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Fujita Lab
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The lab uses fruit flies to uncover how muscle cells are built.
AboutAbout the lab
Solving how muscle cells are built, using flies.
The Fujita Lab uses Drosophila fruit flies and cultured cells to study how muscle cells are formed and rebuilt.
Muscle cells are giant multinucleated cells with highly organized organelles such as T-tubules and the sarcoplasmic reticulum.
Their structure and role in muscle contraction are well known, but surprisingly little is understood about the mechanisms that shape them.
The lab also works on the physiological functions of autophagy and on the mechanisms that form the slit diaphragm of kidney cells.
Key terms
- T-tubule
- A network of membrane running throughout a muscle cell and connected to the plasma membrane
- Organelle
- A small structure inside a cell that carries out a specific function
- Autophagy
- A process in which a cell engulfs and breaks down its own components so they can be rebuilt
NewsLab news
Associate Professor Fujita received the Encouragement Award from the Japan Society of Myology
A student received the Excellent Poster Presentation Award at the Kanto Branch Meeting of the Japanese Biochemical Society
Paper published in Science Advances
Paper published in eLife
An undergraduate student received the top award at the bachelor's thesis presentation
ResearchResearch themes
Using Drosophila and cultured cells, the lab aims to clarify the mechanisms by which muscle cell organelles are formed and remodeled. It also works on identifying and functionally analyzing the causative genes of human hereditary muscle diseases.
*Illustrative imageObserving muscle cells in Drosophila
The structure of muscle cells is well conserved through evolution. Drosophila muscle cells lie directly beneath the body surface, so by expressing organelle markers tagged with fluorescent proteins, researchers can easily observe them in living animals with a confocal microscope.
*Illustrative imageHow T-tubules are formed
Giant muscle cells can contract in synchrony because a network of membrane called T-tubules, continuous with the plasma membrane, extends throughout them. The lab investigates how T-tubules form by combining proteomics, genetic analysis of hereditary muscle diseases, and its own high-throughput analysis method.
*Illustrative imageMuscle cell remodeling
Muscle cells constantly repeat atrophy and hypertrophy in response to changes in the body's internal environment. The lab found that during Drosophila metamorphosis, abdominal muscle cells are completely destroyed and then re-formed, and showed that autophagy plays an important role in this reconstruction.
*Illustrative imageSecretion via autophagy
Some proteins work outside cells even though they have no signal peptide, and autophagy has been suggested to be involved in their secretion. The lab found that cytoplasmic proteins are secreted from Drosophila muscle cells through autophagy, and has identified the genes involved.
MembersFaculty
The Fujita Lab's members include faculty, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, research students, researchers, and support staff.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorNaonobu FujitaPublications ↗
- Project Assistant ProfessorKohei Kawaguchi
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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 under microscope” Talita Oliveira / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Observing muscle cells in Drosophila: “Culture vials of Drosophila melanogaster in Unifei” Mateus S. Figueiredo / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- How T-tubules are formed: “Striated Muscle Tissue” Naz Amann / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Muscle cell remodeling: “Fruit Fly Pupa” Sanjay Acharya / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Secretion via autophagy: “Autophagy” David S. Goodsell / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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