Yohei Mineharu

Fibrosis due to chronic inflammation is an important process for various diseases as well as aging. The process is associated with vascular maintenance and cancer metastasis, and therefore, development of effective methods to regulate fibrosis has been desired. We identified RNF213 gene as a susceptibility gene for moyamoya disease, intractable occlusive cerebrovascular disease and showed that dysregulation of the gene is associated with vascular abnormalities and tumor metastasis. RNF213 is known to regulate the function of lipid droplets, which plays a role in mitochondria function and defense against bacteria. Our data suggest that RNF213 also plays a role in fibrosis. We are aiming to identify molecular mechanisms of physiological and pathological fibrosis and to develop a novel drug to normalize the fibrosis by iPS cell models in combination with cutting edge genetic engineering and AI-assisted data analysis.