Takanari Inoue, Ph.D.

Our lab is focused on developing novel perturbation techniques and thereby understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying rapid biological processes such as cell migration. With the previously developed technique, we can inducibly manipulate the activity of various signaling molecules involved in cell migration, such as small GTPases and membrane lipids in intact living cells with a second timescale. This method is extremely powerful, as it has been successfully applied to several different biological systems and has resolved two long-standing mysteries in signal transduction: the regulatory mechanisms governing potassium ion channels (concluded with a Bertil Hille's group at University of Washington), and the membrane targeting mechanisms of small GTPases. We will craft a program of study that will quantitatively and spatiotemporally define migration in chemotactic cells. We hypothesize that there is only a handful of critical molecular steps regulating a symmetry breaking event that initiates migration. If true, this model would usher in a new paradigm for cellular migration. With the strong interdisciplinary background, we will personify the kind of work for which our lab stands: innovative research that drives science forward.