• Research Overview
• Biography
• Publications
• Contact

Research Overview

Stem cells are characterized by two features, self-renewal activity and multipotency. Stem cells themselves gradually change with aging, causing several kinds of diseases and defects. However, the biology and mechanisms are to be determined. Our group focuses on blood stem cells (hematopoietic stem cells, HSCs) among several kinds of stem cells.

HSCs reside at the top of the hierarchy of the hematopoietic system. The aging and dysfunction of this long-lived adult stem cell populations are thought to underlie the hematopoietic system decline and dysfunction associated with physiological aging or diseases. Age-related dysfunction of the hematopoietic system includes reduced lymphopoiesis and excessive myeloid production. The acquisition of specific somatic mutations in HSCs results in clonal hematopoiesis with aging, which is a clonally expanded blood system originating from the mutated HSCs. The genomic landscape in clonal hematopoiesis and myeloid malignancies provided insights into the evolution of hematopoietic malignancies from clonal hematopoiesis with aging. However, the mechanisms underlying clonal hematopoiesis and myeloid malignancies remains to be assessed. A better understanding of these mechanisms is critical to promote healthy aging.

Our goals

1. Elucidate the HSC biology and mechanisms underlying self-renewal and multipotency of HSCs using mouse, non-human primate and human models
2. Elucidate the biology and mechanisms of HSC aging and clonal hematopoiesis using a mouse, non-human primate and human models
3. Elucidate the pathogenesis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplasia syndrome (MDS) and lymphoma using a mouse, non-human primate and human models

Projects

• Single-cell analysis of HSCs (stem cell transplantation, single-cell RNA-sequence, single-cell ATAC sequence, etc) to determine heterogeneity, HSC mechanisms, and HSC aging
• Establish a gene-modified mouse and non-human primate model
• Apply new techniques such as mathematics to analysis of 1. and 2.

Biography

2005-2009 Graduate School of Medicine Kyoto University
2009-2014 Postdoctoral fellow, the Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo
2014-2015 Postdoctoral fellow, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford School of Medicine, CA, US
2015-2020 Research Associate, Stanford School of Medicine, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford School of Medicine, CA, US
2020- Associate Professor, ASHBi, Kyoto University

Publications

Wilkinson, A. C.*, R. Ishida*, M. Kikuchi, K. Sudo, M. Morita, R. V. Crisostomo, R. Yamamoto, K. M. Loh, Y. Nakamura, M. Watanabe, H. Nakauchi, and S. Yamazaki. "Long-term ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic stem cells affords non-conditioned transplantation." Nature, 571(2019): 117-121. （*Equal contribution）

Yamamoto, R.*, A. C. Wilkinson*, and H. Nakauchi. “Changing concepts in hematopoietic stem cells.”Science, 362 (2018): 895-96.（*Equal contribution）

Yamamoto, R., A. C. Wilkinson, J. Ooehara, X. Lan, C. Y. Lai, Y. Nakauchi, J. K. Pritchard, and H. Nakauchi. "Large-Scale Clonal Analysis Resolves Aging of the Mouse Hematopoietic Stem Cell Compartment." Cell Stem Cell, 22 (2018): 600-07 e4.

Ghosn, E. E., J. Waters, M. Phillips, R. Yamamoto, B. R. Long, Y. Yang, R. Gerstein, C. A. Stoddart, H. Nakauchi, and L. A. Herzenberg. "Fetal Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Fails to Fully Regenerate the B-Lymphocyte Compartment." Stem Cell Reports, 6 (2016): 137-49.

Matsunawa, M.*, R. Yamamoto*, M. Sanada*, A. Sato-Otsubo, Y. Shiozawa, K. Yoshida, M. Otsu, Y. Shiraishi, S. Miyano, K. Isono, H. Koseki, H. Nakauchi, and S. Ogawa. "Haploinsufficiency of Sf3b1 Leads to Compromised Stem Cell Function but Not to Myelodysplasia." Leukemia, 28 (2014): 1844-50.（*Equal contribution）

Contact