Research Fields

Bone tissues maintain homeostasis through continuous bone remodeling, a process in which osteoclasts break or absorb mature bone tissues while osteoblasts form new bone tissues. The bone consists of not only osteoblasts but also hematopoietic stem cells and various immune cells at various division stages which closely interact with each other. Using in vitro and in vivo models, our laboratory broadly studies inflammatory bone diseases caused by unbalanced bone remodeling and identifies the bacterial components responsible for the inflammatory bone diseases. Moreover, we explore the effect of intestinal microbiota on bone metabolism, especially, a specific bacterial component or microbial metabolite contributing to bone formation which may prevent several bone diseases such as osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, dental carries and periodontal diseases.