Shuta Ishibe, MD

My major area of research interest include the endocytic process and matrix regulation in podocytes.

Our laboratory has identified the critical role of the clathrin coated endocytic processes in the development and maintenance of podocytes. In-vivo animal models with conventional or conditional ablation of genes implicated for endocytosis, such as synaptojanin, endophilin, and dynamin develop severe proteinuria and foot process effacement. By utilizing fluorescently tagged proteins, we have visualized these proteins along with genes implicated to cause human nephrotic syndrome (CD2AP, Myo1e, Nephrin) lie at the interface of endocytosis and actin cytoskeleton. One of the major goals of the laboratory is investigating and further understanding the critical factors that are being endocytosed in podocytes. We have also sought to examine the role of cell matrix interactions by providing mechanistic insight on focal adhesion proteins and integrins, which govern podocyte cell adhesion and movement during health and disease states, using mouse genetic models of disease.