【Labs spotlight】 Yoh-ichi Tagawa Laboratory

The Department has a variety of laboratories for Life Science and Technology, in which cutting-edge innovative research is being undertaken not only in basic science and engineering but also in the areas of medicine, pharmacy, agriculture, and multidisciplinary sciences.

This "Spotlight" series features a laboratory from the Department and introduces you to the laboratory's research projects and outcomes. This time we focus on Yoh-ichi Tagawa Laboratory.

Degree	1997, The University of Tokyo Doctor of science
Areas of Research	Developmental Engineering, Biochemistry, Regenerative Medicine, Synthetic Biology, Tissue Engineering.
Keywords	Liver, ES cell, iPS cell, In Vitro Model, Liver, Hepatitis, Metabolism, Knock-out, Disease Model.
Website	Yoh-ichi Tagawa Lab.

Research interest

Our laboratory is challenging to create in vitro mammal models for alternatives of animal experiments or clinical tests. Living is a system which maintains non-equilibrium state to outside by producing energy after taking some materials. Now, we are trying to culture embryonic stem (ES) cell-derived heart, liver, pancreas, intestine, neural tissues on a medium-circulating micro-fluidic device, expecting close to the in vivo metabolism system for minimal mammal system. For this purpose we are working on the following points:

1. 1.Drug metabolism/Cytotoxicity assay using ES/iPS cell-derived liver tissue culture system.
2. 2.In vitro liver disease models, such as HBV infection and Hepatitis, using ES/iPS cell-derived liver tissue culture system.
3. 3.Differentiation of mouse/human ES/iPS cells to liver, pancreas, intestine, neural tissues in vitro.
4. 4.Tissue culture on a medium-circulating micro-fluidic device, especially for metabolism assay.
5. 5.In vitro ES/iPS-derived tissues having circadian rhythm.

Selected publications

• [1] Ahn, S., et al., An in vitro liver model consisting of endothelial vascular networks surrounded by human hepatoma cell lines allows for improved hepatitis B virus replication. J. Biosci. Bioeng. 118:107-111, 2014.
• [2] Aratsu, F., et al., Dynamic chemotactic response of fibroblasts to local stimulation using EGF-immobilized microbeads. Biomaterials 35:2471-2476, 2014
• [3] Tamai, M., et al., In vitro recapitulation of the urea cycle using murine embryonic stem cell-derived in vitro liver model. Amino Acids 45:1343-51, 2013
• [4] Tamai, M., et al., Characterization of a liver organoid tissue composed of hepatocytes and fibroblast in dense collagen fibrils. Tissue Engineering part A 19:2527-2535, 2013
• [5] Ryu, J.-Y., et al., Chimeric analysis of EGFP and DsRed2 transgenic mice demonstrates polyclonal maintenance of pancreatic acini. Transgenic Res. 22:549-556, 2013
• [6] Toyoda, Y., et al., Acetoaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity in a liver tissue model consisting of primary hepatocytes assembling around an endothelial cell network. Drug Metab. Dispos. 40:169-177, 2012
• [7] Tsutsui, M., et al., Characterization of cytochrome P450 expression in murine embryonic stem cell-derived hepatic tissue system. Drug Metab. Dispos. 34:696-701, 2006
• [8] Ogawa, S., et al., Crucial roles of mesodermal cell lineages in a murine embryonic stem cell-derived in vitro liver organogenesis system. Stem Cells 23:903-913,2005
• [9] Tagawa, Y., et al., Suppression of concanavalin A-induced hepatitis in IFN-γ(-/-) mice, but not in TNF-α(-/-) mice: role for IFN-γ in activating apoptosis of hepatocytes. J. Immunol. 159:1418-1428, 1997

• Research Laboratories and Subjects

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*May 1, 2025：Some of the content has been updated with the latest information.