RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research Laboratory for Tissue Microenvironment

Team Leader: Hironobu Fujiwara (Ph.D.)

Japanese Page

Research Summary

In our bodies, we have millions of different environments in which cells reside, which are known as cellular or tissue microenvironments. A series of recent studies have shown that these specialized tissue microenvironments instruct the fate and behaviors of cells. The aim of our lab is to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the ways in which tissue microenvironments are regionally specialized, and how these specialized microenvironments in turn instruct cell behavior, cell-cell communication, and organ formation. We are particularly interested in the role of regional specialization of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in the formation of the stem cell microenvironment, or niche, in the mammalian skin. A deeper knowledge of this will provide a molecular basis to an improved understanding of the niche regulation of stem cells and organ formation, and for developing tailor-made microenvironments for different lineages of stem cells in the skin.

Main Research Fields

Biology

Related Research Fields

Medicine, Dentistry & Pharmacy

Keywords

Skin development and regeneration
Extracellular matrix
Tissue organization
Stem cell
Hair follicle

Selected Publications

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

1.G. Donati, V. Proserpio, B. M. Lichtenberger, K. Natsuga, R. Sinclair, H. Fujiwara and F. M. Watt:
"Epidermal Wnt/beta-catenin signaling regulates adipocyte differentiation via secretion of adipogenic factors."
Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 111.E1501-9 (2014)
2.H. Fujiwara:
"Cutaneous extracellular matrix"
Henry Stewart Talks The Biomedical & Life Science Collection (Series: Skin Biology) (2014)
3.*H. Fujiwara, M. Ferreira, G. Donati, D. K. Marciano, J. M. Linton, Y. Sato, A. Hartner, K. Sekiguchi, L. F. Reichardt and F. M. Watt:
"The basement membrane of hair follicle stem cells is a muscle cell niche."
Cell 144.577-89 (2011)
4.*F. M. Watt and H. Fujiwara:
"Cell-extracellular matrix interactions in normal and diseased skin."
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 3. (2011)
5.*M. Ferreira, H. Fujiwara, K. Morita and F. M. Watt:
"An activating β1 integrin mutation increases the conversion of benign to malignant skin tumors."
Cancer Res 69.1334-42 (2009)
6.*H. Fujiwara, Y. Hayashi, N. Sanzen, R. Kobayashi, C. N. Weber, T. Emoto, S. Futaki, H. Niwa, P. Murray, D. Edgar and K. Sekiguchi:
"Regulation of mesodermal differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells by basement membranes."
J Biol Chem 282.29701-11 (2007)
7.*H. Fujiwara, J. Gu and K. Sekiguchi:
"Rac regulates integrin-mediated endothelial cell adhesion and migration on laminin-8."
Exp Cell Res 292.67-77 (2004)