News & Updates

News

Research activities, lectures, conference presentations, publications, and awards from the Masumoto Laboratory are listed below.

Archive

News Archive

March 24, 2026

NEWA welcome party for new students

歓迎会の様子1

Dr. Yuki Kuroda and Dr. Laura Yuriko GONZÁLEZ-TESHIMA (fourth-year PhD students) successfully obtained their PhD degrees and graduated in March 2026. We sincerely congratulate them on this achievement and wish them continued success in their future endeavor.
In April 2026, Dr. Yuki Wada and Dr. Kazufumi Yoshida joined our laboratory. We held a welcome party to celebrate their arrival and look forward to their contributions to the lab.

March 24, 2026

Prof. Masumoto to Deliver a Lecture at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science Seminar

Prof. Hidetoshi Masumoto will give a lecture at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science (Tokyo) on March 27, 2026, as part of the TMIMS Seminar. The title of his lecture is “Research on Cardiac Diseases and Applications to Regenerative Medicine Using Human iPS Cell-Derived Cardiac Organoids.” The seminar is hosted by Project Leader Yuichiro Miyaoka of the Regenerative Medicine Project.

March 6, 2026

Prof. Masumoto and Dr. Murata to Present at the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine

Prof. Hidetoshi Masumoto and Dr. Kozue Murata will give symposium and general oral presentations at the 25th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine (Kobe International Conference Center, March 19–20, 2026).

Presentation by Prof. Masumoto: March 19, 15:00–17:00, Symposium 19, “Crosstalk Between Organ Transplantation and Regenerative Medicine”
“Cardiac Organoid Transplantation as Regenerative Medicine Complementing Heart Transplantation: Its Potential and Limitations”

Presentation by Dr. Murata: March 20, 14:00–15:00, General Oral Session 25, Differentiation Induction 2
“Development of a Serum-Free Method for Differentiation of Vascular Mural Cells from iPS Cells Using Human Platelet Extract for Future Clinical Application”

Presentation by Prof. Masumoto: March 20, 15:10–17:10, Symposium 40, “Toward the Development of Guidelines for Quality Evaluation of Organoid-Type Human Cell-Based Products”
“Concepts and Challenges in Quality Evaluation for the Clinical Application of iPS Cell-Derived Cardiac Organoids”

March 6, 2026

Prof. Masumoto to Give an Educational Lecture at STROKE 2026

Prof. Hidetoshi Masumoto will give an educational lecture at STROKE 2026 (Osaka International Convention Center, March 12–14, 2026).

March 12, 9:00–9:30, Educational Lecture 2 (Japan Stroke Society)
“Frontiers of Cardiac Regenerative Medicine”

December 23, 2025

Graduate Student Laura Yuriko González-Teshima Receives the MBSJ–EMBO Poster Award at the Annual Meeting of the Molecular Biology Society of Japan

Laura Yuriko González-Teshima, a doctoral student in our laboratory, received the MBSJ–EMBO Poster Award at the 48th Annual Meeting of the Molecular Biology Society of Japan (Pacifico Yokohama, December 3–5, 2025). Her research, which used arteriovenous vascular organoids to analyze mechanisms underlying disrupted vascular formation in pulmonary arteriovenous malformations—a serious complication that can develop after surgery for congenital heart disease—was highly evaluated. Her poster was selected among 51 presentations out of 1,599 submissions (top 3%). Congratulations!

November 25, 2025

Paper by Graduate Student Laura Yuriko González-Teshima Published in Scientific Reports

A paper by Laura Yuriko González-Teshima, a graduate student in our laboratory, was published in Scientific Reports on November 24, 2025. This work was a collaborative study with Dr. Masaya Ikegawa at Doshisha University, Dr. Masaya Hagiwara at RIKEN BDR, Dr. Shiro Baba at Kyoto University Department of Pediatrics, and colleagues. The study addresses the long-hypothesized “hepatic factor” believed to underlie pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVM), which cause hypoxemia after surgery for congenital heart disease. By analyzing infant plasma, the study suggests that hepatic venous plasma may contribute to maintenance of vascular stability, providing new insight into PAVM and bringing us closer to the development of novel therapies.

Citation: González-Teshima LY, Hakamada K, Murata K, Nakagawa R, Baba S, Ide Y, Okamura M, Ikai A, Ikeda T, Minatoya K, Hagiwara M, Ikegawa M, Masumoto H*. Hepatic vein-derived factors may affect pulmonary arteriovenous malformations after single ventricle palliation by modulating vascular cell behavior. Sci Rep. 2025;15:41640. doi:10.1038/s41598-025-25523-1.

November 10, 2025

Dr. Murata to Present at a Symposium at the 9th Basic Cardiovascular Research Forum of the Japanese Circulation Society (BCVR2025)

Dr. Kozue Murata will present at the symposium “Regenerative Medicine and Development” during the 9th Basic Cardiovascular Research Forum of the Japanese Circulation Society (BCVR2025), to be held on December 13–14 at Miyakomesse, Kyoto.

Presentation title: Maturation of cardiac organoids and their promise for future cardiovascular therapies

November 10, 2025

Prof. Masumoto to Lecture at the 4th Cell Sheet Engineering Innovation Forum

Prof. Hidetoshi Masumoto will give a lecture at the 4th Cell Sheet Engineering Innovation Forum, to be held on Friday, November 28 at Miraikan (The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation), Tokyo.

Lecture title: Prospects for Next-Generation Cardiovascular Medicine Using Cardiac Organoids Based on Cell Sheet Technology

November 10, 2025

Graduate Student Laura Yuriko González-Teshima to Present at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions

Laura Yuriko González-Teshima, a graduate student in our laboratory, will present at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions, to be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, from November 7 to 10. This study used both 2D and 3D in vitro models to show that plasma derived from the superior vena cava and hepatic vein differentially regulates endothelial angiogenic behavior, providing insight into the mechanism of pulmonary arteriovenous malformations that develop after the Glenn procedure in patients with single-ventricle congenital heart disease.

Presentation title: In Vitro Disease Model-based Investigation of Endothelial Cell Behaviour Relevant to Pulmonary Arteriovenous Malformations Development After Glenn Procedure (Moderated Digital Poster)

June 25, 2025

Paper by Dr. Murata Published in Stem Cell Research & Therapy

Research by Dr. Kozue Murata on the development of a method to produce bioactive proteins (cytokines) required for differentiating iPS cells into cardiac and vascular cell types using a transient plant expression system was published in Stem Cell Research & Therapy on June 25, 2025. This work was also featured on the websites of RIKEN and Kyoto University.

Citation: Murata K, Takamura K, Watanabe R, Nagashima A, Miyauchi M, Miyauchi Y, Masumoto H*. Production of bioactive cytokines using plant expression system for cardiovascular cell differentiation from human pluripotent stem cells. Stem Cell Res Ther. 2025;16:303. doi:10.1186/s13287-025-04424-0.

June 6, 2025

Prof. Masumoto to Lecture at the 46th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Inflammation and Regeneration

Prof. Hidetoshi Masumoto will give a lecture at the 46th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Inflammation and Regeneration, to be held at Hotel Okura Kyoto on July 31 and August 1, 2025.

Scheduled session:
Symposium 6: Tissue Engineering Technologies Enabling Regenerative Induction Medicine (July 31, 14:10–16:10)

April 1, 2025

Prof. Masumoto to Lecture at a LINK-J Event

Prof. Hidetoshi Masumoto will give a lecture at the LINK-J / Kyoto University joint event “LINK-J × Kyoto University Joint Seminar Vol. 4: Research at Kyoto University and Utilization of Its Outcomes”, to be held in Tokyo and online on April 14, 2025.

April 1, 2025

Kyoto University Website Launched

Following the relocation of the Masumoto Laboratory from the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (RIKEN BDR) to Kyoto University, we have launched our new website. The previous history of the laboratory can still be viewed on the RIKEN BDR website.