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Matsuura Lab
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The lab rebuilds the workings of life from cellular parts.
AboutAbout the lab
Can life be created by assembling parts?
The Matsuura Lab combines the parts that make up living organisms to build cell-free molecular systems specialized for specific functions.
The lab then uses these cell-free molecular systems to evolve proteins and the molecular systems themselves.
Through this work, the lab aims to clarify the properties of protocells, which are thought to have existed at the very beginning of life.
At the same time, the lab also works on assembling molecules and molecular systems that can contribute to practical applications.
Key terms
- Cell-free molecular system
- A collection of molecules assembled only from molecules that serve as cellular parts, containing no cells themselves
- Directed evolution
- A method of repeating mutation and selection in the laboratory to obtain molecules with a desired function in a short time
- Protocell
- A cell with a simple structure that is thought to have existed in the early days of life
NewsLab news
A new paper has been published
A new paper has been published
A new paper has been published
A new paper has been published
A lab member won a poster award at the International Biophysics Congress
ResearchResearch themes
The lab aims to combine the parts that make up living organisms to create cell-free molecular systems specialized for specific functions. It then uses these molecular systems to evolve proteins and the molecular systems themselves.
*Illustrative imageCreating cell-free molecular systems
The lab assembles the cellular parts (molecules) that make up living organisms to create molecular systems specialized for specific functions. Although they are made from cellular parts, they are collections of molecules that contain no cells.
*Illustrative imageEvolving systems in the laboratory
The lab uses the evolutionary process of repeated mutation and selection to make cell-free molecular systems more sophisticated. It applies the principle of directed evolution, which brings about evolution in a short time, from one day to a few years, to the evolution of molecular systems.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Matsuura Lab consist of faculty, researchers, research assistants, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorTomoaki MatsuuraPublications ↗
- Project Assistant ProfessorHironori SugiyamaPublications ↗
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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: “Phosphatidylcholine liposomes at phase-contrast microscopy” ArkhipovSergey / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Creating cell-free molecular systems: “Ribosome shape” Vossman / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Evolving systems in the laboratory: “96 Well Plate (NIH BioArt 7)” Courtesy of NIAID Ryan Kissinger / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (西山・三浦研究室): “TEM image of gold nanoparticles and nanorods” Fionán / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (堤研究室): “PDB 1dng EBI” Jawahar Swaminathan and MSD staff at the European Bioinformatics Institute / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (上野研究室): “Flu Self Assembly ( )” NIAID / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (田川陽一研究室): “96 well plate” J.N. Eskra / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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