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Research

Research

BDR researchers coming from diverse research fields are working together to achieve higher goals.

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Seminars & Symposia

BDR hosts annual symposium and regular seminars inviting international scientists in life science.

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Careers & Study

BDR embraces people from diverse backgrounds, and strives to create an open and supportive setting for research.

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Outreach

BDR communicates the appeal and significance of our research to society through the use of various media and activities.

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About Us

About Us

Exploring the scientific foundations of life through interdisciplinary approaches to address society’s problems.

 Photo of Team leder, Hiroki Shibuya

Team Leader
Hiroki Shibuya Ph.D.

Laboratory for Gametogenesis

LocationKobe / Developmental Biology Buildings

E-mailhiroki.shibuya[at]riken.jp

Please replace [at] with @.

Recruiting graduate students

Unraveling the peculiarities of germ cells that ensure the survival of species

Even though organisms reach the end of their lives at the individual level, they can survive semi-permanently at the species level by refreshing the genetic and epigenetic information in their germ cells and passing it on to the next generation. In order to ensure these processes, germ cells undergo a unique cell division called meiosis, which halves the number of chromosomes, and then undergo differentiation into sperm and eggs (gametes). Our team combines mouse and nematode genetics, cytology, and biochemistry to study the molecular basis of gametogenesis. In particular, we focus on the role of spermatid centrosomes in prophase I chromosome movement, homologous recombination, chromosome segregation, and flagellum formation.

Selected Publications

Padmanaban S, Lambacher NJ, Tesmer VM, et al.
Caenorhabditis elegans telomere-binding proteins TEBP-1 and TEBP-2 adapt the Myb module to dimerize and bind telomeric DNA.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 121(16), e2316651121 (2024) doi: 10.1073/pnas.2316651121

Zhang J, Ruiz M, Bergh PO, et al.
Regulation of meiotic telomere dynamics through membrane fluidity promoted by AdipoR2-ELOVL2.
Nature Communications 15(1), 2315 (2024) doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-46718-6

He S, Gillies JP, Zang JL, et al.
Distinct dynein complexes defined by DYNLRB1 and DYNLRB2 regulate mitotic and male meiotic spindle bipolarity.
Nature Communications 14(1), 1715 (2023) doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-37370-7

Zhang K, Tarczykowska A, Gupta DK, et al.
The TERB1 MYB domain suppresses telomere erosion in meiotic prophase I.
Cell Reports 38(4), 110289 (2022) doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.110289

Pendlebury DF, Zhang J, Agrawal R, et al.
Structure of a meiosis-specific complex central to BRCA2 localization at recombination sites.
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 28(8), 671-680 (2021) doi: 10.1038/s41594-021-00635-0

Yamamoto I, Zhang K, Zhang J, et al.
Telomeric double-strand DNA-binding proteins DTN-1 and DTN-2 ensure germline immortality in Caenorhabditis elegans.
eLife 10, e64104 (2021) doi: 10.7554/eLife.64104

Zhang J, Gurusaran M, Fujiwara Y, et al.
The BRCA2-MEILB2-BRME1 complex governs meiotic recombination and impairs the mitotic BRCA2-RAD51 function in cancer cells.
Nature Communications 11(1), 2055 (2020) doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-15954-x

Zhang J, Fujiwara Y, Yamamoto S, Shibuya H.
A meiosis-specific BRCA2 binding protein recruits recombinases to DNA double-strand breaks to ensure homologous recombination.
Nature Communications 10(1), 722 (2019) doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-08676-2

Zhang J, Tu Z, Watanabe Y, Shibuya H.
Distinct TERB1 Domains Regulate Different Protein Interactions in Meiotic Telomere Movement.
Cell Reports 21(7), 1715-1726 (2017) doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.10.061

Shibuya H, Hernández-Hernández A, Morimoto A, et al.
MAJIN Links Telomeric DNA to the Nuclear Membrane by Exchanging Telomere Cap.
Cell 163(5), 1252-1266 (2015) doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2015.10.030

Members

Hiroki Shibuya

Team Leader

Morie Ishida

Research Scientist

Yutaka Takeda

Postdoctoral Researcher

Eriko Kajikawa

Technical Staff I

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