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Sato Lab
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The lab works out how cells divide by studying the cytoskeleton, the structural framework of the cell.
AboutAbout the lab
Decoding cell division and tissue formation through the cytoskeleton.
The Sato Lab (Cytoskeletal Logistics Lab) studies how cells divide and how tissues are formed.
The lab focuses on the cytoskeleton, the structural framework of the cell, and especially on microtubules, and examines what roles they play in cell division and tissue formation.
Using fission yeast, mice, and cultured human cells, the lab carries out its research with the methods of genetics and cell biology.
It also investigates how abnormalities in the cytoskeleton are linked to diseases and their symptoms.
Key terms
- Microtubule
- A tube-shaped component of the cytoskeleton that maintains cell shape and also serves as a track for transporting cargo
- Spindle
- A microtubule structure that appears during cell division and pulls chromosomes apart to opposite sides
- Kinetochore
- The part of a chromosome to which spindle microtubules attach
NewsLab news
An undergraduate student won second place in the Poster Award at the Department of Life Science and Medical Bioscience poster exchange event
Paper on the role of Camsap3 in follicle development published in iScience
An undergraduate student won the Best Poster Award at the Tokyo Women's Medical University–Waseda University Exchange Seminar
Review on how cells wake from dormancy published in the monthly Japanese journal Saibo (Cell)
A doctoral student won an Excellent Poster Award at the Tokyo Women's Medical University–Waseda University Research Exchange Seminar
ResearchResearch themes
The Sato Lab seeks to understand how life begins by exploring the molecular mechanisms of cell division and tissue formation. It focuses in particular on the cytoskeleton, the structural framework of the cell (microtubules, actin, and intermediate filaments), and aims to clarify what roles it plays in cell division and tissue formation.
*Illustrative imageDifferences Between Mitosis and Meiosis
Cell division takes two forms: mitosis, which is used for proliferation, and meiosis, which produces gametes such as sperm and eggs. Defects in meiosis cause infertility and congenital chromosomal abnormalities. The lab investigates which genes give rise to the differences between the two forms and what those differences mean, focusing on chromosome movement and microtubule function.
*Illustrative imageThe Role of Microtubules in Tissues
The mechanisms of microtubules have so far been worked out mainly in single cells such as yeast and cultured cells. In the body, cells come together to form tissues, so the lab examines how microtubules are arranged and controlled in mouse epithelial tissue and what roles they play there, and investigates the link between microtubules and disease.
*Illustrative imageHow Microtubules Are Remodeled into the Spindle
When a cell enters M phase, the microtubules that had spread through the cytoplasm as a network disappear and dramatically change form into a structure called the spindle. The spindle pulls the replicated chromosomes from both sides and distributes them into two daughter cells. The lab studies the molecular mechanism of this remodeling using fission yeast and cultured human cells.
*Illustrative imageKinetochore Formation and How Cells Wake from Quiescence
To segregate chromosomes correctly, exactly one kinetochore must be built on each chromosome. The lab investigates how CENP-A, the key protein for this, is regulated to build the kinetochore. It is also working to elucidate noncoding RNAs whose functions are unknown, and to understand how cells wake from dormancy (quiescence).
MembersFaculty
The Sato Lab's members are faculty and students in the doctoral, master's, and undergraduate programs.As of 2026
- ProfessorMasamitsu Sato
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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: “Embryo in flower” AudeNommick / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Differences Between Mitosis and Meiosis: “Pig oocyte dapi 2” Jakub Friedl / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- The Role of Microtubules in Tissues: “Cross-section histology of small intestinal villi of the terminal ileum” Mikael Häggström, M.D. / CC0 (cropped)
- How Microtubules Are Remodeled into the Spindle: “Microtubules in Primary Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts” Howard Vindin / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Kinetochore Formation and How Cells Wake from Quiescence: “Microscopic image of yeasts” Molnarova.Lucia / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (西田研究室): “Macs killing cancer cell” Susan Arnold (photographer) / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (井上研究室): “Erratic Flight of Fireflies” Bernd Thaller / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (朝日研究室): “Ibuprofen-crystals-polarized-light-microscopy” Janeklass / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (大島研究室): “Mouse Brain Coronal (NIH BioArt )” NIAID Ryan Kissinger / Public domain (cropped)
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