Toshihiko Oki
Hematology researcher who trained at the Institute of Medical Science in Tokyo and in David Scadden's lab at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he imaged mTORC1 activity in leukemia cells inside living mice
Center for Regenerative Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Stem Cell Institute (David Scadden lab, papers 2021–2023) · Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo (Toshio Kitamura lab, papers to 2014)
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a fast-growing cancer of blood-forming cells in the bone marrow. In the Atlas study OKI2021, Oki and colleagues built fluorescent reporters that light up when mTORC1, the growth-control complex, is active, and watched AML cells inside the bone marrow of living mice. mTORC1 activity in the leukemia cells fell as the disease advanced. But at the moment chemotherapy was working best, mTORC1 switched back on in the surviving cells, and this was a change inside the cells rather than the survival of a pre-existing group. Blocking mTORC1 at exactly that time killed more AML cells.
The point for the Atlas is timing. mTORC1 activity is not a fixed property of a tumour; it shifts over days, and a drug given at the wrong time may do little. The work was done in mice and has not been tested as a treatment schedule in patients.
PubMed shows Oki working on leukemia biology at the Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, in Toshio Kitamura's division up to 2014, then at the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute with David Scadden, where he also contributed to a 2023 study of cartilage repair cells.
Milestones in the Atlas
A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | A | Imaging dynamic mTORC1 pathway activity in vivo reveals marked shifts that support time-specific inhibitor therapy in AML OKI2021 First author: imaged mTORC1 activity in AML cells in the bone marrow of living mice and showed that inhibiting mTORC1 at the peak of chemotherapy response improved killing. |
Co-authors in the Atlas 1
People with a profile here who share at least one study with Toshihiko Oki.
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- David T. Scadden Stem cell and leukaemia biologist whose lab imaged mTORC1 activity in live mice and showed that well-timed mTORC1 inhibition kills more leukaemia cells
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