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Sakai-Nishikawa Lab
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A lab that assembles three-dimensional organs from cells and applies them to regenerative medicine and drug evaluation.
AboutAbout the lab
Engineering human organs outside the body
The Sakai-Nishikawa Lab studies how to reassemble cells from organs and tissues into three-dimensional structures outside the body.
The lab aims to use the tissues it creates for regenerative medicine and for evaluating the effects of drugs and chemicals without using animals.
Inside the body, blood vessels carry oxygen and nutrients, but it is a difficult challenge to supply substances throughout densely packed cells outside the body.
The lab tackles this challenge with chemical system engineering methods that quantitatively treat mass flow, diffusion, and reaction.
Key terms
- iPS cells
- Cells made from the body's own cells that have the ability to develop into many different types of cells
- Organoid
- A three-dimensional cluster of cells made outside the body. In a sense, a miniature organ
- MPS
- A cell culture system that mimics a small environment inside the body to reproduce organ functions and diseases
NewsLab news
A doctoral student received a Travel Grant Award at ESTIV 2026
A student received the Excellent Presentation Award at the 25th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine
Prof. Sakai received the Society Award from the Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan
Students received the Outstanding Student Award and the Student Encouragement Award at the 91st Annual Meeting of the Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan
ResearchResearch themes
The lab aims to reproduce and mimic human metabolism using cultured cells. The core of its research is organizing cells in three dimensions while ensuring the exchange of substances such as oxygen and nutrients.
*Illustrative imageExpanding and differentiating stem cells at large scale
To use ES and iPS cells in regenerative medicine, the lab studies methods to expand them in large quantities and differentiate them into the cells of target organs. To protect the cells from the shear stress caused by agitation, it focuses on encapsulating them in small hydrogel capsules.
*Illustrative imageRegenerative medicine
Building on techniques for expanding hepatocytes outside the body, the lab aims to create a stable cell source for transplantation. It also works on gene therapy for liver fibrosis and on placing vascular networks in organoids.
*Illustrative imageEvaluating drugs with miniature organs
Using microphysiological systems (MPS), which are cell culture systems that mimic the environment inside the body, the lab aims to develop in vitro systems for evaluating drug-induced liver toxicity as an alternative to animal testing. It also builds a small intestine model that reproduces gut bacteria and intestinal cells.
*Illustrative imageMathematical models of the liver in silico
The lab uses mathematical models to simulate metabolism inside hepatocytes and interactions between cells. The goal is to gain new insights that could lead to treatments for fatty liver disease and liver fibrosis.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Sakai-Nishikawa Lab include faculty, visiting researchers, administrative staff, joint researchers from industry and other organizations, technical staff, postdoctoral researchers, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorYasuyuki SakaiPublications ↗
- Associate ProfessorMasaki NishikawaPublications ↗
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RelatedLabs similar to Sakai-Nishikawa Lab
Sugihara LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Chemical System EngineeringBiophysical Engineering
Ohta LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Chemical System EngineeringSystems and nanomedicine diagnostics
Sugiyama-Badr LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Chemical System EngineeringProcess systems engineering
Ito (Inagaki) LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Chemical System EngineeringBiomedical materials engineering, separation engineeringThe 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: “Murine Organoid Smile” Sach75 / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Expanding and differentiating stem cells at large scale: “Human induced pluripotent stem cell colony ( )” NIH Image Gallery from Bethesda, Maryland, USA / Public domain (cropped)
- Regenerative medicine: “SI organoid 1” Abhimanu.pandey / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Evaluating drugs with miniature organs: “Lung-on-a-chip-wyss” Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Mathematical models of the liver in silico: “MetabolicNetwork” J3D3 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Sugihara Lab): “The surface of highly curved lipid bilayer” Semen Yesylevskyy / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Ohta Lab): “Nanoparticles ( )” National Institute of Standards and Technology / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Sugiyama-Badr Lab): “Aminwäsche” Philip1307 / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Ito (Inagaki) Lab): “Superabsorber Hydrogel KSG 2917 pK” Petra Klawikowski / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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