Tohoku university school of medicine

The Human Genome Project recently revealed that our species has approximately thirty thousand genes. The individual identity of each cell is carefully scripted based a set of transcriptionally activated genes that occurs during differentiation. We regard this transcriptional gene regulation as one of the fundamental tenets accounting for the diversity and the mystery surrounding our own existence. Our personal goal as scientists is to decipher the principal mechanisms that underlie the key biological processes of differentiation, cell homeostasis, and cellular defense by elucidating the actions of these transcriptional gene pathways and networks. With each new discovery, we work towards increasing our understanding of human disease processes. The specific focus of our research is to illuminate mechanisms revolving around:

1) GATA1 and GATA2 regulation of erythroid and megakaryocytic cell differentiation
2) The functional contributions of GATA factors in maintenance and differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells during leukemogenesis
3) The transcriptional regulation of the erythropoietin gene
4) The mechanisms of cellular defense against oxidative stress that occurs via the Keap1-Nrf2 system

Please visit our homepage (http://dmbc.med.tohoku.ac.jp/) for further information on our detailed research projects, laboratory members, and recent publications.

1)15th Nissan Science Award (Dr. Yamamoto) Molecular mechanism of the environmental response 2008/5/21
2)Sagisaka Award (Dr. Moriguchi) Regulation of hematopoietic differentiation by GATA transcription factors 2008/5/17
3)GATA1-related leukaemias Nat Rev Cancer 8: 279-287 2008
4)Different electrostatic potentials define ETGE and DLG motifs as hinge and latch in oxidative stress response. Mol Cell Biol 27: 7511-7521 2007
5)Repression via the GATA box is essential for tissue-specific erythropoietin gene expression Blood 111, 5223-5362 2008

Transcription factor, GATA, Nrf2, Hematopoietic differentiation, Environmental response, Erythrocyte, Platelet, Erythropoietin, Keap1, Cancer