LAB LOGA page on LabLog, a review site (not the lab's official page)
Molecular Oncology Lab
Machine-translated · View original
The lab studies “cell competition,” in which normal cells push out cells that are becoming cancerous.
AboutAbout the lab
Normal cells that spot cancer cells and push them out
The Molecular Oncology Lab studies what happens between normal epithelial cells and mutant cells at the very earliest stage of cancer.
Using cultured cells and mice that it established on its own, the lab found that “cell competition,” in which normal cells and mutant cells compete for survival, takes place and that mutant cells are removed from the epithelial layer.
This shows that normal epithelial tissue has the ability to eliminate mutant cells without involving the immune system, and it may lead to the development of preventive treatments for cancer.
Key terms
- Epithelial cell
- A cell that covers the surface of the skin, the digestive tract, and organs. Many cancers arise from these cells
- Cell competition
- A phenomenon in which cells with different properties compete for survival and one of them is removed from the tissue
- Apoptosis
- Cell death carried out by the cell's own mechanisms. It removes unneeded or abnormal cells
ResearchResearch themes
Cancer arises from normal cells and grows while surrounded by normal cells, but this fact has received little attention. The lab investigates whether cancer cells and the surrounding normal cells can recognize each other and how they influence each other, by studying phenomena that occur at the boundary between normal epithelial cells and mutant cells.
*Illustrative imageWhat happens at the boundary between normal cells and mutant cells
Mutant cells surrounded by normal epithelial cells are pushed out of the epithelial layer or eliminated by apoptosis. The lab investigates in detail what kinds of intracellular signal transmission are involved in these processes.
*Illustrative imageHow cells recognize differences between each other
The most fascinating and difficult question is how normal cells and mutant cells distinguish each other. Focusing mainly on biochemical approaches, the lab searches for the molecules involved in this recognition.
MembersFaculty
The Molecular Oncology Lab consists of faculty members, project researchers, researchers, doctoral and master's students, and medical students.
- ProfessorYasuyuki Fujita
- Assistant ProfessorMiho Sekai
- Assistant ProfessorKazuhito Sai
- Assistant ProfessorNami Sugiyama
VoicesStudent voices
Ratings and reviews reflect the experiences of individual current or former students, not the lab's official views. Whether a lab has reviews, or how many, says nothing about the lab itself.
Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.
Student ratings (0 students)
--
--
--
--
--
--
Student voices answer questions like these
- What's great about this lab?
- What did you learn after joining?
- What's the vibe, and what is the professor like?
- Who is this lab for?
- Where do graduates go?
Your experience can help younger students choose their lab. Your name won't be shown.
Write a lab reviewAnonymous · Your draft is saved if you stopRelatedLabs similar to Molecular Oncology Lab
Cancer Immune Multicellular System Regulation LabFaculty of Medicine, School of MedicineTumor immunology and cancer biology: comprehensive analysis …
Developmental Biology LabFaculty of Medicine, School of MedicineWhat is life? What distinguishes life from non-life? How doe…
Higher-Order Inter-System Regulation LabFaculty of Medicine, School of MedicineMucosal immunology: commensal bacteria, mucosal barrier regu…
Immunopharmacology LabFaculty of Medicine, School of MedicineThe immune system was conventionally thought to be a biologi…The information on this page is compiled by the LabLog team from the lab's public information and interviews. For corrections or removal requests, please contact LabLog, not the lab.
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: “Oral epithelium - Epithelial cells - Methylene blue dye - View 40X” Juan Carlos Fonseca Mata / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- What happens at the boundary between normal cells and mutant cells: “Buccal Epithelium Cells” Bondarev.gal / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- How cells recognize differences between each other: “Illu epithelium” US Government / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Cancer Immune Multicellular System Regulation Lab): “Dendritic Cell (NIH BioArt )” Courtesy of NIAID Ryan Kissinger / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Developmental Biology Lab): “Mouse embryo vasculature” Ronakshetty21 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Higher-Order Inter-System Regulation Lab): “Mitochondria, mammalian lung - TEM” Louisa Howard / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Immunopharmacology Lab): “Prostaglandin F2alpha 3d” Иван / Public domain (cropped)
About LabLog
LabLog is a lab review app for students only. Student members at each university interview students in labs and publish what they say. Student voices can only be read by students who sign up with a university email address. Operated by bestiee Inc.
Learn more about LabLog ↗Search engines and AI may reference the basic lab info and rating summaries on this page and the description of LabLog. Student voices are for student members only. Automated collection by programs (scraping, or input to or training of AI) is prohibited under Article 8 of the Terms of Service. If you need data for research or analysis, please contact us.