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Cell Architecture Lab
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A structural biology lab that uses atomic-level analysis to study how substances are transported inside cells.
AboutAbout the lab
Exploring the mechanisms of cellular architecture based on atomic structure
The Cell Architecture Lab studies intracellular transport, the mechanism that delivers what is needed to where it is needed, at the time it is needed, inside the cell.
The lab is a group of researchers specializing in structural biology, protein science, and cell biology, who investigate the topic from many angles at the levels of molecular structure, supramolecular complexes, and the cell.
The lab's website says it focuses on the working mechanism of dynein, a giant protein nanomachine that plays an important role in transport in the brain and nervous system.
At the undergraduate level, the lab mainly accepts fourth-year students of the Department of Biological Sciences as graduation research students.
Note that the news items and member list on the lab website date from around 2018.
Key terms
- Dynein
- One of the motor proteins responsible for transport toward the microtubule minus end (generally toward the center of the cell) inside cells
- Microtubule
- A structure inside cells that acts as a rail on which motor proteins such as dynein move
- Cryo-electron microscopy
- A method that uses an electron microscope to determine the three-dimensional structure of protein molecules. In this lab, it is one of the main methods, along with X-ray crystallography
ResearchResearch themes
Cells contain a "transport system" that supplies what is needed to where it is needed, at the time it is needed, and its function is essential to life. The lab aims to clarify the molecular mechanisms of intracellular transport through both atomic-level structural analysis and single-molecule functional analysis.
*Illustrative imageIntracellular transport systems
Proteins in cells undergo thermal motion, but its direction is random and unsuited to long-distance transport. The lab aims to elucidate, at the atomic level, how the transport system that actively carries materials in cells works.
*Illustrative imageElucidating the motility mechanism of dynein
The lab is determining the atomic structure of the core region of dynein, which carries cargo toward the microtubule minus end. It investigates how dynein generates force and moves in one direction along microtubules, using X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy.
*Illustrative imageElucidating transport in neuronal axons and cilia
The transport system carries diverse cargo, from small protein complexes to membrane vesicles, mitochondria, and the nucleus. The lab aims to elucidate the mechanisms from cargo selection through loading, transport, and unloading, focusing in particular on axonal transport in neurons and transport within cilia.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Cell Architecture Lab consist of faculty, project researchers, master's program students, and a secretary.As of 2018
- ProfessorTakahide Kon
- LecturerRyosuke Yamamoto
- Assistant ProfessorHiroshi Imai
VoicesStudent voices
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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: “Cryo-EM image of C. thermophilum lysate” Pkastrit / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Intracellular transport systems: “Microtubule binding domain fused with GFP-tag reveals microtubule network of HeLa cell line” DrBib / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Elucidating the motility mechanism of dynein: “Dynein phi carticle transformation to parallel configuration” U1133272 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Elucidating transport in neuronal axons and cilia: “Axon Hillock” M.aljar3i / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Macromolecular Structural Science Lab): “Flagellar Motor Assembly” PKS615 / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Single-Molecule Biology Lab): “Fluorescence microscope” Sarathkumaran Ranganathan / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Plant Cell Fate Regulation Lab): “A thaliana seedlings (cropped)” Safflle / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Chromosome Structure and Function Lab): “Human karyotype (248 27) Human karyotype” Doc. RNDr. Josef Reischig, CSc. / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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