Why does chromosome geometry matter?
Long, entangled chromatin polymers must adopt configurations that facilitate individual movement and physical separation.
← Back to the two visions
Research vision · accurate inheritance
II / 02
Fidelity
Achieving accurate inheritance in a fluctuating molecular world
Cell division must distribute chromosomes with remarkable accuracy, even though the machinery responsible is assembled from fluctuating molecules. Chromosomes must be organized and separated, stable attachments formed, and mistakes detected and corrected. I study fidelity as an emergent property of physical organization coupled to dynamic regulation.
Core idea / 核心となる考え
Fidelity does not require a rigid machine. It requires a machine that is stable when needed and adaptable when errors occur.
01 / Questions
The questions behind the research
From physical constraints to biological function.
How is a reliable attachment site assembled?
Local protein–DNA interactions and the collective architecture of kinetochore complexes determine the interface between chromosomes and spindle microtubules.
How are errors recognized and corrected?
Accurate segregation requires both persistent attachments and regulatory mechanisms that can destabilize incorrect states.
What is the role of molecular motion?
Conformational ensembles and phosphorylation-dependent interactions may control which regulatory and catalytic states are accessible.
02 / Physical principles
Principles across scales
The essential question is how molecular fluctuations become compatible with the reproducibility of chromosome inheritance. Accuracy emerges over several scales, from molecular recognition to chromosome mechanics.
Making chromosomes easier to separate
Polymer constraints and collective interactions can reduce entanglement and organize chromosomes for separation.
Recognizing the right molecular partners
Protein–DNA and protein–protein recognition provide reproducible interfaces for assembly and signaling.
Staying reliable while molecules move
The functional architecture must withstand fluctuations without making incorrect states permanent.
Adapting and correcting mistakes
Regulators that switch interactions or conformations allow the machinery to revise attachments in response to context.
03 / Research trajectory
From models to mechanisms
My research began with polymer-physics models of chromosome segregation and condensin action. It now extends toward molecular mechanisms of kinetochore architecture and mitotic signaling complexes. These levels are connected by a single question: how do physical constraints and molecular regulation jointly make inheritance reliable?
01Chromosome-scale polymer physics
02Kinetochore organization
03Mitotic signaling dynamics