Kotaro Sasaki, MD, PhD

Cheng K, Seita Y, Whelan EC, Yokomizo R, Hwang YS, Rotolo A, Krantz ID, Ginsberg JP, Kolon TF, Lal P, Luo X, Pierorazio PM, Linn RL, Ryeom S, Sasaki K. Defining the cellular origin of seminoma by transcriptional and epigenetic mapping to the normal human germline [PMID 38861385] Cell Rep. 43: , 2024.

Seita, Y, Cheng, KR, McCarrey, JR, Yadu, N, Cheeseman, IH, Bagwell, A, Ross, CN, Toro, IS, Yen, LH, Vargas, S, Navara, CS, Hermann, BP, Sasaki, K Efficient generation of marmoset primordial germ cell-like cells using induced pluripotent stem cells [PMID 36719274] elife 12: e82263, 2023.

Hargy J, Sasaki K. The developmental dynamics of the human male germline [PMID 37650565] Development 150: dev202046., 2023.

Sasaki K, Sangrithi M. Developmental origins of mammalian spermatogonial stem cells: New perspectives on epigenetic regulation and sex chromosome function [PMID 37201564] Mol Cell Endocrinol. 573: 111949., 2023.

Hwang YS, Seita Y, Blanco MA, Sasaki K. CRISPR loss of function screening to identify genes involved in human primordial germ cell-like cell development [PMID 38091369] PLoS Genet. 19: e1011080, 2023.

Kobayashi M, Kobayashi M, Odajima J, Shioda K, Hwang YS, Sasaki K, Chatterjee P, Kramme C, Kohman RE, Church GM, Loehr AR, Weiss RS, Jüppner H, Gell JJ, Lau CC, Shioda T. Expanding homogeneous culture of human primordial germ cell-like cells maintaining germline features without serum or feeder layers [PMID 35148847] Stem Cell Reports 17: 507-521, 2022.

Ito J, Seita Y, Kojima S, Parrish NF, Sasaki K*, Sato K*. A hominoid-specific endogenous retrovirus may have rewired the gene regulatory network shared between primordial germ cells and naïve pluripotent cells [PMID 35551519] PLoS Genet 18: e1009846, 2022.

Lin H, Cheng K, Kubota H, Lan Y, Riedel SS, Kakiuchi K, Sasaki K, Bernt KM, Bartolomei MS, Luo M, Wang PJ. Histone methyltransferase DOT1L is essential for self-renewal of germline stem cells [PMID 35738678] Genes Dev 36: 752-763, 2022.

Sakata Y, Cheng K, Mayama M, Seita Y, Detlefsen AJ, Mesaros CA, Penning TM, Shishikura K, Yang W, Auchus RJ, Strauss JF 3rd, Sasaki K. Reconstitution of human adrenocortical specification and steroidogenesis using induced pluripotent stem cells [PMID 36413950] Dev Cell 57: 2566-2583, 2022.

Cheng K, Seita Y, Moriwaki T, Noshiro K, Sakata Y, Hwang YS, Torigoe T, Saitou M, Tsuchiya H, Iwatani C, Hosaka M, Ohkouchi T, Watari H, Umazume T, Sasaki K. The developmental origin and the specification of the adrenal cortex in humans and cynomolgus monkeys [PMID 35442744] Sci Adv 8: eabn8485, 2022.

Sasaki K*, Oguchi A, Cheng K, Murakawa Y, Okamoto I, Ohta H, Yabuta Y, Iwatani C, Tsuchiya H, Yamamoto T, Seita Y, Saitou M*. The embryonic ontogeny of the gonadal somatic cells in mice and monkeys [PMID 33951437] Cell Rep 35: 109075, 2021.

Okamoto I, Nakamura T, Sasaki K, Yabuta Y, Iwatani C, Tsuchiya H, Nakamura SI, Ema M, Yamamoto T, Saitou M. The X chromosome dosage compensation program during the development of cynomolgus monkeys [PMID 34793202] Science 374: eabd8887, 2021.

Makar K, Sasaki K. Roadmap of germline development and in vitro gametogenesis from pluripotent stem cells [PMID 31705609] Andrology : , 2020.

Hwang YS, Suzuki S, Seita Y, Ito J, Sakata Y, Aso H, Sato K, Hermann BP, Sasaki K.Reconstitution of prospermatogonial specification in vitro from human induced pluripotent stem cells [PMID 33168808] Nat Commun 11: 5656, 2020.

Yamashiro C, Sasaki K, Yokobayashi S, Kojima Y, Saitou M. Generation of human oogonia from induced pluripotent stem cells in culture [PMID 32231324] Nat Protoc : , 2020.

Yamashiro, C., Sasaki, K., Yabuta, Y., Kojima, Y., Nakamura, T., Okamoto, I., Yokobayashi, S., Murase, Y., Ishikura, Y., Shirane, K., Sasaki, H., Yamamoto, T., Saitou, M. Generation of human oogonia from induced pluripotent stem cells in vitro [PMID 30237246] Science 19: 356-360, 2018.

Nakamura, T., Yabuta, Y., Okamoto, I., Sasaki, K., Iwatani, C., Tsuchiya, H., Saitou, M. Single-cell transcriptome of early embryos and cultured embryonic stem cells of cynomolgus monkeys [PMID 28649393] Sci Data 4: 170067, 2017.

Kojima, Y., Sasaki, K., Yokobayashi, S., Sakai, Y., Nakamura, T., Yabuta, Y., Nakaki, F., Nagaoka, S., Woltjen, K., Hotta, A., Yamamoto, T., Saitou, M. Evolutionarily distinctive transcriptional and signaling programs drive human germ cell lineage specification from pluripotent stem cells [PMID 28985527] Cell Stem Cell 21: 517-532.e5, 2017.

Miyauchi, H., Ohta, H., Nagaoka, S., Nakaki, F., Sasaki, K., Hayashi, K., Yabuta, Y., Nakamura, T., Yamamoto, T., Saitou, M. Bone morphogenetic protein and retinoic acid synergistically specify female germ-cell fate in mice [PMID 28928204] Embo J 36: 3100-3119, 2017.

Nakamura, T., Okamoto, I., Sasaki, K., Yabuta, Y., Iwatani, C., Tsuchiya, H., Seita, Y., Nakamura, S., Yamamoto, T., Saitou, M. A developmental coordinate of pluripotency among mice, monkeys and humans [PMID 27556940] Nature 537: 57-62, 2016.

Sasaki, K., Nakamura, T., Okamoto, I., Yabuta, Y., Iwatani, C., Tsuchiya, H., Seita, Y., Nakamura, S., Shiraki, N., Takakuwa, T., Yamamoto, T., Saitou, M. The germ cell fate of cynomolgus monkeys is specified in the nascent amnion [PMID 27720607] Dev Cell 39: 169-185, 2016.

Sasaki, K., Yokobayashi, S., Nakamura, T., Okamoto, I., Yabuta, Y., Kurimoto, K., Ohta, H., Moritoki, Y., Iwatani, C., Tsuchiya, H., Nakamura, S., Sekiguchi, K., Sakuma, T., Yamamoto, T., Mori, T., Woltjen, K., Nakagawa, M., Yamamoto, T., Takahashi, K., Yamanaka, S., Saitou, M. Robust in vitro induction of human germ cell fate from pluripotent stem cells [PMID 26189426] Cell Stem Cell 17: 178-94, 2015.

Dai, D. F., Sasaki, K., Lin, M. Y., Smith, K. D., Nicosia, R. F., Alpers, C. E., Najafian, B.Interstitial eosinophilic aggregates in diabetic nephropathy: allergy or not? [PMID 25813275] Nephrol Dial Transplant 30: 1370-6, 2015.

Sis, B., Bagnasco, S. M., Cornell, L. D., Randhawa, P., Haas, M., Lategan, B., Magil, A. B., Herzenberg, A. M., Gibson, I. W., Kuperman, M., Sasaki, K., Kraus, E. S. Isolated endarteritis and kidney transplant survival: a multicenter collaborative study [PMID 25381427] J Am Soc Nephrol 26: 1216-27, 2015.

Sasaki, K., Anderson, E., Shankland, S. J., Nicosia, R. F. Diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis associated with cetuximab, an epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor [PMID 23474009] Am J Kidney Dis 61: 988-91, 2013.

Dr. Sasaki’s research is focused on the development of human germline and urogenital organs. His team’s major research accomplishment includes 1) the discovery of the nascent amnion as the origin of primate germline, 2) first reconstitution of human primordial germ cell and prospermatogonial development using pluripotent stem cells, 3) identification of the origin of human gonadal and adrenal lineage and 4) the reconstitution of human adrenal specification using pluripotent stem cells. These discoveries lay the foundation for understanding molecular basis of human infertility, reproduction an endocrinology.

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (2008 to 2011) Anatomic Pathology University of Washington Medical Center (2011 to 2012) Renal Pathology