1st April 2024
Hirotake Maekawa (前川 玄武) joined our group as a new B4 student.
25th – 27th March 2024
Masashi Yukawa attended the 2024 annual meeting of the JSBBA held at Tokyo University of Agriculture, Setagaya Campus and had an oral presentation.
The title was
An essential role of fission yeast CLASP homolog Peg1 in mitotic spindle assembly
（分裂酵母の生育に必須な微小管結合因子Peg1/CLASPの紡錘体形成における役割）
23rd March 2024
The 4th year undergraduate student, Yusuke Sakai has finished his course. Many congratulations!! He will be enrolled in our Master’s program from April.
15th February 2024
The 4th year undergraduate student, Yusuke Sakai, presented his graduation research.
The title was
Yusuke Sakai
“分裂酵母の分裂期特異的核移動に関わる核側因子の探索”
(Search for nuclear side factors involved in mitosis-specific nuclear displacement in fission yeast)
19th January 2024
Masashi Yukawa attended the workshop on “Chromosomes and Radiation” held at the Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine (RIRBM), Hiroshima University (Kasumi campus).
26th December 2023
Fara Difka Afdilla, Hiromu Yamada and Yuta Hirano (1st year graduate students) presented their research projects at the master’s interim presentation.
The titles were
Fara Difka Afdilla
Development of the effective yeast system for screening of inhibitors against human mitotic kinesin motors
Hiromu Yamada
Functional analysis of the γ-tubulin complex, a microtubule nucleator in mitotic spindle assembly and maintenance in fission yeast
Yuta Hirano
An essential role of fission yeast CLASP homolog Peg1 in mitotic spindle assembly
16th -17th November 2023
The 24th biennial symposium of yeast societies（第２４回酵母合同シンポジウム）was held at Higashi Hiroshima Arts & Culture Hall Kurara. Hiromu Yamada, Yuta Hirano and Masashi Yukawa attended and supported the symposium.
9th -10th November 2023
Masashi Yukawa and Yusuke Sakai attended 40th annual meeting of Yeast Workshop in Yamaguchi (KDDI Ishin Hall, Yamaguchi City Industrial Exchange Base Facility) and Yusuke had his presentation.
The title was
Yusuke Sakai
Exploring the molecular mechanism of actin-dependent mitotic nuclear displacement
(アクチン繊維による分裂期特異的細胞核移動の分子制御機構)
21st October
Yuta Hirano, Hiromu Yamada and Woosang Hwang attended the Biomedical Science Seminar, which is a class for graduate students in the master or PhD course of the program of Biomedical Science. They had their oral presentations and Woosang Hwang was awarded the Best Presentation Award.
The titles were
Yuta Hirano
Molecular mechanisms of M-phase spindle formation by fission yeast MT crosslinking and stabilizing factor
Hiromu Yamada
Functional analysis of the γ-tubulin complex, a microtubule nucleator in mitotic spindle assembly and maintenance in fission yeast
Woosang Hwang
Exploring the molecular mechanism of actin-dependent mitotic nuclear positioning
9th-13th October 2023
Cold Spring Harbor Asia Conference on “Yeast and Life Sciences” was held at Kunibiki Messe in Shimane Prefectural Convention Center.
Fara Difka Afdilla and Woosang Hwang attended this meeting and had their poster presentations. Woosang Hwang was awarded the Best Poster Award at the meeting.
The titles were
Fara Difka Afdilla
A fission yeast-based platform for screening potent human kinesin-5/Eg5 inhibitors
Woosang Hwang
Exploring the molecular mechanism of actin-dependent mitotic nuclear positioning
15th September
The 23rd Exchange Meeting on Microeukaryotes was held at the National Research Institute of Brewing (NRIB) and Masashi Yukawa had an oral presentation.
The title was
Escape from mitotic catastrophe by actin-dependent nuclear displacement in fission yeast
(アクチン繊維による核移動を介した細胞分裂死回避機構)
30th August -1st September 2023
Masashi Yukawa and Woosang Hwang attended 56th annual meeting of Yeast Genetic Society of Japan in Niigata (Niigata University, Igarashi Campus) and had their presentations.
The titles were
Masashi Yukawa
A critical role of microtubule-associated protein Peg1/Cls1 required for spindle formation in fission yeast
(分裂酵母の生育に必須な微小管結合因子Peg1/Cls1の紡錘体形成における役割)
Woosang Hwang
Exploring the molecular mechanism of actin-dependent nuclear displacement during mitosis
(分裂期におけるアクチン繊維に依存した細胞核移動の分子メカニズム解析)
28th July 2023
Professor Takashi Toda retired at the end of July after 9 years working for Hiroshima University. We are so grateful to have the opportunity to work with or learn from him and so appreciate his kind support and professional advices. We wish him continued good health and happiness in the future.
27th July 2023
Woosang Hwang performed an oral presentation in the 9th HiHA Young Researchers International Workshop.
The title: Exploring the molecular mechanism of actin-dependent mitotic nuclear positioning
28th May-2nd June 2023
Pombe2023 Hiroshima was held at JMS Aster Plaza Hall from May 28th to June 2nd.
Takashi Toda and Masashi Yukawa acted as meeting organisers.
Fara Difka Afdilla, Yuta Hirano, Hiromu Yamada, Woosang Hwang and Masashi Yukawa had poster presentation.
Woosang Hwang was awarded the Outstanding Poster Presentation Award at the meeting.
The titles were
Fara Difka Afdilla
Fission yeast expressing human kinesin-5/Eg5 motor protein provides an effective platform for screening for anti-cancer compounds
Yuta Hirano
Regulation of microtubule cross-linking activity for mitotic spindle assembly
Hiromu Yamada
Roles of the microtubule nucleator, the γ-tubulin complex, in mitotic spindle assembly
Woosang Hwang
Exploring the molecular mechanism of actin-dependent mitotic nuclear positioning
Masashi Yukawa
Mechanisms of the kinesin-5-independent bipolar spindle assembly
25th May 2023
POMBE2023 Hiroshima will start on May 28!!
8th April 2023
Annual get-gather party for regional yeast researchers was held on 8th April at Kagamiyama Park. This year the party was organised by Associate Professor Kouichi Funato and his colleagues at Hiroshima University (Program of Food and AgriLife Science). From our group, six members (Masashi Yukawa, Woosang Hwang, Hiromu Yamada, Yuta Hirano, Fara Difka Afdilla and Yusuke Sakai) attended and enjoyed talking to attendants.
3rd April 2023
Yusuke Sakai (酒井 勇輔) joined our group as a new B4 student.
23rd March 2023
The 4th-year undergraduate students (Hiromu Yamada, Aoi Takenoya and Yuta Hirano) and the 2nd-year master’s course students (Woosang Hwang and Sharmin Sultana) have finished their courses. Many congratulations! Hiromu Yamada, Yuta Hirano and Fara Difka Afdilla (she is an international research student) will be enrolled in our Master’s program and Woosang Hwang will go on to our PhD program from April.
Upper photo, from left to right: Fara Difka Afdilla, Hiromu Yamada, Aoi Takenoya, Yuta Hirano
Lower photo, from left to right: Woosang Hwang and Takashi Toda
15th March 2023
Woosang Hwang, Hiromu Yamada, Yuta Hirano and Masashi Yukawa attended the 2023 annual meeting of the JSBBA held in Hiroshima and had oral presentations (Online).
Woosang Hwang:
Analysis of the molecular mechanism of actin-dependent mitotic nuclear displacement in fission yeast
（分裂期特異的アクチン繊維による細胞核移動の分子機序解析）
Hiromu Yamada:
Novel roles of the principal microtubule nucleator γ-TuRC (γ-tubulin ring complex) in mitotic spindle assembly in fission yeast
（分裂酵母紡錘体形成における微小管重合開始因子γ-チューブリン複合体の新たな役割）
Yuta Hirano:
Regulation of microtubule cross-linking activity for mitotic spindle assembly in fission yeast
（分裂酵母におけるM期紡錘体構造の架橋制御機構）
Masashi Yukawa:
Fission yeast expressing human mitotic kinesin motor protein provides an effective platform for screening for anti-cancer compounds
（ヒト分裂期キネシン発現酵母を利用した抗ガン剤探索システムの基盤構築）
13th March 2023
Takashi Toda gave a talk at HIRAKU-Global Workshop.
The title is
[Message to HIRAKU/HIRAKU-G Researchers]
27th February-3rd March 2023
Takashi Toda attended the 14th HOPE meeting held in Tsukuba. He acted as a modulator for Dr Tim Hunt (Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine in 2001), whom Takashi knows for a long time as they worked in the same institute in London and shared scientific interests.
20th February 2023
Takashi Toda attended HIRAKU-Global International Symposium/Annual Conference FY2022. He acts belong to the advisory board of HIRAKU-Global and also acts as a member for several HIRAKU-Global Researchers.
17th February 2023
Dr Hiroshi Ochiai, who is Associate Professor at Division of Biological and Life Sciences Graduate School of Integrated Sciences in Hiroshima University, visited Takashi. He will move to Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University as a full professor from 1st March. He said goodbye to Takashi, who in turn sent his very best wishes back to Hiroshi.
Hiroshi, good luck in your new work place and position.
14th February 2023
4th year undergraduate students, Hiromu Yamada, Aoi Takenoya and Yuta Hirano, presented their graduation researches.
Hiromu Yamada
“分裂酵母の紡錘体形成における微小管重合開始因子の役割”
(Roles of the principal microtubule nucleator in mitotic spindle assembly in fission yeast)
Aoi Takenoya
“５型キネシンを必要としない新規紡錘体形成経路で働く因子の探索”
(Screening of novel factors involved in kinesin-5-independent mitotic spindle assembly)
Yuta Hirano
“分裂酵母におけるM期紡錘体構造の架橋制御機構”
(Regulation of microtubule cross-linking activity for mitotic spindle assembly in fission yeast)
10th February 2023
2nd year graduate students, Woosang Hwang and Sharmin Sultana, presented their master course researches.
Woosang Hwang
“M期特異的アクチン繊維による細胞核移動の分子機序解析”
(Study of the molecular mechanism of actin-dependent mitotic nuclear displacement)
Sharmin Sultana
“分裂酵母を利用したヒト分裂期キネシンの機能解析”
(Functional analysis of human mitotic kinesins using fission yeast)
10th January 2023
Registration and abstract submission have started for Pombe2023 Hiroshima (https://www.fission-yeast2023.org/), which Takashi Toda and Masashi Yukawa act as meeting organisers.
9th December 2022
Takashi Toda and Masashi Yukawa attended 20th HiHA Workshop held at Hiroshima University Phoenix International Center MIRAI CREA.
The theme of this workshop was “What can we learn about healthy aging from model organisms?” The latest findings of aging and longevity research were introduced in this workshop.
10th and 11th November 2022
3 lab members (Masashi Yukawa, Hiromu Yamada and Yuta Hirano) attended 39th Yeast Workshop held at Kochi Prefectural Culture Hall.
Masashi presented an overview of our research and Hiromu and Yuta gave both oral and poster presentations.
The titles were
Hiromu Yamada
微小管重合を促進する新規因子
Novel factors promoting microtubule nucleation
Yuta Hirano
M期紡錘体構造の架橋制御機構
Regulation of microtubule cross-linking activity for mitotic spindle assembly
12th October 2022
Sharmin Sultana (2nd year graduate student) presented her research project at the master’s interim presentation.
Sharmin Sultana
Functional analysis of human mitotic kinesins using fission yeast
“分裂酵母を利用したヒト分裂期キネシンの機能解析”
11th October 2022
Took our lab photo today. We are hopeful for the new semester!
5th October 2022
Masashi Yukawa and Woosang Hwang attended the 1st Hiroshima University’s Neuroscience Seminar at Koujin hall in the Kasumi campus, which is an exchange meeting for researchers working in the Kasumi and the Higashi-Hiroshima campus.
Woosang Hwang had a poster presentation.
Title: Study of the molecular mechanism of actin-dependent mitotic nuclear displacement
（M期特異的アクチン繊維による細胞核移動の分子機序解析）
29th September 2022
Fara Difka Afdilla from Indonesia joined our lab as a research student.
She is supported by INPEX SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION.
Photo (from the left to the right): Masashi Yukawa, Fara Difka Afdilla, Mari Sasa (INPEX), Takashi Toda
22nd September 2022
Dai Hirata (Professor at Niigata University) visited Takashi Toda and discussed research projects on the mechanism underlying ethanol-mediated lifespan regulation in sake yeast and fission yeast.
8th September 2022
Masashi Yukawa attended 55th annual meeting of Yeast Genetic Society of Japan in Okinawa (OIST, hybrid) and had an oral presentation (on-line).
Title: Study of the molecular mechanism of actin-dependent mitotic nuclear displacement
（M期特異的アクチン繊維による細胞核移動の分子機序解析）
2nd August 2022
Takashi Toda attended the 3rd HIRAKU-GLOBAL STARTER. COURSE and gave a presentation for the newly-selected HIRAKU-GLOBAL researchers. He serves as an adviser and also a mentor for this programme (https://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/hiraku-g).
9th July 2022
Takashi Toda and Masashi Yukawa attended the annual meeting of Hiroshima Fermentation Society (広島醗酵会), in which Takashi and Masashi serve as president and executive secretary, respectively, of this organisation.
5th July 2022
Takashi Toda participated in the regular meeting of the HIRAKU-Global programme, which he joins as an advisory board member and also as a consortium mentor.
5th July 2022
Takashi Toda discussed the procedures and the details of the 11th Pombe international meeting 2023 in Hiroshima with Sir Paul Nurse (the CEO of the Francis Crick Institute).
30th June 2022
Dr Takayuki Koyano (古家野 孝行), a former postdoc in Takashi’s lab in LRI, UK and currently a research scientist in Shigei Medical Research Institute (重井医学研究所) in Okayama, visited the lab and discussed his current research.
16th June 2022
The 3rd preparation meeting to discuss the organisation and the procedures of the 11th Fission Yeast Meeting Hiroshima 2023, which is scheduled from 28th May until 2nd July next year, was held. Participants include Takashi Toda, Masashi Yukawa, Masaru Ueno, Kenji Kitamura and Kazunori Kume, who are organisers of this meeting.
15th June 2022
HIHA organized the 73rd HiHA Seminar/Webinar by Dr Yasunao Kamikawa, Assistant Professor at Department of Biochemistry, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University.
Speaker: Dr Yasunao Kamikawa (上川泰直 助教)
Title: 核膜ストレスとその応答メカニズム (Molecular mechanism of nuclear envelope stress response)
This seminar was performed via internet (Webinar).
10th May 2022
Sharmin Sultana from Bangladesh joined our lab as a master student.
1st April 2022
New B4 students, Hiromu Yamada (山田 大夢), Aoi Takenoya (武谷 碧) and Yuta Hirano (平野 雄大) joined our group.
Photo (from the left to the right): Takashi Toda, Aoi Takenoya, Yuta Hirano, Hiromu Yamada, Masashi Yukawa, Woosang Hwang
17th March 2022
Woosang Hwang and Masashi Yukawa attended the 2022 annual meeting of the JSBBA held in Kyoto and had an oral presentation (Online).
Woosang Hwang:
Actin-dependent movement of the mitotic nucleus linked with the spindle assembly checkpoint in fission yeast
（紡錘体チェックポイントと連動したアクチン依存的細胞核移動の解析）
Masashi Yukawa:
Complementation of fission yeast kinesin-5/Cut7 with human Eg5 provides a versatile platform for screening of anti-cancer compounds
（分裂酵母を利用した5型キネシン阻害薬探索ツールの開発）
7th-11th March 2022
Takashi Toda attended the 13th HOPE meeting (on-line) as a moderator for the Nobel laureate Sir Tim Hunt. Dr Hunt was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2001 for his discovery of key regulators of the cell cycle. Takashi has known Dr Hunt for a long time; they belonged to the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute and have been working on the related topics on cell cycle control. Takashi published two papers in the past in which Dr Hunt was coauthor. Dr Hunt now lives in Okinawa and is involved in OIST (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology). The HOPE meeting is organised by JSPS and aims to foster young researchers around the world, in particular Asia, Oceania and Africa, through interaction with Nobel prize laureates (https://www.jsps.go.jp/english/e-hope/index.html).
1st March 2022
Takashi Toda attended the annual HIRAKU-Global Advisory Board Meeting held on-line. He belongs to the advisory board and serves as a mentor for the HIRAKU Global researchers.
Photos (from the left, titles omitted)
Top: Jorge Tendeiro (a programme manager), Takashi Toda, Robert Mahley (the Gladstone Institute,USA), Manabu Abe (vice president of Hiroshima Uni),
Bottom: Toshiyuki Misu, Naoto Kobayashi (vice president of Ehime Uni), Misako Aida (programme representative), Professor Kiyoshi Fukui (vice president of Tokushima Uni)
21st February 2022
Takashi Toda attended the HIRAKU-Global Annual Conference FY2021 (on-line) as a panelist. He belongs to the advisory board in this programme and also serves as a mentor for the HIRAKU Global researchers.
Photo:
Top right: Professor Jorge Tendeiro (a programme manager)
Bottom left: Professor Eiichiro Suzuki (a mentor)
Bottom right: Professor Yuko Harayama (an advisory board member and a mentor)
15th February 2022
4th year undergraduate students, Masahiro Kawasumi and Jaeuk Hwang, presented their graduation researches.
Masahiro Kawasumi
“分裂酵母RNA結合蛋白質Dri1の高温ストレス条件下における機能解析”
(Functional analysis of the RNA-binding protein Dri1 under heat stress conditions in fission yeast)
Jaeuk Hwang
“分裂酵母のM期細胞核移動を制御する因子の探索”
(Screening for factors regulating mitotic nuclear displacement in fission yeast)
24th January 2022
Our new paper was published in the latest issue of Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry.
Authors: Woosang Hwang, Takashi Toda and Masashi Yukawa
Title：Complementation of fission yeast kinesin-5/Cut7 with human Eg5 provides a versatile platform for screening of anti-cancer compounds
Journal：Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry 2022;86(2):254-259
DOI: 10.1093/bbb/zbab212
PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34864879/
URL: https://academic.oup.com/bbb/advance-article/doi/10.1093/bbb/zbab212/6449361
