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RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research Laboratory for Bottom-up Cell Biology

Team Leader: Makito Miyazaki (Ph.D.)

Research Summary

Makito Miyazaki

The cell maintains its life through the assembly and disassembly of various subcellular structures having unique biological functions from molecules. How do the tiny molecules recognize the vast intracellular space and self-organize into micrometer-scale structures at appropriate time and space to regulate cell functions? This is a fundamental but non-trivial question in biology. Our team aims to understand the design principles that govern the self-organization of cell-scale ordered structures and biological functions from molecules. Using the cytoskeleton as a model system, we are exploring biochemical and physical conditions under which cytoskeletal structures and the related biological functions are reconstituted in artificial cells.

Main Research Fields

  • Biological Sciences

Related Research Fields

  • Engineering
  • Chemistry
  • Mathematical & Physical Sciences
  • Biology
  • Biophysics
  • Molecular Biology
  • Synthetic Biology

Keywords

  • Artificial Cell
  • Cytoskeleton
  • Cell Motility
  • Cell Division
  • Constructive Approach

Selected Publications

Papers with an asterisk(*) are based on research conducted outside of RIKEN.

  • 1. *Sakamoto, R., Izri, Z., Shimamoto, Y., Miyazaki, M., and Maeda, Y. T.
    "Geometric trade-off between contractile force and viscous drag determines the actomyosin-based motility of a cell-sized droplet"
    PNAS 119, e2121147119 (2022).
  • 2. *Sakamoto, R., Tanabe, M., Hiraiwa, T., Suzuki, K., Ishiwata, S., Maeda, Y. T., and Miyazaki, M.
    "Tug-of-war between actomyosin-driven antagonistic forces determines the positioning symmetry in cell-sized confinement"
    Nat. Commun. 11, 3063 (2020).
  • 3. *Kubota, H., Miyazaki, M., Ogawa, T., Shimozawa, T., Kinosita, K. Jr., and Ishiwata, S.
    "Processive nanostepping of formin mDia1 loosely coupled with actin polymerization"
    Nano Lett. 18, 6617-6624 (2018).
  • 4. *Kubota, H., Miyazaki, M., Ogawa, T., Shimozawa, T., Kinosita, K. Jr., and Ishiwata, S.
    "Biphasic effect of profilin impacts the formin mDia1 force-sensing mechanism in actin polymerization"
    Biophys. J. 113, 461-471 (2017).
  • 5. *Suzuki, K., Miyazaki, M., Takagi, J., Itabashi, T., and Ishiwata, S.
    "Spatial confinement of active microtubule networks induces large-scale rotational cytoplasmic flow"
    PNAS 114, 2922-2927 (2017).
  • 6. *Miyazaki, M., Chiba, M., Eguchi, H., Ohki, T., and Ishiwata, S.
    "Cell-sized spherical confinement induces the spontaneous formation of contractile actomyosin rings in vitro"
    Nat. Cell Biol. 17, 480-489 (2015).
  • 7. *Chiba, M., Miyazaki, M., and Ishiwata, S.
    "Quantitative analysis of the lamellarity of giant liposomes prepared by the inverted emulsion method"
    Biophys. J. 107, 346-354 (2014).

Lab Members

Principal investigator

Makito Miyazaki
Team Leader

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