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Otsuka Lab
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A lab that explores the interface between nanomaterials and living systems to create substances that control biological functions.
AboutAbout the lab
From the interface, toward substances that control biological functions.
The Otsuka Lab aims to elucidate the phenomena that occur at the interface between nanomaterials and living bodies, and to create substances that can manipulate biological functions.
Based on colloid and interface chemistry, the lab studies biofunctional materials.
It builds material interfaces with a "molecular interface" function that detects and amplifies biological signals, aiming at applications in high-sensitivity diagnostics and tissue engineering.
It also synthesizes metal and semiconductor particles and molecular assemblies of uniform size and shape, aiming at applications in detecting and imaging intractable diseases and in cosmetic ingredients.
Key terms
- Biocompatibility
- A property required of materials implanted in the body: no toxicity or rejection, and no degradation or breakdown over the long term.
- Solubilization
- The ability of the core of a molecular assembly to take up hydrophobic (poorly water-miscible) substances from water.
- Hydrogel
- A network of polymer chains that contains water or another liquid.
NewsLab news
A master's student received a Gold Award at ISS 2026 of the Materials Technology Research Association
A master's student received the Excellent On-Demand Presentation Award at the 75th Annual Meeting of the Society of Polymer Science, Japan
A master's student received a Gold Award at ISS 2025 of the Materials Technology Research Association
A paper from the lab was selected as the Inside Front Cover of Soft Matter
Press release on research into the structure of polymer micelles and the solubilization of hydrophobic substances
ResearchResearch themes
The lab aims to clarify the phenomena that occur at the interface between nanomaterials and living bodies, and to create substances that can manipulate biological functions. It synthesizes polymers and metal nanoparticles and investigates biocompatibility, drug delivery, and cell organization.
*Illustrative imageBiocompatibility and Water at Material Surfaces
The lab focuses on the structure of water at the surface of materials implanted in the body, such as artificial blood vessels and artificial organs. It studies the relationship between biocompatibility and the films that amphiphilic polymers bearing polyethylene glycol (PEG) form at interfaces, and aims to apply metal-complex polymers to drug carriers and anticancer drugs.
*Illustrative imagePolymeric Surfactants
The lab synthesizes new block and graft copolymers and investigates the relationship between the structure and properties of their molecular assemblies using light scattering, NMR, and other methods. It also explores drug delivery systems that use solubilization, in which the core of an assembly takes up hydrophobic substances.
*Illustrative imageNoble Metal Nanoparticles
Using the polymeric surfactants it has synthesized, the lab prepares metal and noble metal nanoparticles of uniform size and shape and examines their nanoscale properties and physiological activity. It also synthesizes copolymers that can form metal complexes and examines their properties as catalysts and anticancer agents.
*Illustrative imageSelf-Organization of Cells
The lab develops polymer hydrogels as scaffolds for three-dimensional cell culture, promoting the formation of tissue (spheroids) by cells as in the living body. It also investigates self-organization on thin polymer film surfaces, and explores uses in new drug screening and regenerative medicine.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Otsuka Lab consist of faculty, master's students, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorHidenori Otsuka
- Assistant ProfessorMasaru Mukai
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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: “Gold Nanoparticles in Cell Cytosol ( )” NIH Image Gallery from Bethesda, Maryland, USA / Public domain (cropped)
- Biocompatibility and Water at Material Surfaces: “Bulk vs surface erosion” Mmbyron (talk) (Uploads) / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Polymeric Surfactants: “Polysorbate 80 Food additive E433” Radiotrefoil / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Noble Metal Nanoparticles: “Gold and silver nanoparticles in labelled Petri dishes” Drkirstyross / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Self-Organization of Cells: “Actin Filaments in a Neuroblastoma cell Line” Howard Vindin / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (片山研究室): “Gold sputter machine” Tobias Brenner / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (駒場研究室): “HEDBOX Battery Cell Framing System” Zoran Komlenski / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (川﨑研究室): “Discoveries from Asteroid Bennu- Media Briefing Graphics (SVS14772 - NASA Chiral Molecules V2)” NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio - NASA/Nicola Fox, Smithsonian Institution/Timothy McCoy, Natural History Museum, London/Sara Russell, NASA/GSFC/Daniel Glavin, NASA/GSFC/Jason Dworkin, NASA/GSFC/Rani Gran, eMITS/Dan Gallagher, Jacobs-JETS/Scott Eckley, Barrios Technology Ltd/Rachel Barry, ADNET Systems, Inc./Lonnie Shekhtman / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (石川研究室): “Scanning electron microscope view of iron crystal (S72-55208)” NASA Johnson Space Center / Public domain (cropped)
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