How is material supplied?
Membrane growth depends on redistribution of lipids between cellular compartments, often at contact sites where two membranes approach closely.
← Back to the two visions
Research vision · cellular maintenance
I / 02
Homeostasis
Maintaining cellular identity through continual change
Living cells are not static structures. Their membranes grow, exchange components, change shape and are broken down continuously. Yet organelles retain distinct identities and cells maintain functional organization. I approach homeostasis as a dynamic achievement — an ongoing balance of molecular flux, structural remodeling and regulated turnover.
Core idea / 核心となる考え
Homeostasis is not the absence of change. It is the capacity to preserve function through change.
01 / Questions
The questions behind the research
From physical constraints to biological function.
How does a membrane acquire shape?
Elasticity, curvature and protein recruitment interact to convert molecular events into organelle-scale morphology.
How is material selectively removed?
Turnover must dismantle the correct membranes at the correct time without compromising the rest of the cell.
What links supply and degradation?
A useful physical picture must combine transport, construction and recycling into a nonequilibrium cycle instead of treating each process in isolation.
02 / Physical principles
Principles across scales
The common challenge is to connect local molecular mechanisms to the behavior of an entire membrane system. The same biological function can require molecular selectivity and large-scale structural flexibility.
Maintaining order through constant flow
Sustained organization is compatible with continuous transport, energy consumption and molecular replacement.
How order arises without a blueprint
Membrane geometry and molecular interactions constrain which shapes emerge, even without a global template.
Changing only what needs to change
A membrane must be remodeled or hydrolyzed where appropriate, while nearby structures remain intact.
Plasticity
Membrane assemblies adjust to new geometries and compositions while retaining their biological purpose.
03 / Research trajectory
From models to mechanisms
My work has moved from mathematical models of membrane morphology to molecular simulations of lipid transfer and membrane degradation. These are complementary descriptions of the same general question: how does a cell build, maintain and renew its internal organization?
01Organelle geometry
02Membrane physics
03Molecular transport and catalysis