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Lecturer
University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
I am a protein biochemist with an interest in the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate extracellular matrix turnover and destruction in physiological and pathological conditions. I am primarily interested in cell-surface large endocytic receptor called LRP1 (low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1) because of its ubiquitous expression and a diverse range of regulatory function.
I completed my PhD in Biochemistry in 2006 at Yokohama City University, Japan. The major achievement of my PhD work was to demonstrate that matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)7 binds to cell surface lipids, promoting tumor metastasis. In December 2008, I joined Professor Hideaki Nagase’s laboratory at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology (KIR) as a postdoctoral research associate. My major achievement at the KIR was the discovery that healthy cartilage produces several tissue-degrading metalloproteinases, but they are rapidly endocytosed by chondrocytes through the endocytic receptor LRP1. I then found that this pathway is impaired in osteoarthritic (OA) cartilage, explaining an increase in their proteolytic activities in OA. In 2017, I have successfully competed for a Versus Arthritis Career Development fellowship and started to establish my own research group at the Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease, University of Liverpool (UoL).