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Health and Environmental Medical Engineering Lab
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A lab that explores the mechanisms of metabolic and immune diseases through the functions of lipids.
AboutAbout the lab
Understanding life through lipids
Murakami Lab studies how lipids and the molecules produced by their metabolism function in the body and how they contribute to disease.
Lipids are the body's largest energy source and a main building material of cell membranes, and they also function as signaling molecules.
The lab examines genetically modified mice for enzymes and receptors involved in lipid metabolism, and combines this with lipidomics, the comprehensive analysis of lipids, to uncover the mechanisms of metabolic and immune diseases.
Based on these findings, the lab aims to contribute to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases involving changes in lipid metabolism.
Key terms
- Lipidomics
- A method for comprehensively analyzing the types and amounts of lipids in the body
- Genetically modified mouse
- A mouse in which a specific gene has been disrupted or increased in expression. Used to study the role of that gene
- Gut microbiota
- A community of many types of bacteria living in the intestine. It affects the body's metabolism and immunity
NewsLab news
Discovery of a "molecular glue" that supports bacterial infection, published in npj Biofilms and Microbiomes
New lipid-response mechanism that calms excessive inflammation uncovered, published in Science Advances
A lab member received the Best Presentation Award at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Immunology
A lab member received the Young Investigator Award at the FASEB Scientific Research Conference
A lab member received the Young Investigator Excellent Presentation Award at the 67th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Conference on the Biochemistry of Lipids
ResearchResearch themes
The lab focuses on the lipid network formed by lipids and their metabolites, combining the analysis of genetically modified mice with lipidomics. It aims to clarify the molecular mechanisms of metabolic and immune diseases and to translate these findings clinically into diagnosis, prevention, and treatment.
*Illustrative imageRetinal lipid metabolism and eye disease
In collaboration with the Department of Ophthalmology, the lab showed that PNPLA6, a phospholipid-degrading enzyme, is involved in extracting and reusing choline in the retina, and that abnormalities in this metabolism cause retinitis pigmentosa.
*Illustrative imageA colonic lipid-metabolizing enzyme and obesity
In collaboration with the National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition and Keio University, the lab showed that sPLA2-X, a lipid-metabolizing enzyme in the colon, regulates the gut microbiota and affects systemic metabolism and susceptibility to weight gain.
*Illustrative imageAn enzyme that produces lipids that ease psoriasis
In collaboration with the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, the lab found that cPLA2ε, a phospholipid-metabolizing enzyme, produces the anti-inflammatory lipid NAE in the skin and eases inflammation in psoriasis.
*Illustrative imageExtracellular vesicles and lymphoma
In collaboration with Tokai University, the lab discovered a mechanism by which secreted lipid-metabolizing enzymes alter extracellular vesicles and promote the development and malignant progression of lymphoma.
MembersFaculty
Members of Murakami Lab consist of faculty, project researchers, postdocs, and visiting researchers.As of 2026
- ProfessorMakoto MurakamiPublications ↗
- LecturerYoshitaka Taketomi
- Assistant ProfessorHiroyasu Sato
- Assistant ProfessorYuki Nagasaki
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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: “Adipocytes Lipid Droplets Oil Red O Staining Rkott 2023” Rkott / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Retinal lipid metabolism and eye disease: “Fundus photograph-normal retina EDA06” National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health / Public domain (cropped)
- A colonic lipid-metabolizing enzyme and obesity: “Bifidobacterium adolescentis Gram” Y tambe / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- An enzyme that produces lipids that ease psoriasis: “Psoriasis on back” Marnanel / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Extracellular vesicles and lymphoma: “Spleen, Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma ( )” Ed Uthman from Houston, TX, USA / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
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