Makoto Furutani-Seiki is a Japanese molecular biologist who is a Professor of Systems Biochemistry in the School of Medicine at Yamaguchi University, Japan.[1][2]

Makoto Furutani-Seiki
NationalityJapanese
Other namesMakoto Seiki
Alma materYamaguchi University, University of Tokyo
Scientific career
FieldsImmunology

Developmental Genetics Regenerative Medicine

Cancer
InstitutionsYamaguchi University

University of Tokyo Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Germany University of Freiburg, Germany Kumamoto University

University of Bath, UK
Doctoral advisorTomio Tada
Websitehttps://researchmap.jp/7000021820?lang=en

Education

edit

Furutani-Seiki was educated at the Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, Japan where he was awarded Doctor of Medicine (M.D) in 1985.[3][4][5][6] He completed his postgraduate study at the Department of Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Japan where he was awarded a Ph.D in Immunology supervised by Tomio Tada in 1989.[7][8]

Career and research

edit

Furutani-Seiki started his career in 1989, as an assistant professor in Tomio Tada's lab in the Department of Immunology at the University of Tokyo where he investigated the complement factor B for HIV infection. In1992, he participated in the first large-scale mutagenesis screen for mutations affecting embryonic development as a postdoc in Janni Nusslein-Volhard's lab at Max-Planck-Institute in Tübingen. In 1997, he moved to Freiburg University as a group leader to analyze anterior posterior patterning of zebrafish nervous system and envisaged that a mutagenesis screening in medaka fish could identify new phenotypes that could not be identified in the zebrafish mutant screeing. In 2000, he started the first genome-wide mutagenesis screen using medaka fish as a group leader of the Kondoh Differentiation Signalling ERATO project in Kyoto, Japan.[9][10][8] A third of the phenotype identified in the Kyoto medaka screening were not seen in the zebrafish Tübingen screening.

In 2007, he moved to University of Bath, UK, Centre for Regenerative Medicine as a Medical Research Council Senior Research Fellow and continues his research at Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, Japan.[4][8][5][11]

Furutani-Seiki research study investigates the molecular mechanisms of mechono-homeostasis in which extracellular mechanical cues are integrated with cell differentiation and proliferation to maintain tissue, organ and body form.[12]

As part of his contribution to the field of Science, Furutani-Seiki discovered a single gene whose product is essential for the body and organs to keep their 3D shape and withstand external forces such as gravity.[13] The gene was discovered through the analysis of a medaka fish mutant with a unique flattened phenotype which was identified by the combination of the mutagenesis screen in zebrafish with another screen in medaka fish.[14] His work further investigates the single cell lineage and regionalisation of cell populations during medaka neurulation.[13][15]

Furutani-Seiki led an international team of researchers from the University of Bath, UK Centre for Regenerative Medicine that identified a gene that helps the body resist gravity and demonstrated what happens when the system goes wrong.[16] As of June 2018, he held a visiting professorship in Bath's Department of Biology and Biochemistry.[2]

Awards and honours

edit

Furutani-Seiki is an alumnus of Kavli Frontiers of Science and a member of the editorial board of Regenerative Medicine.[17] He's also a Senior Research Fellow UK of the Medical Research Council (MRC).[8] He's also a professional member of the American Association of Cancer Research and the Molecular Biology Society of Japan.[4]

Selected publications

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Members". Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b "University welcomes visitors from Yamaguchi University". University of Bath. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Makoto Furutani-Seiki | Yamaguchi University | Research contributor in Zebrafish, Hippo signaling pathway". SciSpace - Author. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  4. ^ a b c "清木 誠 (Seiki Makoto) - 米国癌学会 - 所属学協会 - researchmap". researchmap.jp. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
  5. ^ a b "Makoto Furutani-Seiki". 0-scholar-google-com.brum.beds.ac.uk. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  6. ^ "NBRP Medaka". shigen.nig.ac.jp. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  7. ^ "Mechanical Force Mediated 3D Organogenesis Withstanding Gravity Controlled by YAP - EPFL". memento.epfl.ch. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  8. ^ a b c d "CDB Symposium 2016". www.cdb.riken.jp. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  9. ^ "Former Groups — Institut für Biologie I (Zoologie)". www.bio1.uni-freiburg.de. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  10. ^ "ZFIN Person: Furutani-Seiki, Makoto". zfin.org. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  11. ^ "Protocols and Video Articles Authored by Makoto Furutani-Seiki". www.jove.com. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  12. ^ Asaoka, Yoichi; Furutani-Seiki, Makoto (2017-12-01). "YAP mediated mechano-homeostasis — conditioning 3D animal body shape". Current Opinion in Cell Biology. Cell Differentiation and Development. 49: 64–70. doi:10.1016/j.ceb.2017.11.013. ISSN 0955-0674. PMID 29253723.
  13. ^ a b "Single cell lineage and regionalization of cell populations during Medaka neurulation". BioSeek. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  14. ^ Hammerschmidt, M.; Pelegri, F.; Mullins, M.C.; Kane, D.A.; Brand, M.; van Eeden, F.J.; Furutani-Seiki, M.; Granato, M.; Haffter, P.; Heisenberg, C.P.; Jiang, Y.J. (1996-12-01). "Mutations affecting morphogenesis during gastrulation and tail formation in the zebrafish, Danio rerio". Development. 123 (1): 143–151. doi:10.1242/dev.123.1.143. ISSN 0950-1991. PMID 9007236.
  15. ^ Hirose, Yukihiro; Varga, Zoltan M.; Kondoh, Hisato; Furutani-Seiki, Makoto (2004-06-01). "Single cell lineage and regionalization of cell populations during Medaka neurulation". Development. 131 (11): 2553–2563. doi:10.1242/dev.01140. ISSN 0950-1991. PMID 15148299. S2CID 21185446.
  16. ^ "Gravity-resisting gene stops our bodies being squashed flat". www.bath.ac.uk. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  17. ^ "Regenerative Medicine Research". www.regenmedres-journal.org. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
edit