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Kato Lab
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The lab compares how blood cells are produced across all vertebrates.
AboutAbout the lab
How blood is made, across species.
The Kato Lab studies how blood cells are produced, that is, hematopoiesis.
While knowledge about humans and mice has accumulated, our understanding of the diversity and universality of hematopoiesis across vertebrates in general has not advanced.
In addition to mammals, the lab incorporates Xenopus and medaka, and builds new model systems for analyzing hematopoiesis using omics analysis, genome editing, and other approaches.
The venues for setting up collaborations and sharing results span both basic biology and clinical medical science.
Key terms
- Hematopoiesis
- The process by which blood cells such as red and white blood cells are produced from hematopoietic stem cells, with their numbers kept constant.
- Hematopoietic factor
- A protein that promotes the proliferation and differentiation of blood cells. It is difficult to handle because its amount in the blood is very small.
- Thrombopoietin
- A hematopoietic factor that acts on megakaryocytes, the precursors of platelets, and promotes platelet production.
NewsLab news
View More ↗ResearchResearch themes
The Kato Lab studies the mechanisms by which the number of blood cells, which proliferate and differentiate from hematopoietic stem cells, is regulated at a constant level in the circulation. From the viewpoint of comparative hematology, the lab explores the diversity and universality of hematopoiesis and blood cells across vertebrates on Earth at the levels of the individual, cells, genes, and proteins.
*Illustrative imageEnvironmental responses of hematopoiesis
The lab investigates how the functioning of hematopoiesis changes depending on environmental conditions. Its current main focus is the hematopoietic system of adult amphibians, which varies greatly with environmental conditions.
*Illustrative imageSpecies-specific structures of hematopoietic factors and their receptors
In gene sequence databases, molecules homologous to thrombopoietin or its receptor are found in more than 80 species. However, sequence similarity is not necessarily high, so the lab examines how the binding regions are conserved in three-dimensional structure, and also explores whether these molecules have roles other than hematopoiesis in each species.
*Illustrative imageTissue-biased hematopoietic activity
The lab lists as one of its research topics the bias in which tissues of the body carry out blood cell production, and to what extent.
*Illustrative imageHeterogeneity of hematopoietic stem cells and their distribution among organs
The lab lists as one of its research topics the fact that hematopoietic stem cells, the source of all blood cells, are not actually uniform, and how they are distributed among different organs.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Kato Lab consist of faculty, visiting faculty, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2025
- ProfessorTakashi Kato
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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: “Megakaryocyte in bone marrow” Animalculist / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Environmental responses of hematopoiesis: “Krallenfrosch Xenopus laevis” Holger Krisp / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Species-specific structures of hematopoietic factors and their receptors: “Erythropoietin” 作者不詳 / Public domain (cropped)
- Tissue-biased hematopoietic activity: “Increased Reticulin in Marrow in Myeloproliferative Disorder ( )” Ed Uthman from Houston, TX, USA / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Heterogeneity of hematopoietic stem cells and their distribution among organs: “Hematopoietic Stem Cell (NIH BioArt 199)” NIAID Ryan Kissinger / Public domain (cropped)
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- Related lab (西村研究室): “201410 chlamydomonas” DataBase Center for Life Science (DBCLS) / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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