LAB LOGA page on LabLog, a review site (not the lab's official page)
Kume-Shiraki Lab
Machine-translated · View original
The lab creates pancreas and liver in a test tube from ES cells and iPS cells.
AboutAbout the lab
Building the body's organs in a test tube
The Kume-Shiraki Lab studies how to create digestive organs, such as the pancreas, liver, and intestine, in a test tube.
The starting materials are mouse and human ES cells and iPS cells.
By generating cells that function as they do in the body, the lab aims to uncover the mechanisms of development and differentiation and to produce cell sources for regenerative medicine.
The cells it creates can also serve as models of human development and differentiation, and can be applied to drug discovery and medicine.
Key terms
- ES cells / iPS cells
- Cells with the ability (pluripotency) to turn into many kinds of cells in the body. They are the best-known stem cells.
- Directed differentiation
- Adjusting culture conditions to turn stem cells into a desired type of cell.
- Endoderm
- One of the cell layers formed as a fertilized egg develops into a body. It gives rise to the pancreas, liver, and intestine.
NewsLab news
Paper by Associate Professor Shiraki and colleagues published in Scientific Reports
Paper by Professor Kume and colleagues published in European Journal of Cell Biology
Paper by Professor Kume and colleagues published in Stem Cells
ResearchResearch themes
The lab creates digestive organs (pancreas, liver, and intestine) in vitro, with the goal of applications in drug discovery and medicine. Starting from ES cells and iPS cells, and going through endoderm formation, patterning, and cell differentiation, it creates cells that function as they do in vivo. This leads to an understanding of the mechanisms of development and differentiation and to the creation of cell sources for regenerative medicine.
*Illustrative imageDirected differentiation into organs
The lab develops methods to induce ES cells and iPS cells to differentiate into pancreas, hepatocytes, and intestine. It examines the properties of the resulting cells and also searches for new genes involved in differentiation.
*Illustrative imageSearching for unknown molecules
Using approaches such as chemical biology, the lab searches for as-yet-unidentified molecules involved in development, differentiation, and regeneration.
Applications to drug discovery and regenerative medicine
Cells created in vitro from human iPS cells are used as model cells for human development and differentiation, and as a cell source for drug discovery and medical applications.
*Illustrative imageControl of metabolism and differentiation
The lab investigates how cellular metabolism and the mechanisms of cell differentiation regulate each other. It aims to gain a comprehensive understanding of the functions of molecules involved in development and differentiation, functional maintenance, and metabolic networks.
MembersFaculty
The Kume-Shiraki Lab consists of faculty, doctoral and master's students, and technical assistants.As of 2026
- ProfessorShoen KumePublications ↗
- Associate ProfessorNobuaki ShirakiPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorDong YupengPublications ↗
VoicesStudent voices
Compiled from answers by students who were in the lab. Ratings and reviews reflect individual students' experiences, not the lab's official views.
Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.
On a 4-point scale, ● marks where students' answers fall
Who is this lab for?
What's great about this lab?
What did you learn after joining?
What's the vibe, and what is the professor like?
Where do graduates go?
RelatedLabs similar to Kume-Shiraki Lab
Tagawa LabSchool of Life Science and Technology, Department of Life Science and TechnologyArtificial life forms, disease models, synthetic biology, re…
Yamaguchi LabSchool of Life Science and Technology, Department of Life Science and TechnologyGene expression, genomics, drug discovery, chemical biology
Nakamura-Okada LabSchool of Life Science and Technology, Department of Life Science and TechnologyOrganic chemistry, medicinal chemistry for drug discovery, c…
Tanaka LabSchool of Life Science and Technology, Department of Life Science and TechnologyEvolutionary developmental biology, morphology, organogenesi…The information on this page is compiled by the LabLog team from the lab's public information and interviews. For corrections or removal requests, please contact LabLog, not the lab.
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: “Human induced pluripotent stem cell colony ( )” NIH Image Gallery from Bethesda, Maryland, USA / Public domain (cropped)
- Directed differentiation into organs: “Islet of Langerhans in Human Pancreas by Phase Contrast ( )” Berkshire Community College Bioscience Image Library / CC0 (cropped)
- Searching for unknown molecules: “Chemlab2” Tahoenathan / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Control of metabolism and differentiation: “L-methionine-from-xtal-Mercury-3D-balls” Ben Mills / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (田川陽一研究室): “96 well plate” J.N. Eskra / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (山口研究室): “DAPI-stained nuclei of HeLa cells” DrBib / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (中村・岡田研究室): “Boron neutron capture therapy (bnct) illustration” Pat Kenny (Illustrator) / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (田中幹子研究室): “Embryo in chicken egg (Gallus domesticus) after 72 hours of incubation” Monika Tumialis (Eksnazja) / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
About LabLog
LabLog is a lab review app for students only. Student members at each university interview students in labs and publish what they say. Student voices can only be read by students who sign up with a university email address. Operated by bestiee Inc.
Learn more about LabLog ↗Search engines and AI may reference the basic lab info and rating summaries on this page and the description of LabLog. Student voices are for student members only. Automated collection by programs (scraping, or input to or training of AI) is prohibited under Article 8 of the Terms of Service. If you need data for research or analysis, please contact us.