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Ito-Endo Lab (Molecular Genetics of Life)
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A lab that explores how proteins are made inside cells.
AboutAbout the lab
Understanding how proteins are made, at the molecular level.
The Ito-Endo Lab studies how proteins are made inside cells (the translation reaction).
The lab aims to understand phenomena that occur in cells as the workings of biomolecules.
Drawing on the approaches of molecular genetics and synthetic biology, the lab conducts experiments using Escherichia coli and budding yeast as model organisms.
The lab was launched in 2012 at the University of Tokyo's Kashiwa Campus.
Key terms
- Translation reaction
- The reaction that reads the genetic information transcribed into mRNA and links amino acids together to make a protein
- tRNA
- A small RNA that carries amino acids and pairs with the mRNA code (codons) to line up the building blocks of a protein
- Synthetic biology
- A research approach that combines biomolecules as component parts to build a biological phenomenon of interest inside a cell and study it
ResearchResearch themes
The amount of mRNA and the amount of protein synthesized from it do not match, and translation differs from one mRNA to another. The lab aims to understand the mechanisms behind these differences. Using Escherichia coli and budding yeast, it investigates how information in RNA is converted into protein function.
*Illustrative imageMolecules that mimic tRNA
The lab focuses on molecules that function by taking a shape resembling tRNA, such as the release factors that read stop codons and release the peptide chain. It investigates how such molecules create diversity in the translation reaction, and how these molecules work.
*Illustrative imageThe life of mRNA
From transcription, through serving as the template for translation, to eventual degradation, mRNA goes through a complex series of steps. By examining the intracellular environment surrounding mRNA during this time, the lab aims to clarify how differences in translation arise from one mRNA to another.
*Illustrative imageMembrane transporter proteins
Growing out of research on antibiotics that inhibit the translation reaction, the lab now studies membrane transporter proteins that carry drugs and other substances. Currently, it is particularly focused on elucidating the function of transporters that carry metal cations such as Mg2+.
MembersFaculty
The Ito-Endo Lab is made up of faculty members, visiting research fellows, academic specialists, and doctoral and master's students.As of 2025
- ProfessorKoichi ItoPublications ↗
- Associate ProfessorKei EndoPublications ↗
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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: “S cerevisiae under DIC microscopy” Masur / Public domain (cropped)
- Molecules that mimic tRNA: “E coli at 10000x, original” Photo by Eric Erbe, digital colorization by Christopher Pooley, both of USDA, ARS, EMU. / Public domain (cropped)
- The life of mRNA: “Fluoride Riboswitch Structure” Ttruong18 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Membrane transporter proteins: “Yeast membrane proteins” Masur / CC BY 2.5 (cropped)
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