, secretaries, doctoral and master's students, and visiting professors and associate professors.As of 2026
- ProfessorMutsuhiro TakekawaPublications ↗
- LecturerKubota YujiPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorRyosuke Hiranuma
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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: “MAPK-pathway-mammalian” Bubus12 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- MTK1, a stress-responsive MAPKKK: “Kinase function” Aarya Venkat / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- How stress-response pathways are shut off, and carcinogenesis: “General phosphatase mechanism” Lovinne / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- How signaling pathways avoid crosstalk: “MAPK cascade” OBRI Masters / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Stress granules, cell death, and resistance to anticancer drugs: “Immunofluorescence showing P-bodies and nucleus” Turiya1952 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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