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On 11 December 2005,
Shoichiro Tsukita died at
the regrettably early age of
52 from pancreatic cancer.
Because he wanted to
maintain clear scientific
thought, he spent the last
two months of his life without
receiving chemotherapy.
He was in his
research laboratory just
four days before his death,
conducting research.
Having been interested in biology since his junior high
school days, Tsukita entered the Faculty of Medicine
of the University of Tokyo (http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/
index_e.html) to study molecular biology. However, while
he was taking a histology class taught by electron
microscopist Eichi Yamada, the discoverer of caveolae,
Tsukita became enchanted with the beautiful and logical
morphology of cells. Later, he joined Yamada’s laboratory
to study cell biology using electron microscopy under the
instructions of Harunori Ishikawa, who, in Howard
Holtzer’s laboratory, had discovered that nonmuscle cells
also commonly have actin filaments and succeeded in the
morphological identification of the 10-nm filament. In
graduate school, Tsukita discovered retrograde and
anteretrograde movement in the axon and obtained his
graduate degree with this pioneering work. Subsequently,
he became interested in examining the mechanism of
muscle contraction by utilizing quick-freezing methods for
electron microscopy. The uniqueness of Tsukita’s research,
which is highly regarded in molecular cell biology, is based
on his knowledge of cell morphology.
Starting his own laboratory at the Tokyo Metropolitan
Institute of Medical Science (http://www.rinshoken.or.jp/
index_e.htm) at the age of 32, he intended to study the
mechanism of cell-to-cell adhesion by a combination of
morphology and molecular biology with Sachiko Tsukita,
whom he married while he was at the University of Tokyo.
After much trial and error, Tsukita established a method
for isolating adherens junction-enriched membrane fractions
from the rodent liver. He succeeded in cloning
radixin (a linker between the cell membrane and actin
filaments) and a-catenin (an essential protein required
for cadherin-mediated cell–cell adhesion), both of
which were derived from the membrane fractions. On
moving to the National Institute for Physiological
Sciences (http://www.nips.ac.jp/eng) in 1990, he continued
in these areas of research. He found that tight junctions
were also concentrated in the adherens junction-enriched
membrane fractions. Tsukita began the study of the
molecular structure of tight junctions, the adhesion
molecules of which were unknown at that time. After
cloning ZO-1, he went on to identify occludin, the first
membrane protein of the tight junction to be identified.
After joining the Faculty of Medicine of Kyoto University
(http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/index-e.html) in 1993, he finally
discovered the claudin family, which comprises essential
membrane proteins of tight junctions. This established the
concept of the molecular mechanism of the paracellular
barrier that is formed with tight junctions, as outlined in
our article in this issue of Trends in Cell Biology [1].
Without losing his passion for research as he struggled
with his disease, Tsukita recently identified tricellulin, a
membrane protein that constitutes the tricellular junction,
further developing his field of study.
With his unmatched clear thinking and background in
cell biology, Tsukita pursued originality and quality in
research. Starting from simple but essential questions, he
developed science in his own unique way. In managing his
laboratory, he took special care in allowing lab members to
express their own personalities and develop independence
so they could realize their capabilities. In addition, with
his belief that professors and young students were equal
as pursuers of science, Tsukita always discussed ideas
respectfully with students. His warm character, clear
speech and sense of humour undoubtedly won the hearts
not only of his lab members, but also of all the people he
met. Throughout his career, Tsukita shared his knowledge
and expertise with the scientific community, residing on
the editorial boards of several journals, including Trends
in Cell Biology.
研究兴趣
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Scientific Reportsno. 1 (2019): 1-1
Tyrosine Phosphorylation, Metastatic Fibroblasts,Shoichiro Tsukita,Masatoshi Takeichi,Tomikazu Kawano,Tetsuya Mitsudomi,Genki Kimura
mag(2013)
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