Research Description

The Nihongaki Lab works at the intersection of cell biology and synthetic biology. We build genetically encoded tools that manipulate and visualize biomolecular activities with spatiotemporal precision, and we use them to ask how cells control and exploit these activities to drive cellular behaviors. Our current focus is on microtubules, cytoskeletal filaments that serve as both structural scaffolds and load-bearing elements in cells. We aim to elucidate how mechanical actuators such as motor proteins and microtubule-severing enzymes exert forces on microtubules, how microtubules respond to compressive forces, and how these mechanical events shape cellular and physiological functions. To address these questions, we combine optogenetics and protein engineering with genome editing, cell biology, chemical biology, and live-cell imaging.