Expertise
The Ebisuya group has a strong expertise in stem cell and developmental biology, focusing on fundamental questions such as why different animal species exhibit varying biological times. Utilizing stem cell-based models, they have made significant strides in this field. Notably, they have successfully recapitulated the developmental timing mechanism known as the segmentation clock using stem cells from a wide range of mammalian species, including mice, humans, rabbits, cows, marmosets, and even rhinoceroses1,2,3,4. Through this innovative “stem cell zoo” platform, they demonstrated that cells from each species retain their distinct developmental tempo and biochemical kinetics in vitro. Currently, the team is investigating species-specific distributions of biomolecular condensates and their role in shaping these unique developmental tempos.
References:
- Matsuda et al. Species-specific segmentation clock periods are due to differential biochemical reaction speeds. Science. 2020;369(6510):1450-1455. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aba7668
- Lázaro et al. A stem cell zoo uncovers intracellular scaling of developmental tempo across mammals. Cell Stem Cell. 2023;30(7):938-949.e7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2023.05.014
- Matsuda et al. Recapitu-lating the human segmentation clock with pluripotent stem cells. Nature. 2020;580(7801):124-129. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2144-9
- Sanaki-Matsumiya et al. Periodic formation of epithelial somites from human pluripotent stem cells. Nat Commun. 2022;13(1):2325. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29967-1