Yusuke TOYAMA
Associate Professor, Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore
dbsty@nus.edu.sg
09-03-06
Level 9 T-Lab
National University of Singapore
5A Engineering Drive 1
Singapore 117411
Research Program
Mechanotransduction in Tissues Group
Elongation by Contraction
Pulling forces drive changes in cell shape
Forcing Wounds Closed
A cellular tug-of-war mechanically drives gap closure
Yusuke Toyama
Principal Investigator
Research Areas
Tissue mechanics, Tissue homeostasis, Apoptosis, Immune cells
Research Interests
One of the mechanisms by which unnecessary, aged, or damaged cells are eliminated from epithelial tissue to maintain its homeostasis is apoptosis, or programmed cell death. It is well known that apoptotic cells are cleared, and impaired clearance causes inflammatory or autoimmune disease. We have been studying how apoptotic cells are extruded from neighboring non-apoptotic cells and found that cytoskeletal rearrangements in neighboring cells (which are driven by the contraction of actomyosin cables) are required to squeeze apoptotic cells from the tissue.
More recently, we have found that these changes in the neighboring cells may not be sufficient to expel a dead cell out of the tissue in the 3D space. We are therefore investigating how the physical removal of apoptotic cells from an epithelium is in part driven by immune cells, and whether this mechanical function of immune cells is necessary to maintain tissue homeostasis during apoptosis. To investigate this we adopt an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates imaging, quantitative image analysis, gene manipulation (including optogenetics), biophysical perturbation, bioengineering tools for force measurement, biophysical modeling, and machine learning.
Biography
Dr Toyama had a formal training in physics and engineering during graduate (Osaka Univ.) and undergraduate (Hokkaido Univ.) school in Japan. In 2003, he earned a Ph.D. in Engineering where his doctoral work was focused on plasma physics and laser driven nuclear fusion. He then embraced biophysics and mechanobiology during his postdoctoral carrier at Duke Univ. under supervision of Prof. Glenn Edwards (Physics department) and Prof. Dan Kiehart (Biology department). Dr Toyama joined Department of Biological Sciences at National University of Singapore as an Assistant Professor in 2010, and promoted as an Associate Professor in 2018. He also has an appointment as a Principal Investigator in Mechanobiology Institute since 2010.
Education
PhD Osaka University, Japan
Full Publication List
Recent Publications
- Tambrin HM, Liu Y, Zhu K, Teng X, Toyama Y, Miao Y, and Ludwig A. ARHGAP12 suppresses F-actin assembly to control epithelial tight junction mechanics and paracellular leak pathway permeability. Cell Rep 2025; 44(4):115511. [PMID: 40198220]
- Lin K, Gujar MR, Lin J, Ding WY, Huang J, Gao Y, Tan YS, Teng X, Christine LSL, Kanchanawong P, Toyama Y, and Wang H. Astrocytes control quiescent NSC reactivation via GPCR signaling-mediated F-actin remodeling. Sci Adv 2024; 10(30):eadl4694. [PMID: 39047090]
- Morales-Camilo N, Liu J, Ramírez MJ, Canales-Salgado P, Alegría JJ, Liu X, Ong HT, Barrera NP, Fierro A, Toyama Y, Goult BT, Wang Y, Meng Y, Nishimura R, Fong-Ngern K, Low CSL, Kanchanawong P, Yan J, Ravasio A, and Bertocchi C. Alternative molecular mechanisms for force transmission at adherens junctions via β-catenin-vinculin interaction. Nat Commun 2024; 15(1):5608. [PMID: 38969637]
- Teng X, and Toyama Y. Epithelial homeostasis: Cell size shapes cell fate. Curr Biol 2023; 33(22):R1205-R1207. [PMID: 37989102]
- Gujar MR, Gao Y, Teng X, Deng Q, Lin K, Tan YS, Toyama Y, and Wang H. Golgi-dependent reactivation and regeneration of Drosophila quiescent neural stem cells. Dev Cell 2023;. [PMID: 37567172]
- Gujar MR, Gao Y, Teng X, Ding WY, Lin J, Tan YS, Chew LY, Toyama Y, and Wang H. Patronin/CAMSAP promotes reactivation and regeneration of Drosophila quiescent neural stem cells. EMBO Rep 2023;:e56624. [PMID: 37440685]
- Kawaue T, Yow I, Pan Y, Le AP, Lou Y, Loberas M, Shagirov M, Teng X, Prost J, Hiraiwa T, Ladoux B, and Toyama Y. Inhomogeneous mechanotransduction defines the spatial pattern of apoptosis-induced compensatory proliferation. Dev Cell 2023;. [PMID: 36800994]
- Sonam S, Balasubramaniam L, Lin S, Ivan YMY, Jaumà IP, Jebane C, Karnat M, Toyama Y, Marcq P, Prost J, Mège R, Rupprecht J, and Ladoux B. Mechanical stress driven by rigidity sensing governs epithelial stability. Nat Phys 2022; 19:132-141. [PMID: 36686215]
- Lou Y, Kawaue T, Yow I, Toyama Y, Prost J, and Hiraiwa T. Interfacial friction and substrate deformation mediate long-range signal propagation in tissues. Biomech Model Mechanobiol 2022;. [PMID: 36057053]
- Joy-Immediato M, Ramirez MJ, Cerda M, Toyama Y, Ravasio A, Kanchanawong P, and Bertocchi C. Junctional ER Organization Affects Mechanotransduction at Cadherin-Mediated Adhesions. Front Cell Dev Biol 2021; 9:669086. [PMID: 34222239]
