Takafumi Ichikawa
| Position | Specially Appointed Assistant Professor |
|---|---|
| Group name | Hiiragi Group |
| Research Field | Developmental Biology |
| Awards | Young Scientist Award for Presentation, Japan Society for Cell Biology (2014) |
| Personal Website | https://ashbi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/lab-sites/hiiragi/ |
| Joined | Apr. 1, 2021 |
Research Overview
Morphogenesis and patterning in mammalian peri-implantation development
Implantation is a unique and essential event in mammalian development, including humans. Upon implantation, spherical pre-implantation embryos develop into complex form and pattern specific to each mammalian species. The underlying mechanisms, however, are still poorly understood as the process is inaccessible in the uterus. We developed ex vivo systems to recapitulate the mouse peri-implantation development and aim to understand how morphogenesis and patterning are achieved in the developing embryos by advanced live microscopy and biophysical approaches. We will also establish early primate embryos as a model system and compare them with mouse embryos for basic understanding of human embryogenesis.
Biography
Takafumi Ichikawa obtained his PhD from Kyoto University (2017) and moved to Germany and undertook postdoctoral training at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) (2017-2021). He was appointed Assistant Professor in 2021 in the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Biology (ASHBi) at Kyoto University.
Publications
Futamata, R., Ogasawara, F., Ichikawa, T., Kodan, A., Kimura, Y., Kioka, N., and Ueda, K. (2020). In vivo FRET analyses reveal a role of ATP hydrolysis–associated conformational changes in human P-glycoprotein. J. Biol. Chem. 295, 5002–5011.
Hino, N., Ichikawa, T., Kimura, Y., Matsuda, M., Ueda, K., and Kioka, N. (2019). An amphipathic helix of vinexin α is necessary for a substrate stiffness-dependent conformational change in vinculin. J. Cell Sci. 132, jcs217349.
Ichikawa, T., Kita, M., Matsui, T.S., Nagasato, A.I., Araki, T., Chiang, S.-H., Sezaki, T., Kimura, Y., Ueda, K., Deguchi, S., et al. (2017). Vinexin family (SORBS) proteins play different roles in stiffness-sensing and contractile force generation. J. Cell Sci. 130, 3517–3531.
Fukuda, S.P., Matsui, T.S., Ichikawa, T., Furukawa, T., Kioka, N., Fukushima, S., and Deguchi, S. (2017). Cellular force assay detects altered contractility caused by a nephritis-associated mutation in nonmuscle myosin IIA. Dev. Growth Differ. 59, 423–433.
Omachi, T., Ichikawa, T., Kimura, Y., Ueda, K., and Kioka, N. (2017). Vinculin association with actin cytoskeleton is necessary for stiffness-dependent regulation of vinculin behavior. PLoS One 12, e0175324.