KOJIMA Tetsuya
(Associate Professor/Division of Biosciences)
Department of Integrated Biosciences/Evolutionary Developmental Biology
Career Summary
1990: Graduated, Faculty of Science, The University of Tokyo
1994: Research Associate, The University of Tokyo
1997: Doctor of Science from The University of Tokyo
2005 Associate Professor, The University of Tokyo
Educational Activities
Graduate School:Molecular Mechanisms of Adaptation, Basic Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Waseda University:Developmental Biology
Research Activities
To understand how the bodies of multicellular organisms are formed, I am studying the mechanism of the development of appendages such as legs and antennae at a molecular level in Drosophila. In addition, by comparing the process of Drosophila appendage formation with those of other insects at the molecular level, I am trying to understand the mechanism of how morphological variations are generated and how these variations have evolved.
Literature
1) Sakurai, K. T., Kojima, T., Aigaki, T. and Hayashi, S. (2007) "Differential control of cell affinity required for progression and refinement of cell boundary during Drosophila leg segmentation." Dev. Biol. 309, 126-136.
2) Tajiri, R., Tsuji, T., Ueda, R., Saigo, K. and Kojima, T. (2007) "Fate determination of Drosophila leg distal regions by trachealess and tango through repression and stimulation, respectively, of Bar homeobox gene expression in the future pretarsus and tarsus." Dev. Biol. 303, 461-473.
3) Yasunaga, K., Saigo, K. and Kojima, T. (2006) "Fate map of the distal portion of Drosophila proboscis as inferred from the expression and mutations of basic patterning genes." Mech. Dev. 123, 893-906.
4) Kozu, S., Tajiri, R., Tsuji, T., Michiue, T., Saigo, K. and Kojima, T. (2006) "Temporal regulation of late expression of Bar homeobox genes during Drosophila leg development by Spineless, a homolog of the mammalian dioxin receptor." Dev. Biol. 294, 497-508.
5) Kojima, T., Tsuji, T. and Saigo, K. (2005) "A concerted action of a paired-type homeobox gene, aristaless, and a homolog of Hox11/tlx homeobox gene, clawless, is essential for the distal tip development of the Drosophila leg." Dev. Biol. 279, 434-445.
6) Tsuji, T., Sato, A., Hiratani, I., Taira, M., Saigo, K. and Kojima, T. (2000). "Requirements of Lim1, a Drosophila LIM-homeobox gene, for normal leg and antennal development." Development 127, 4315-4323.
7) Kojima, T., Sato, M. and Saigo, K. (2000). "Formation and specification of distal leg segments in Drosophila by dual Bar homeobox gene, BarH1 and BarH2." Development 127, 769-778.
8) Kojima T. (2004). "The mechanism of Drosophila leg development along the proximodistal axis." Develop. Growth Differ. 46, 115-129.
Other Activities
Japanese Society of Developmental Biologists (JSDB)
Molecular Biology Society of Japan (MBSJ)
Japanese Drosophila Research Conference
Future Plan
Life on Earth has wonderful variety. Research during last decades, with much progress in the molecular biology, has revealed the surprising conservation of the basic biological processes and their components, such as the signal transduction pathways and Hox genes, across a variety of species. However, on the other hand, the fundamental question of how the tremendous variety of life is created with these highly conserved processes and components remains elusive. I hope to be able to understand the mechanism producing this variety of life and the evolutionary processs at the gene level.
Messages to Students
Research is very attractive because you can unveil things on your own that nobody else around the world has known. I hope you will join us with great imagination and enjoy research.