Group Director

Masahiro Ueda (Ph.D.)

Our group studies how signal transduction function of living cells arises spontaneously from the dynamics of intracellular reaction networks (design principles), and the mechanisms that allow these systems to process signals under the strong influence of thermal and stochastic noise (computation principles). As a typical example of stochastic biomolecular computation in living cells, we specifically focus on the gradient sensing and directional cell migration seen in the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum. In this research project, by combining advanced imaging techniques including single-molecule detection with theoretical modeling, we aim to better understand these two principles while at the same time develop the techniques necessary to do so.

Research Topics

• Spontaneous cellular polarity formation and self-organization
• Sensing and signal tranduction
• Quantitative measurement technology

Selected Publications

• Kamimura, Y., Miyanaga, Y. & Ueda, M.
  "Heterotrimeric G-protein shuttling via Gip1 extends the dynamic range of eukaryotic chemotaxis"
  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 113, 4356-4361 (2016) doi:10.1073/pnas.1516767113
• Komatsuzaki, A., Ohyanagi, T., Tsukasaki, Y., Miyanaga, Y., Ueda, M. & Jin, T.
  "Compact Halo-Ligand-Conjugated Quantum Dots for Multicolored Single-Molecule Imaging of Overcrowding GPCR Proteins on Cell Membranes"
  Small 11, 1396-1401 (2015) doi:10.1002/smll.201402508
• Yasui, M., Matsuoka, S. & Ueda, M.
  "PTEN Hopping on the Cell Membrane Is Regulated via a Positively-Charged C2 Domain"
  PLoS Comput. Biol. 10, e1003817 (2014) doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003817
• Cai, H., Katoh-Kurasawa, M., Muramoto, T., Santhanam, B., Long, Y., Li, L., et al.
  "Nucleocytoplasmic Shuttling of a GATA Transcription Factor Functions as a Development Timer"
  Science 343, 1329-+ (2014) doi:10.1126/science.1249531
• Nishikawa, M., Horning, M., Ueda, M. & Shibata, T.
  "Excitable Signal Transduction Induces Both Spontaneous and Directional Cell Asymmetries in the Phosphatidylinositol Lipid Signaling System for Eukaryotic Chemotaxis"
  Biophys. J. 106, 723-734 (2014) doi:10.1016/j.bpj.2013.12.023
• Okamoto, M., Namba, T., Shinoda, T., Kondo, T., Watanabe, T., Inoue, Y., et al.
  "TAG-1-assisted progenitor elongation streamlines nuclear migration to optimize subapical crowding"
  Nat. Neurosci. 16, 1556-1566 (2013) doi:10.1038/nn.3525
• Matsuoka, S., Shibata, T. & Ueda, M.
  "Asymmetric PTEN Distribution Regulated by Spatial Heterogeneity in Membrane-Binding State Transitions"
  PLoS Comput. Biol. 9, e1002862 (2013) doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002862
• Nishimura, S. I., Ueda, M. & Sasai, M.
  "Non-Brownian dynamics and strategy of amoeboid cell locomotion"
  Phys. Rev. E 85, 041909 (2012) doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.85.041909
• Tsujioka, M., Yumura, S., Inouye, K., Patel, H., Ueda, M. & Yonemura, S.
  "Talin couples the actomyosin cortex to the plasma membrane during rear retraction and cytokinesis "
  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 109, 12992-12997 (2012) doi:10.1073/pnas.1208296109
• Arai, Y., Shibata, T., Matsuoka, S., Sato, M. J., Yanagida, T. & Ueda, M.
  "Self-organization of the phosphatidylinositol lipids signaling system for random cell migration"
  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 107, 12399-12404 (2010) doi:10.1073/pnas.0908278107