headshot of Keisuke Ishihara

Keisuke Ishihara

Assistant Professor
ISHIHARA@pitt.edu
Google Scholar Bioengineering Department

overview

My group takes a synthetic approach to study how cells form tissues. “Synthetic” embodies the experimental creation of states of physical organization and gene expression that push a multicellular system to all possible extremes. The synthetic approach allows us to discover novel regulatory molecules, dormant genetic programs, and general physical principles, which we will critically evaluate as next generation strategies for organ engineering. My group will quantitatively capture 3D tissue morphogenesis through imaging, computation, and molecular profiling. We will use this knowledge to develop genetic and chemical tools to engineer in vitro tissues such as human brain organoids and cardiac organoids.

about

PhD in Systems Biology, Harvard University, 2016

BSE in Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, 2010

Ishihara, K., Mukherjee, A., Gromberg, E., Brugues, J., Tanaka, E.M., & Juelicher, F. (2023). Topological morphogenesis of neuroepithelial organoids. NATURE PHYSICS, 19(2), 177-+.Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi: 10.1038/s41567-022-01822-6.

Ishihara, K., Decker, F., Caldas, P., Pelletier, J.F., Loose, M., Brugués, J., & Mitchison, T.J. (2021). Spatial variation of microtubule depolymerization in large asters. Mol Biol Cell, 32(9), 869-879.American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB). doi: 10.1091/mbc.E20-11-0723.

Quail, T., Golfier, S., Elsner, M., Ishihara, K., Murugesan, V., Renger, R., Jülicher, F., & Brugués, J. (2021). Force generation by protein–DNA co-condensation. Nature Physics, 17(9), 1007-1012.Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi: 10.1038/s41567-021-01285-1.

Ishihara, K., George, A.B., Cornelius, R., & Korolev, K.S. (2020). Traveling fronts in self-replicating persistent random walks with multiple internal states. New Journal of Physics 2020, 22(8), 083034.IOP Publishing. doi: 10.1088/1367-2630/aba219.

Rieckhoff, E.M., Berndt, F., Elsner, M., Golfier, S., Decker, F., Ishihara, K., & Brugués, J. (2020). Spindle Scaling Is Governed by Cell Boundary Regulation of Microtubule Nucleation. Curr Biol, 30(24), 4973-4983.e10.Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.10.093.

Rieckhoff, E.M., Ishihara, K., & Brugués, J. (2019). How to tune spindle size relative to cell size?. Curr Opin Cell Biol, 60, 139-144.Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.ceb.2019.06.007.

Ishihara, K., & Tanaka, E.M. (2018). Spontaneous symmetry breaking and pattern formation of organoids. Current Opinion in Systems Biology, 2018, 11, 123-128.Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.coisb.2018.06.002.

Ishihara, K., Ranga, A., Lutolf, M.P., Tanaka, E.M., & Meinhardt, A. (2017). Reconstitution of a Patterned Neural Tube from Single Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells. In Methods in Molecular Biology. (pp. 43-55).Springer New York. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-6949-4_4.

Ishihara, K., Korolev, K.S., & Mitchison, T.J. (2016). Physical basis of large microtubule aster growth. Elife, 5.eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd. doi: 10.7554/eLife.19145.

Mitchison, T.J., Ishihara, K., Nguyen, P., & Wühr, M. (2015). Size Scaling of Microtubule Assemblies in Early Xenopus Embryos. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol, 7(10), a019182.Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a019182.

Wühr, M., Güttler, T., Peshkin, L., McAlister, G.C., Sonnett, M., Ishihara, K., Groen, A.C., Presler, M., Erickson, B.K., Mitchison, T.J., Kirschner, M.W., & Gygi, S.P. (2015). The Nuclear Proteome of a Vertebrate. Current Biology, 25(20), 2663-2671.Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.08.047.

Field, C.M., Nguyen, P.A., Ishihara, K., Groen, A.C., & Mitchison, T.J. (2014). Xenopus egg cytoplasm with intact actin. Methods Enzymol, 540, 399-415.Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-397924-7.00022-4.

Groen, A.C., Ngyuen, P.A., Field, C.M., Ishihara, K., & Mitchison, T.J. (2014). Glycogen-supplemented mitotic cytosol for analyzing Xenopus egg microtubule organization. Methods Enzymol, 540, 417-433.Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-397924-7.00023-6.

Ishihara, K., Nguyen, P.A., Groen, A.C., Field, C.M., & Mitchison, T.J. (2014). Microtubule nucleation remote from centrosomes may explain how asters span large cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 111(50), 17715-17722.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1418796111.

Ishihara, K., Nguyen, P.A., Wühr, M., Groen, A.C., Field, C.M., & Mitchison, T.J. (2014). Organization of early frog embryos by chemical waves emanating from centrosomes. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 369(1650), 20130454.The Royal Society. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2013.0454.

Nguyen, P.A., Groen, A.C., Loose, M., Ishihara, K., Wühr, M., Field, C.M., & Mitchison, T.J. (2014). Spatial organization of cytokinesis signaling reconstituted in a cell-free system. Science, 346(6206), 244-247.American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). doi: 10.1126/science.1256773.

Kim, Y., Iagovitina, A., Ishihara, K., Fitzgerald, K.M., Deplancke, B., Papatsenko, D., & Shvartsman, S.Y. (2013). Context-dependent transcriptional interpretation of mitogen activated protein kinase signaling in the Drosophila embryo. Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science, 23(2).AIP Publishing. doi: 10.1063/1.4808157.

Petry, S., Groen, A.C., Ishihara, K., Mitchison, T.J., & Vale, R.D. (2013). Branching microtubule nucleation in Xenopus egg extracts mediated by augmin and TPX2. Cell, 152(4), 768-777.Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2012.12.044.

Mitchison, T., Wühr, M., Nguyen, P., Ishihara, K., Groen, A., & Field, C.M. (2012). Growth, interaction, and positioning of microtubule asters in extremely large vertebrate embryo cells. Cytoskeleton (Hoboken), 69(10), 738-750.Wiley. doi: 10.1002/cm.21050.

Nguyen, P.A., Ishihara, K., Wühr, M., & Mitchison, T.J. (2012). Pronuclear migration: no attachment? No union, but a futile cycle!. Curr Biol, 22(10), R409-R411.Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.03.062.

Bragulat-Teixidor, H., Ishihara, K., Szücs, G.M., & Otsuka, S. The endoplasmic reticulum connects to the nucleus by constricted junctions that mature after open mitosis in mammalian cells. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. doi: 10.1101/2023.01.31.526419.

Ishihara, K., Mukherjee, A., Gromberg, E., Brugués, J., Tanaka, E.M., & Jülicher, F. Topological morphogenesis of neuroepithelial organoids. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. doi: 10.1101/2021.08.08.455385.

Krammer, T., Stuart, H.T., Gromberg, E., Ishihara, K., Melchionda, M., Wang, J., Costantini, E., Lehr, S., Cislo, D., Arbanas, L., Hörmann, A., Neumüller, R.A., Elvassore, N., Siggia, E., Briscoe, J., Kicheva, A., & Tanaka, E.M. Neural tube organoids self-organise floorplate through BMP-mediated cluster competition. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. doi: 10.1101/2023.06.25.546258.