Research Overview

Clinical applications of iPS cells include cell therapy, disease modeling, and drug discovery using healthy or patient-derived iPS cells. The development of an easy and reproducible induction methods are indispensable for all applications.

Our laboratory has developed methods for inducing differentiation into cells that have been considered difficult to induce, or cells that require a simpler and more efficient induction method. Of particular importance are cells at intermediate stages in embryology. By mimicking the in vivo environment elucidated in embryology, we are developing methods to induce target cells from iPS cells in multiple stages and culture methods to maintain cells at each stage as stem cells. Currently, neural crest cells, somite cells, lateral plate mesoderm cell and mesenchymal stem cells are our focused cell types, and our interest ranges widely from basic to application. Our technologies have been applied to research of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressive (FOP), a rare and intractable disease in which ectopic bones are formed within muscle tissue.

Through these initiatives, we aim to develop new therapies, particularly for intractable diseases.

Keywords: developmental stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, neural crest cells, somite, lateral plate mesoderm cell、disease-specific iPS cells, ectopic bone formation, osteocyte, chondrocyte