The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo

Formation and developement of cancer are multi-step that involves alteration of structure adn function of various genes that are relevant to cell growth, differentiation, and to cell-cell communication, the genes include oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and their related genes. In the Department of Cancer Biology, we try to establish molecular mechaminsms of tumor formation and development basing on the function of these gene products.
Our goal is to understand
(1) how the cell growth and differentiation are regulated,
(2) molecular basis of angiogenesis,
(3) molecular meachanisms of invasion and metastasis of cancer,
(4) mechanisms of malignant transformation by tumor viruses,
and their pathogenic mechanisms of human cancer.

On going researches are as follows:

1. Structure, expression, and function of cancer related genes including oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes
2. Studies on signal transduction and gene expression involved in cell growth and differentiation
3. Studies on inositol-phospholipid signaling
4. Studies on cell-cell interaction, cell motility, and cytoskelton
5. Molecular mechanisms of tumor angiogenesis, cancer cell invasion, and metastasis
6. Molecular pathogenesis of malignant lymphomas, other solid tumors, and retrovirus-associated neoplasms