GO TOP

Field

Molecular and Chemical Life Science :
Chemical Biology

Research

JAPANESE
Professor OHASHI Kazumasa
Campus Aobayama campus
Laboratory Molecular and Cellular Biology
Tel +81-22-795-6590
E-mail kazumasa.ohashi.b2＠tohoku.ac.jp
Website https://konagata.wixsite.com/ohashi-lab

I was the first to clone LIM-kinase (LIMK), and found that this protein phosphorylates and inhibits cofilin, an actin-severing and -depolymerizing factor. I have studied the role of the phospho-regulation of cofilin in actin cytoskeleton remodeling. Currently, I am interested in the molecular mechanisms of actin cytoskeleton remodeling by mechanical stresses and the role of actin cytoskeleton remodeling in the morphogenesis of epithelial cells.

Career
1996 Ph.D., Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University.
JSPS Research Fellowship for Young Scientists (PD), Kyushu University.
1997 JSPS Research Fellowship for Young Scientists (PD), Kyushu University.
1999 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Science, Tohoku University.
2001 Associate Professor, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University.
2017 Professor, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University.
Selected Publications
  1. Yang, N., et al. Cofilin phosphorylation by LIM-kinase 1 and its role in Rac-mediated actin reorganization. Nature, 393, 809-812 (1998).
  2. Abiko H., et al. Rho-guanine nucleotide exchange factors involved in cyclic stretch-induced reorientation of vascular endothelial cells. J. Cell Sci. 128: 1683-1695 (2015)
  3. Fujiwara, S., et al. Interplay between Solo and keratin filaments is crucial for mechanical force-induced stress fiber reinforcement. Mol. Biol. Cell, 27: 954-966 (2016). 他。
Activities in Academic Societies

Japanese Biochemical Society, Molecular Biology Society of Japan, Japanese Cancer Association, Japan Neuroscience Society, Japan Society for Cell Biology, American Society for Cell Biology
Teaching

Biochemistry, Cell biology

Recent Activities

We are researching the molecular mechanisms underlying actin cytoskeleton remodeling and its roles in cell motility, migration, cell adhesion, and morphogenesis of epithelial cells. In particular, we focus on the molecular mechanisms of actin cytoskeleton remodeling by mechanical stresses in epithelial cells. We visualize the movements of dynamic changes in the actin cytoskeleton in living cells using fluorescent proteins, and analyze the functions of mechanotransduction molecules. Our aim is to understand unknown mechanisms of mechanotransduction and cell morphogenesis by analyzing the dynamic changes in cytoskeletal and signaling molecules in living cells.

Message to Students

Dynamic and ordered changes in the actin cytoskeleton are observed when cells move and change shape. Imaging the actin cytoskeleton in living cells using a fluorescence microscope is beautiful and mystifying (please see the video on our website). We are truly interested in elucidating the molecular mechanisms that control the dynamic structure inside a cell. Would you join us in this interesting research?

Research