Leadership

President & CEO
Ryo Matoba, Ph.D.

Dr. Matoba took his current position in 2010. Under the new leadership, DNA Chip Research Inc. is moving to the next growth phase.

Dr. Matoba was a recipient of JSPS fellowship during his graduate school years in Osaka University. His focus was to develop a method of high throughput DNA sequencing for cancer research. He received his Ph.D. in Physiology in 1993 and joined Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE), where he worked on genetic engineering of photosynthetic bacteria to improve carbon dioxide fixation. In 1997, he was recruited by Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST) as a Research Associate, and investigated the role of gene expression during brain development. He then moved to National Institute of Health (NIH) as a Research Fellow in 2002. Using his expertise in global gene expression profiling, he dissected gene regulatory networks involved in the maintenance of pluripotency of embryonic stem cells. As he came back to Japan in 2006, he joined DNA Chip Research Inc. as Director of Research and Development Division.

Awards
7th International Summer School on Crystal Growth, Poster Award (1989)
NIA/NIH IRP-Scientific Awards, On the Spot Award (2004)
Selected Publication
Akiyama H, Ueda Y, Nobumasa H, Ooshima H, Ishizawa Y, Kitahiro K, Miyagawa I, Watanabe K, Nakamura T, Tanaka R, Yamamoto N, Nakae H, Kawase M, Gemma N, Sekiguchi Y, Fujibuchi W, Matoba R".

A set of external reference controls/probes that enable quality assurance between different microarray platforms. Anal Biochem. Mar 1;472 (2015) 75-83.

Hikichi T, Matoba R", Ikeda T, Watanabe A, Yamamoto T, Yoshitake S, Tamura-Nakano M, Kimura T, Kamon M, Shimura M, Kawakami K, Okuda A, Okochi H, Inoue T, Suzuki A, Masui S.

Transcription factors interfering with dedifferentiation induce cell type-specific transcriptional profiles. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. Apr 16;110(16) (2013) 6412-6417.

Matoba R", Niwa H, Masui S, Ohtsuka S, Carter MG, Sharov AA, Ko MSH.

Dissecting Oct3/4-regulated gene networks in embryonic stem cells by expression profiling. PLoS One. 1 (2006) e26.

Iwao K, Matoba R", Ueno, N Ando, A, Miyoshi Y, Matsubara K, Noguchi S, Kato K.

Molecular classification of primary breast tumors possessing distinct prognostic properties. Hum. Mol. Genet. 11 (2002) 199-206.

Matoba R"., Kato K, Kurooka C, Maruyama C, Sakakibara Y, Matsubara K.

Correlation between gene functions and developmental expression patterns in the mouse cerebellum. Eur. J. Neurosci. 12 (2000) 1357-1371.

Matoba R", Okubo K, Hori N, Fukushima A, Matsubara K.

The addition of 5'-coding information to a 3'-directed cDNA library improves analysis of gene expression. Gene 146 (1994) 199-207.

Okubo K, Hori N, Matoba R", Niiyama T, Fukushima A, Kojima Y, Matsubara K.

Large scale cDNA sequencing for analysis of quantitative and qualitative aspects of gene expression. Nat. Genet. 2 (1992) 173-179.

Founder
Kenichi Matsubara, Ph.D.

Dr. Matsubara is a world-renowned genome scientist. He pioneered recombinant DNA technologies in Japan and continues to lead the field of gene network analysis.

Dr. Matsubara received his doctoral degree in Chemical Research from Tokyo University in 1956. He then worked for Kanazawa University as a Research Associate, investigating the mechanism of bacteriophage replication. In 1964, he moved to Kyusyu University and was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1968. During those years, he further developed his expertise in DNA replication and recombination at Harvard and Stanford, and worked for advancement of DNA technologies in Japan. He then took a position of professor at Osaka University in 1975, where he pioneered hepatitis B research and succeeded in vaccine production using yeast system. He also played a pivotal role in Human Genome Project as a founding vice president of the Human Genome Organization (HUGO). He led Japanese team and brought this unprecedented international collaboration project to success. He also focused on profiling temporal and spatial gene expression patterns in human and mouse, developing the first systematic transcriptome analysis method and set up a database "BodyMap". After moving his laboratory to Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST) in 1997, he began to engage himself in developing the latest DNA Chip to accelerate high throughput genome analysis, and served as President and CEO of DNA Chip Research Inc. from 1999 to 2010.

Awards
Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Award (1986)
Princess Takamatsu Cancer Award (1987)
Science and Technology Agency Director Award (1991)
Inoue Harushige Award (1992)
Medal of Honor with purple ribbon (1997)
Person of Cultural Merit of Japan (2006)
Order of Cultural Merit of Japan (2017)
Selected Publication
Nakamura S, Kawai K, Takeshita Y, Honda M, Takamura T, Kaneko S, Matoba R, Matsubara K".

Identification of blood biomarkers of aging by transcript profiling of whole blood. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2012 Feb 10;418(2):313-8.

Miyake M, Takemasa I, Matoba R, Tanino M, Niijima S, Ikeda M, Yamamoto H, Sekimoto M, Kuhara S, Okayama T, Monden M, Matsubara K", Mori M.

Heterogeneity of colorectal cancers and extraction of discriminator gene signatures for personalized prediction of prognosis. Int J Oncol. 2011 Oct;39(4):781-9.

Nakamura S, Kobayashi M, Sugino T, Kajimoto O, Matoba R, Matsubara K".

Effect of exercise on gene expression profile in unfractionated peripheral blood leukocytes. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2010 Jan 1;391(1):846-51.

Tanino M, Matoba R, Nakamura S, Kameda H, Amano K, Okayama T, Nagasawa H, Suzuki K, Matsubara K", Takeuchi T.

Prediction of efficacy of anti-TNF biologic agent, infliximab, for rheumatoid arthritis patients using a comprehensive transcriptome analysis of white blood cells. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2009 Sep 18;387(2):261-5.

Takamura T, Honda M, Sakai Y, Ando H, Shimizu A, Ota T, Sakurai M, Misu H, Kurita S, Matsuzawa-Nagata N, Uchikata M, Nakamura S, Matoba R, Tanino M, Matsubara K", Kaneko S.

Gene expression profiles in peripheral blood mononuclear cells reflect the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2007 Sep 21;361(2):379-84.

Komori T, Takemasa I, Higuchi H, Yamasaki M, Ikeda M, Yamamoto H, Ohue M, Nakamori S, Sekimoto M, Matsubara K", Monden M.

Identification of differentially expressed genes involved in colorectal carcinogenesis using a cDNA microarray. J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2004 Sep;23(3):521-7.

Maeda K, Okubo K, Shimomura I, Funahashi T, Matsuzawa Y, Matsubara K".

cDNA cloning and expression of a novel adipose specific collagen-like factor, apM1 (AdiPose Most abundant Gene transcript 1). Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1996 Apr 16;221(2):286-9.

Okubo K, Hori N, Matoba R, Niiyama T, Fukushima A, Kojima Y, Matsubara K".

Large scale cDNA sequencing for analysis of quantitative and qualitative aspects of gene expression. Nat Genet. 1992 Nov;2(3)

Matsubara K", Kakunaga M.

The genome efforts in Japan as of 1991. Genomics. 1992 Mar;12(3):618-20. Review.

Matsubara K", Tokino T.

Integration of hepatitis B virus DNA and its implications for hepatocarcinogenesis. Mol Biol Med. 1990 Jun;7(3):243-60.Review.

Tsurimoto T, Fujiyama A, Matsubara K".

Stable expression and replication of hepatitis B virus genome in an integrated state in a human hepatoma cell line transfected with the cloned viral DNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 Jan;84(2):444-8.

Nakamura Y, Sato T, Emi M, Miyanohara A, Nishide T, Matsubara K".

Expression of human salivary alpha-amylase gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its secretion using the mammalian signal sequence. Gene. 1986;50(1-3):239-45.

Fujiyama A, Miyanohara A, Nozaki C, Yoneyama T, Ohtomo N, Matsubara K".

Cloning and structural analyses of hepatitis B virus DNAs, subtype adr. Nucleic Acids Res. 1983 Jul 11;11(13):4601-10.

Miyanohara A, Toh-e A, Nozaki C, Hamada F, Ohtomo N, Matsubara K".

Expression of hepatitis B surface antigen gene in yeast. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Jan;80(1):1-5.

Tsurimoto T, Matsubara K".

Replication of lambda dv plasmid in vitro promoted by purified lambda O and P proteins. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Dec;79(24):7639-43.

Matsubara K", Kaiser AD.

Lambda dv: an autonomously replicating DNA fragment. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1968;33:769-75.