Otsuki: Principles of vertebrate tissue regeneration

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The Otsuki group investigates how complex vertebrate tissues – such as limbs and jaws – can be regenerated.

What kind of cells do we need for regeneration? How many, and in which combinations? What are the molecular mechanisms that ensure that a regenerated tissue has the correct size, shape and function?

To answer these types of questions, we study a highly regenerative salamander species called the axolotl – one of the only four-legged vertebrates able to regenerate tissues as diverse as skeleton, nervous system and internal organs. We de-construct the regeneration process in vivo using top-down methods such as -omics tools, genetics, and live imaging. Reciprocally, we construct tissues from the ground up by engineering the regenerative principles that we discover into cells in vitro. Uncovering regenerative principles in the axolotl could help identify and overcome roadblocks to regeneration in humans.

Group leader

Leo Otsuki

Leo Otsuki is a developmental biologist with a background in genetics. He carried out his PhD with Prof. Andrea Brand (University of Cambridge, UK) studying neural stem cell quiescence in Drosophila melanogaster. For his postdoctoral research, he joined the group of Prof. Elly Tanaka (IMBA Vienna, Austria), where he pursued his interest in stem cell regulation in the context of vertebrate limb and spinal cord regeneration. He established his group at the Hubrecht Institute in 2025. His group studies the molecular principles of tissue regeneration in the axolotl, with the aim of applying this knowledge to construct and pattern complex tissues.

 

Scientific Training and Positions


Group members

Leo Otsuki

Group Leader

Willemijn Bout

PhD Student

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