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Tumor Suppression Lab
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The lab studies cell signaling with the aim of developing treatments for cancer and neurological and muscular diseases.
AboutAbout the lab
Taking on difficult diseases through the mechanisms of cell signaling
The Tumor Suppression Lab studies the signal transduction mechanisms that regulate cell function.
It aims to understand cancers and immune, neurological, and muscular diseases that arise when these mechanisms break down, and to apply that understanding to diagnosis and treatment.
The lab discovered the protein Dok-7, which builds the neuromuscular junction connecting motor neurons and muscles, and clarified the myasthenia caused by its abnormalities.
Based on this discovery, the lab is researching therapies that improve motor function by strengthening the formation of neuromuscular junctions.
Key terms
- Signal transduction
- A mechanism that relays information from outside a cell into the cell through a relay of molecules
- Neuromuscular junction
- The site where the tip of a motor neuron meets a muscle fiber and passes on the signal to move
- ALS
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. A disease in which motor neurons are lost and muscles gradually stop moving
ResearchResearch themes
The lab investigates the signal transduction mechanisms underlying cancer and neurological and muscular diseases, with the aim of developing diagnostics and treatments. Its topics include how neuromuscular junctions form and are maintained, and how tumors become malignant.
*Illustrative imageAge-related decline of the neuromuscular junction
The lab found the gene Cabp7, which is highly active in muscle near neuromuscular junctions, and discovered that it is a factor that suppresses age-related degeneration of the neuromuscular junction. It also showed that the decline in muscle strength that progresses in mice lacking Cabp7 is reversed when the activity of Cdk5 is suppressed.
*Illustrative imageHow benign tumors become malignant
In mice that develop intestinal polyps, the lab found that eliminating Dok-3 from non-tumor cells causes tumors to invade surrounding tissue without new genetic mutations. It also found that T cells are essential for this malignant progression.
*Illustrative imageImproving motor function in aged mice
The lab focused on the phenomenon in which motor neurons withdraw from neuromuscular junctions with age. By administering a vector that drives DOK7 activity to aged mice, it showed that the connection between nerve and muscle, motor function, and muscle strength were all strengthened.
*Illustrative imageA new therapy for ALS
In model mice of ALS, for which there is no fundamental cure, the lab showed that a treatment that strengthens the formation of neuromuscular junctions suppresses muscle atrophy, improves motor function, and extends survival.
MembersFaculty
The Tumor Suppression Lab consists of faculty members, master's students, research trainees, and project specialists.As of 2024
- ProfessorYuji YamanashiPublications ↗
- Associate ProfessorAkane Inoue-YamauchiPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorJi Wu
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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: “Neuro Muscular Junction - Not Labelled” Doctor Jana / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Age-related decline of the neuromuscular junction: “Electron micrograph of neuromuscular junction (cross-section)” National Institute of Mental Health; originally uploaded by Nrets at en.wikipedia. / Public domain (cropped)
- How benign tumors become malignant: “Tubular adenoma - colon, low mag” CoRus13 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Improving motor function in aged mice: “Nervous system - Neuromuscular synapse 1 -- Smart-Servier” Laboratoires Servier / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- A new therapy for ALS: “Nervous Tissue Spinal Cord Motor Neuron ( )” Berkshire Community College Bioscience Image Library / CC0 (cropped)
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