Team Leader
Takashi Tsuji* Ph.D.

Laboratory for Organ Regeneration

[Closed Mar. 2024]

*Current positionOrganTech, Inc.

URLhttps://www.organ-tech.jp/en/

E-mailtakashi.tsuji[at]organ-tech.jp

Please replace [at] with @.

Overview
Selected Publications
News

Research and development of bioengineered organs and their clinical applications

Organogenesis begins with the formation of patterned developmental fields during early embryogenesis, which provide environments appropriate for the induction of specific organs. Most organs emerge from primordia induced by interactions between epithelial and mesenchymal tissue and, following organ-specific morphological changes, develop into functional structures.

Our group is working to gain a more complete understanding of the roles of epithelial-mesenchymal interactions in organ induction, development, and morphogenesis. Using technologies developed in our group for the three-dimensional (3D) control of epithelial stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells, we have generated regenerative primordia for teeth, hair follicles and endocrine tissue, such as salivary glands, and shown that these functionally integrate with surrounding tissue following transplantation into adult mice. By recapitulating organogenetic fields as seen in the early embryo to steer the self-organized formation of 3D tissue-like structures from pluripotent stem cells, such as embryonic stem cells (ESCs) or induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), we seek both to elucidate the mechanisms by which such fields induce organogenesis and to develop new technologies for use in regenerative medicine. Building on these fundamental studies, we are now working to develop technologies for uses in therapeutic organ regeneration such as next-generation tooth regeneration implants and hair follicle regeneration for alopecia.

Research Theme

Development of organ regeneration technology by applying organ development patterns
Development of hair follicle organ regenerative therapy
Development of the next-generation of Bio-hybrid implant for tooth regeneration
Research and Development of the next-generation 3D-integumentary organ system in vitro
Analysis of mechanisms underlying organogenesis using four-dimensional cell tracking system
Development of three-dimensional organ cultivation system in vitro

Selected Publications

Ishikawa J, Takeo M, Iwadate A, et al.
Mechanical homeostasis of liver sinusoid is involved in the initiation and termination of liver regeneration.
Communications Biology 4, 409 (2021) doi: 10.1038/s42003-021-01936-2

Takeo M, Asakawa K, Toyoshima KE, et al.
Expansion and characterization of epithelial stem cells with potential for cyclical hair regeneration.
Scientific reports 11(1), 1173 (2021) doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-80624-3

Kimura S, Tsuchiya A, Ogawa M, et al.
Tissue-scale tensional homeostasis in skin regulates structure and physiological function.
Communications Biology 3, 637 (2020) doi: 10.1038/s42003-020-01365-7

Tanaka J, Ogawa M, Hojo H, et al.
Generation of orthotopically functional salivary gland from embryonic stem cells.
Nature Communications 9, 4216 (2018) doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-06469-7

Bin BH, Bhin J, Takaishi M, et al.
Requirement of zinc transporter ZIP10 for epidermal development: Implication of the ZIP10-p63 axis in epithelial homeostasis.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 114(46), 12243-12248 (2017) doi: 10.1073/pnas.1710726114

Takagi R, Ishimaru J, Sugawara A, et al.
Bioengineering a 3D integumentary organ system from iPS cells using an in vivo transplantation model.
Science Advances 2(4), e1500887 (2016) doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1500887

Ozone C, Suga H, Eiraku M, et al.
Functional anterior pituitary generated in self-organizing culture of human embryonic stem cells.
Nature Communications 7, 10351 (2016) doi: 10.1038/ncomms10351

Ogawa M, Oshima M, Imamura A, et al.
Functional salivary gland regeneration by transplantation of a bioengineered organ germ.
Nature Communications 4, 2498 (2013) doi: 10.1038/ncomms3498

Toyoshima KE, Asakawa K, Ishibashi N, et al.
Fully functional hair follicle regeneration through the rearrangement of stem cells and their niches.
Nature Communications 3, 784 (2012) doi: 10.1038/ncomms1784

Ikeda E, Morita R, Nakao K, et al.
Fully functional bioengineered tooth replacement as an organ replacement therapy.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106, 13475-13480 (2009) doi: 10.1073/pnas.0902944106