Dr Maki Murata-Hori, Principal Investigator

Maki Murata-Hori obtained her PhD from Hokkaido University (Japan) in 1997. Thereafter, she investigated the regulation of myosin II phosphorylation in nonmuscle cells in Hiroshima University (Japan) as a JSPS fellow and then a research assistant professor. In 2000, she moved to University of Massachusetts Medical School (USA) where she spent 3 years studying the molecular mechanism for signaling cytokinesis in mammalian cells as a postdoctoral research associate. She joined the TLL as a Principal Investigator in 2003.

You may wish to contact Dr Maki MURATA-HORI at:
Tel: (65) 6872 7000, 6872 7716 (DID) or 6872 7466 (lab) Email: makihori@tll.org.sg

For information on PhD studies at TLL, click HERE

• How is cytokinesis coordinated with mitosis?
• How is cytokinesis signaled?
• How is the cell cleavage regulated?

Research Projects

Cytokinesis is the final step of the cell cycle and is critical for the proper separation of chromosomes and organelles into two daughter cells. A clear understanding of the spatial and temporal regulatory mechanisms of cytokinesis is important not only for gaining further knowledge of this cellular process, but also for developing effective counter measures against various diseases such as cancer and birth defects.

Regardless of the numerous experiments in the cytokinesis field, two major questions still remain: How is the cytokinesis initiated? How is cell cleavage regulated? In the classical model, motor proteins localized along the cleavage furrow generate forces, creating a "purse-string" to cleave the cell. Since previous studies have suggested that actin modulating proteins such as the acting severing and depolymerizing proteins participate in cell cleavage, and that the entire cortex in addition to the equatorial cortex contributes to the contraction of cleavage furrow, the regulation of cell cleavage appears to be more complicated. Thus, to understand the mechanism of the regulation of cytokinesis, it is important to identify the detailed functions of proteins involved in cell cleavage at a high spatial and temporal resolution.

Currently, we focus on understanding the mechanisms of initiation of cytokinesis, by studying the functional roles of a number of key proteins using powerful combination of techniques including molecular biology, biochemistry, microscopic imaging of living cells, micromanipulation, photobleaching, and photoinactivation.