Welcome!

The Fujise lab is a molecular biology laboratory within the Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases. Our mission is to investigate the mechanism of and develop the treatment for human proliferative cardiovascular disorders (PCVDs). We also seek to contribute to the professional development of each member of our laboratory. Human PCVDs typically include postangioplasty restenosis and atherosclerosis. In PCVDs, the uncontrolled growth and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) plays a pivotal role. Uncontrolled VSMC growth can be due to (a) the persistent growth stimulation of VSMCs or (b) the abnormal lack of negative regulation of VSMC growth. Our laboratory is the first to characterize fortilin, a novel anti-apoptotic protein. We currently investigate the mechanism of action of fortilin, using tools, such as yeast-two hybrid screening. We suspect that fortilin, by preventing the apoptosis of VSMCs, contribute to the pathogenesis of PCVDs. Meanwhile, we have identified a group of proteins (PARIS) that negatively regulate VSMC growth. We study these molecules to test the hypothesis that VSMCs, upon growth stimulation, activate built-in negative growth regulatory systems (one of which is the secretion of PARISs) to circumvent the inappropriate growth of VSMC themselves.

We look forward to contributing to cardiovascular medicine through competent molecular biological research.