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Tomari Lab (Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, RNA Function Research Field)
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A lab tackling the mechanisms and principles of RNAs that function without becoming proteins.
AboutAbout the lab
Tackling the mystery of RNAs that never become proteins
The Tomari Lab studies the functions and operating principles of non-coding RNAs, which act without being translated into proteins.
Cells contain a wide variety of non-coding RNAs, including small RNAs such as miRNAs and long non-coding RNAs, which are thought to finely regulate gene activity.
However, how they are produced and by what principles they work remain largely unknown.
Using approaches such as in vitro reconstitution of biochemical reactions and single-molecule imaging, the lab takes on the wonders of the RNA world from three main perspectives.
Key terms
- Non-coding RNA
- RNA that does not serve as a blueprint for proteins and instead functions as RNA itself, for example in regulating gene activity
- Small RNA
- Short RNA about 20 to 30 nucleotides long. It recognizes RNAs complementary to itself and triggers their degradation or represses their translation
- Post-transcriptional regulation
- Mechanisms that regulate gene activity at stages after mRNA has been transcribed from DNA
NewsLab news
View More ↗ResearchResearch themes
The lab focuses on non-coding RNAs, which function without being translated into proteins and are a prime example of exceptions to the central dogma, and aims to elucidate their functions and operating principles. It studies the RNA world, centered on non-coding RNAs, from three main perspectives.
*Illustrative imageAssembly of non-coding RNA machinery
Small RNAs function only after they are excised from precursors and accurately loaded into a protein called Argonaute. By combining in vitro reconstitution systems with single-molecule imaging and other methods, the lab investigates how this complex is assembled in an orderly manner.
*Illustrative imageHow non-coding RNA machinery acts
miRNAs and similar molecules serve as guides that select target RNAs. After a target is recognized, through what elementary steps does the process lead to degradation or translational repression? The lab aims to untangle this biochemically and connect it to an understanding of phenomena in cells and whole organisms.
*Illustrative imageNew mechanisms that regulate mRNA
Focusing on overlooked properties of enzymes that act on RNA and on the dynamic regulation of gene expression during organismal development, the lab seeks to discover new post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms that act at the mRNA stage and to clarify their molecular basis.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Tomari Lab consist of faculty, doctoral and master's students, research students, technical specialists, project researchers, and administrative assistants.
- ProfessorYukihide TomariPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorFumiko Kawasaki
- Assistant ProfessorHiroya Kina
- Assistant ProfessorSaori Shinoda
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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: “Drosophila melanogaster ♀ ( )” Rolf Dietrich Brecher from Germany / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Assembly of non-coding RNA machinery: “Microscope à fluorescence (Ifremer )” Olivier Dugornay / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- How non-coding RNA machinery acts: “Gel Electrophoresis” Nik.vuk / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- New mechanisms that regulate mRNA: “Drosophila Puppe” Jcb herrmann / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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