Matsuo, Koichi

Our laboratory has built a strong track record in bone metabolism research, focusing on osteoclasts and osteoblast-osteoclast coupling. Since around 2010, we shifted our focus toward three-dimensional bone morphogenesis, using mouse models to elucidate cellular mechanisms governing 'varied sizes and shapes' across long bones, vertebrae, auditory ossicles, and skull base bones. Furthermore, through joint research with Tohoku University using X-ray phase-contrast CT at the SPring-8 synchrotron facility, we revealed key mechanisms of 'trans-pairing'—where osteoclasts and osteoblasts perform coordinated bone resorption and formation across cortical bone. Since 2021, we have been tackling a novel fundamental problem: establishing the concept and underlying mechanism of 'homochiral bilaterality'—how bilateral symmetry is constructed from asymmetric molecules and cells.

Elucidating the development and homeostasis of the skeleton through cell-cell interaction.

• Homochiral bilaterality
• /Left-right (a)symmetry
• /osteoclast
• /osteoblast
• /osteocyte
• /bone remodeling
• /bone modeling
• /auditory ossicles