Research

The lab is investigating the pathophysiology of pancreatic islets and other metabolic organs. We are using integrating top-down and bottom-up approaches to identify the clues to the development of therapeutic strategies for diabetes or metabolic disorders. Areas of interest include islet cell growth factors, cell fate determination in endocrine pancreas, metabolic inflammation, inter-organ communication, plasticity of human islet cells, and diabetes therapy.

On-going projects

1. Regulation of α-cell and β-cell functions in human islets
2. Inflammation and organ networks to modulate metabolism
3. Pathophysiology of metabolic disorders in human and animal models
4. Reverse translational research (rTR) from medical big data and human genetics
5. Drug repositioning for treatment of metabolic disorders and cancer

Keywords

pancreatic β cells, human islets, biomarkers, humoral factors, organ networks, cell division, apoptosis, transdifferentiation, diabetes, obesity, fatty liver, adipose tissue inflammation.

Select References

1. Inoue R. et al. (2026) Metabolism. 180:156607.
2. Shirakawa J. et al. (2025) Diabetes. 74(12):2351-2364.
3. Tsuno T. et al. (2025) Cell Rep Med. 6(8):102254.
4. Inoue R. et al. (2025) Diabetes. 74(9):1589-1602.
5. Okuyama T. et al. (2025) iScience. 28(2):111856.
6. Nishiyama K. et al. (2023) Endocrinology. 164(8):bqad095.
7. Li J. et al. (2022) Diabetes. 71(3):424-439.
8. Shirakawa J (2022) Cell Rep. 41(1):111436.
9. Shirakawa J. et al. (2020) Diabetologia. 63(3):577-587.
10. Shirakawa J. et al. (2017) Cell Metab. 25(4):868-882.