RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research Laboratory for Tissue Microenvironment
Team Leader: Hironobu Fujiwara (Ph.D.)
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.
Morita R and Fujiwara H.
"Tracing the developmental origin of tissue stem cells."
Development Growth & Differentiation. 64 (9) 566-576. (2022) - 2.
Morita R, Sanzen N, Sasaki H, Hayashi T, Umeda M, Yoshimura M, Yamamoto T, Shibata T, Abe T, Kiyonari H, Furuta Y, Nikaido I, Fujiwara H.
"Tracing the origin of hair follicle stem cells."
Nature. 594 (7864) 547-552. (2021) - 3.
Tsutsui K, Machida H, Nakagawa A, Ahn K, Morita R, Sekiguchi K, Miner JH, Fujiwara H.
"Mapping the molecular and structural specialization of the skin basement membrane for inter-tissue interactions."
Nature Communications. 12 (1) 2577. (2021) - 4.
Cheng CC, Tsutsui K, Taguchi T, Sanzen N, Nakagawa A, Kakiguchi K, Yonemura S, Tanegashima C, Keeley SD, Kiyonari H, Furuta Y, Tomono Y, Watt FM, Fujiwara H.
"Hair follicle epidermal stem cells define a niche for tactile sensation."
eLife. 7 e38883. (2018) - 5.
Fujiwara H, Tsutsui K, Morita R.
"Multi-tasking epidermal stem cells: Beyond epidermal maintenance."
Development Growth & Differentiation. 60 (9) 531-541. (2018) - 6.
Donati G, Proserpio V, Lichtenberger BM, Natsuga K, Sinclair R, Fujiwara H, Watt FM.
"Epidermal Wnt/beta-catenin signaling regulates adipocyte differentiation via secretion of adipogenic factors."
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 111 (15) E1501-1509. (2014) - 7.
*Fujiwara H, Ferreira M, Donati G, Marciano DK, Linton JM, Sato Y, Hartner A, Sekiguchi K, Reichardt LF, Watt FM.
"The basement membrane of hair follicle stem cells is a muscle cell niche."
Cell. 144 (4) 577-589. (2011) - 8.
*Watt FM, Fujiwara H.
"Cell-extracellular matrix interactions in normal and diseased skin."
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 3 (4) a005124 (2011)
Recent Research Results
Related Links
Lab Members
Principal investigator
- Hironobu Fujiwara
- Team Leader
Core members
- Kohei Omachi
- Special Postdoctoral Researcher
- Momoko Deguchi
- Postdoctoral Researcher
- Eleanor Louise Sheekey
- Postdoctoral Researcher
- Asako Nakagawa
- Technical Staff II
- Noriko Ban
- Technical Staff II
- Duligengaowa Wuergezhen
- Student Trainee
- Haruka Matsuzoe
- Student Trainee
- Hiroki Machida
- Research Part-time Worker I
- Hiroko Sasaki
- Temporary Staffing
Careers
| Position | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Seeking Research Scientist or Postdoctoral Researcher (BDR-23-057) | Open until filled |
Contact Information
5F, RIKEN BDR Developmental Biology Bldg.A,
2-2-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku,
Kobe, Hyogo
650-0047, Japan
Email: hironobu.fujiwara [at] riken.jp