Fumiya Ito

Johns Hopkins University | JHU · Department of Cell Biology

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are complex structures that transport various DNA, RNA, and protein. Recently, new EV secretion mechanisms have been identified through the iron regulatory system in mammalian cells. We revealed that ferroptosis increases EV secretion, which is named ferroptosis-dependent EVs (FedEVs). Here, we describe a step-by-step p...

Current progress in biology and medical science is based on the observation at the level of nanometers via electron microscopy and computation. Of note, the size of most cells in higher species exists in a limited range from 5 to 50 μm. Recently, it was demonstrated that endogenous extracellular nanoparticles play a role in communication among vari...

Organoids are a three-dimensional (3D) culture system that simulate actual organs. Therefore, tumor organoids are expected to predict precise response to chemotherapy in patients. However, to date, few studies have studied the drug responses in organoids of malignant mesothelioma (MM). The poor prognosis of MM emphasizes the importance of establish...

For the design and development of innovative carbon nanotube (CNT)-based tools and applications, an understanding of the molecular interactions between CNTs and biological systems is essential. In this study, a three-dimensional protein-structure-based in silico screen identified the paired immune receptors, sialic acid immunoglobulin-like binding...

Human epidemiological and animal studies have demonstrated that excess iron is a risk for cancer. The responsible mechanisms are: 1) increased intracellular iron catalyzes the Fenton reaction to generate hydroxyl radicals, leading to mutagenic oxidative DNA lesions; 2) iron is necessary for cellular proliferation as cofactors of many enzymes. Thus,...

Asbestos-associated diseases remain a social burden worldwide. Our previous studies identified asbestos-induced iron-rich milieu for mesothelial cells with ceaseless macrophage ferroptosis. However, molecular mechanisms how this mutagenic milieu influences mesothelial cells have not been elucidated yet. Here, we propose a novel mechanism that extra...

Macrophage recognition and phagocytosis of crystals is critical for the associated fibrosis and cancer. Of note, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), the highly representative products of nanotechnology, induce macrophage NLRP3 inflammasome activation and cause asbestosis-like pathogenesis. However, it remains largely unknown how macrophages eff...

Non-thermal plasma (NTP) devices generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species, such as singlet oxygen (¹O2), superoxide (O2⁻), hydroxyl radical (●OH), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), ozone, and nitric oxide at near-physiological temperature. In preclinical studies, NTP promotes blood coagulation, wound healing with disinfection, a...

Evolution from the first life on earth to humans took ~3.8 billion years. During the time there have been countless struggles among the species. Mycobacterium tuberculosis was the last major uncontrollable species against the human public health worldwide. After the victory with antibiotics, cancer has become the leading cause of death since 1981 i...

Ovarian endometriosis (OE) provides women of reproductive age with not only severe menstrual pain but also infertility and an increased risk for ovarian carcinogenesis. Whereas peritoneal endometriosis models have been developed with syngeneic implantation of minced uterine tissue and oncogenic K-ras allele with conditional Pten deletion within ova...

Malignant mesothelioma is an aggressive neoplasm for which effective treatments are lacking. We often encounter mesothelioma cases with a profound desmoplastic reaction, suggesting the involvement of cancer‑associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in mesothelioma progression. While the roles of CAFs have been extensively studied in other tumors and have led t...

Asbestos is still a social burden worldwide as a carcinogen causing malignant mesothelioma. Whereas recent studies suggest that local iron reduction is a preventive strategy against carcinogenesis, little is known regarding the cellular and molecular mechanisms surrounding excess iron. Here by differentially using high-risk and low-risk asbestos fi...

Oral cancer accounts for ~2% of all cancers worldwide, and therapeutic intervention is closely associated with quality of life. Here, we evaluated the effects of non-thermal plasma on oral squamous cell carcinoma cells with special reference to catalytic Fe(II). Non-thermal plasma exerted a specific killing effect on oral squamous cell carcinoma ce...

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted much business interest in industrial applications due to their high electrical and heat conductivities while being both durable and versatile. However, multiwall CNTs (MWCNTs) of ~50 nm diameter (NT50) have been shown to cause mesothelioma in rodents after direct exposure to mesothelial cells, and thus were cl...

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a life-threatening neonatal disease that leads to lung hypoplasia and pulmonary hypertension. We recently found that maternal prenatal administration of Saireito (TJ-114) ameliorates fetal CDH in a nitrofen-induced rat model. Here, we studied the role of iron and oxidative stress in neonates of this model an...

Non-thermal plasma (NTP) is a potential new therapeutic modality for cancer. However, its mechanism of action remains unclear. Herein, we studied the effect of NTP on mesothelioma cells and fibroblasts to understand its anti-proliferative efficacy. Interestingly, NTP demonstrated greater selective anti-proliferative activity against mesothelioma ce...

Epidemiological data indicate a constant worldwide increase in cancer mortality, although the age of onset is increasing. Recent accumulation of genomic data on human cancer via next-generation sequencing confirmed that cancer is a disease of genome alteration. In many cancers, the Nrf2 transcription system is activated via mutations either in Nrf2...

CD44 exists as a standard (CD44s) isoform and different variant isoforms (CD44v) due to alternative splicing. While the complex nature of these different isoforms has not been fully elucidated, CD44v expression has been shown to exert oncogenic effects by promoting tumor progression, metastasis and resistance of tumor cells to chemotherapy. One of...

Non-thermal plasma (NTP) is a recently developed technology that elicits a variety of biological effects. This includes cancer cell-specific cytotoxicity, which is mainly attributed to the regional generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). We studied the effects of NTP on malignant mesothelioma (MM) and its modulation by l-ascorbate. l-ascorbate...

Ovarian endometriosis is a recognized risk for infertility and epithelial ovarian cancer, presumably due to iron overload resulting from repeated hemorrhage. To find a clue for early detection and prevention of ovarian endometriosis-associated cancer, it is mandatory to evaluate catalytic (labile) ferrous iron (catalytic Fe(II)) and to study iron m...