Laboratory for Cell Fate Decision
Research Areas
| In animal development, a single cell (a fertilized egg) produces a variety of cell types. How are differences in cell fates generated? We are focusing on asymmetric cell division that generates daughter cells with distinct cell fates. To study asymmetric cell division, we use the nematode C. elegans that is best suited to analyze cell lineages. We showed, in C. elegans, that asymmetric divisions are regulated by Wnt signaling through asymmetric localization of β-catenin. We also identified a large number of mutants defective in asymmetric cell division, and will analyze functions of their responsible genes to clarify molecular mechanisms for asymmetric cell division. |  Team Leader Hitoshi SAWA (Ph.D.)  |
Research Subjects
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List of Selected Publications
| (1) | Zinovyeva, A.Y., Yamamoto, Y., Sawa, H., and Forrester, W. C.: "Complex network of Wnt signaling regulates neuronal migrations during C.elegans development." Genetics 179, 1357-1371 (2008). |
| (2) | Kanamori, T., Inoue, T., Sakamoto, T., Gengyo-Ando, K., Tsujimoto, M., Mitani, S., Sawa, H., Aoki, J., and Arai, H.: "β-Catenin asymmetry is regulated by PLA1 and retrograde traffic in C. elegans stem cell divisions." EMBO Journal 27, 1647-1657 (2008). |
| (3) | Oishi, K., Okano, H., and Sawa, H.: "RMD-1, a novel microtubule-associated protein functions in chromosome segregation in Caenorhabditis elegans." Journal of Cell Biology, 179, 1149-1162 (2007). |
| (4) | Mizumoto K. and Sawa H. .: "Two βs or not two βs: regulation of asymmetric division by β-catenin." Trends in Cell Biology, 17, 465-473 (2007). |
| (5) | Fujita M., Takeshita H. and Sawa H. : "Cyclin E and CDK2 repress the terminal differentiation of quiescent cells after asymmetric division in C. elegans." PLoS ONE 2, e407 (2007). |
| (6) | Mizumoto, K. and Sawa, H.: "Cortical β-catenin and APC regulate asymmetric nuclear β-catenin localization during asymmetric cell division in C. elegans." Developmental Cell, 12, 287-299(2007). |
| (7) | Arata, Y., Kouike, H., Zhang, Y., Herman, M.A., Okano, H., and Sawa, H.: "Wnt signaling and a Hox protein cooperatively regulate PSA-3/MEIS to determine daughter cell fate after asymmetric cell division in C. elegans." Developmental Cell 11, 105-115 (2006). |
| (8) | Goldstein, B., Takeshita, H., Mizumoto, K., and Sawa H.: "Wnt signals can function as positional cues in establishing cell polarity." Developmental Cell, 10, 391-396(2006). |
| (9) | Takeshita, H. and Sawa, H.: "Asymmetric cortical and nuclear localizations of WRM-1/β-catenin during asymmetric cell division in C. elegans." Genes & Development, 19, 1743-1748 (2005). |
| (10) | Yoda, A., Kouike, H., Okano, H., and Sawa, H.: "Components of the transcriptional Mediator complex are required for asymmetric cell division in C. elegans." Development, 132, 1885-1893(2005). |