Takaku Lab
@takakulab.bsky.social
Associate Professor at UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Chromatin and epigenetic regulation in cancer
Website: https://sites.google.com/view/takakulab/motoki-takaku
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=EGtPkLQAAAAJ&hl=en
Chromatin and epigenetic regulation in cancer
Website: https://sites.google.com/view/takakulab/motoki-takaku
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=EGtPkLQAAAAJ&hl=en
Our first cell-free DNA paper is now published! Thank you to all co-authors and collaborators for their contributions.
Officially published in Communications Biology!
In this study, we developed an open chromatin-guided, interpretable machine learning pipeline to uncover cancer-specific nucleosomal fragment patterns directly from cell-free DNA.
📄 Published article: doi.org/10.1038/s420...
In this study, we developed an open chromatin-guided, interpretable machine learning pipeline to uncover cancer-specific nucleosomal fragment patterns directly from cell-free DNA.
📄 Published article: doi.org/10.1038/s420...
November 13, 2025 at 6:01 AM
Our first cell-free DNA paper is now published! Thank you to all co-authors and collaborators for their contributions.
Reposted by Takaku Lab
+++ Postdoc Opportunity +++
My lab is looking for researchers interested in combining cutting edge #genomics, #epigenetics and #AI for precision oncology in pediatric #leukemia.
www.dkfz.de/fileadmin/us...
Applications via the #DKFZ postdoc program:
www.dkfz.de/en/karriere/...
My lab is looking for researchers interested in combining cutting edge #genomics, #epigenetics and #AI for precision oncology in pediatric #leukemia.
www.dkfz.de/fileadmin/us...
Applications via the #DKFZ postdoc program:
www.dkfz.de/en/karriere/...
August 25, 2025 at 8:45 PM
+++ Postdoc Opportunity +++
My lab is looking for researchers interested in combining cutting edge #genomics, #epigenetics and #AI for precision oncology in pediatric #leukemia.
www.dkfz.de/fileadmin/us...
Applications via the #DKFZ postdoc program:
www.dkfz.de/en/karriere/...
My lab is looking for researchers interested in combining cutting edge #genomics, #epigenetics and #AI for precision oncology in pediatric #leukemia.
www.dkfz.de/fileadmin/us...
Applications via the #DKFZ postdoc program:
www.dkfz.de/en/karriere/...
Reposted by Takaku Lab
How do non-coding variants in enhancers lead to disease? Happy to share our recent work, led by @ewholling.bsky.social, in which we discovered that poised chromatin sensitizes enhancers to aberrant activation by non-coding mutations, contributing to disease. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 1/
June 23, 2025 at 12:57 PM
How do non-coding variants in enhancers lead to disease? Happy to share our recent work, led by @ewholling.bsky.social, in which we discovered that poised chromatin sensitizes enhancers to aberrant activation by non-coding mutations, contributing to disease. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 1/
Structural basis of the hepatitis B virus X protein in complex with DDB1 | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Structural basis of the hepatitis B virus X protein in complex with DDB1 | PNAS
A cure for chronic hepatitis B requires eliminating or permanently silencing covalently
closed circular DNA (cccDNA). A pivotal target of this appr...
www.pnas.org
June 16, 2025 at 3:56 AM
Structural basis of the hepatitis B virus X protein in complex with DDB1 | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
RNA transcripts regulate G-quadruplex landscapes through G-loop formation | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
RNA transcripts regulate G-quadruplex landscapes through G-loop formation
G-quadruplexes (G4s) are prevalent DNA structures that regulate transcription but also threaten genome stability. How G4 dynamics are controlled remains poorly understood. Here, we report that RNA tra...
www.science.org
June 16, 2025 at 3:47 AM
RNA transcripts regulate G-quadruplex landscapes through G-loop formation | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Takaku Lab
Congrats on the new paper to Krystal who "doesn't do social media" but does do a ton of ATAC and Cut&Run to show how GATA3 pioneers enhancers with BRG1 and sometimes AP-1! #NIEHS #NAR doi.org/10.1093/nar/...
Pioneering new enhancers by GATA3: role of facilitating transcription factors and chromatin remodeling
Abstract. Pioneer transcription factors (PTFs) bind to inaccessible chromatin and recruit collaborating transcription factors to promote chromatin accessib
doi.org
June 10, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Congrats on the new paper to Krystal who "doesn't do social media" but does do a ton of ATAC and Cut&Run to show how GATA3 pioneers enhancers with BRG1 and sometimes AP-1! #NIEHS #NAR doi.org/10.1093/nar/...
Reposted by Takaku Lab
A new combination technique enables DNA sequencing and high-resolution imaging in intact cells — offering new insights into progeria and aging. broad.io/expansion-in-situ @jbuenrostro.bsky.social
May 29, 2025 at 7:14 PM
A new combination technique enables DNA sequencing and high-resolution imaging in intact cells — offering new insights into progeria and aging. broad.io/expansion-in-situ @jbuenrostro.bsky.social
Our second cell-free DNA manuscript is here! In collaboration with Dr. Takada’s group, we explore how abemaciclib treatment response in metastatic breast cancer can be monitored via circulating chromatin fragments: www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-5...
Exploring Mechanism of Action of Abemaciclib in Breast Cancer Through Circulating Chromatin Fragment
Cell free DNA (cfDNA) analysis has a large potential for cancer patient diagnosis. Given the evidence that cfDNA partially preserves chromatin architecture of tumor cells, it potentially allows the de...
www.researchsquare.com
March 24, 2025 at 4:34 AM
Our second cell-free DNA manuscript is here! In collaboration with Dr. Takada’s group, we explore how abemaciclib treatment response in metastatic breast cancer can be monitored via circulating chromatin fragments: www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-5...
Reposted by Takaku Lab
🚀Excited to share preprint as my last work in the Tachibana lab! Our study shows how the pioneer factor NR5A2 ensures robust gene activation through feed-forward regulatory loops with lineage-determining factors. A quick summary follows (1/n)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org
February 20, 2025 at 7:43 AM
🚀Excited to share preprint as my last work in the Tachibana lab! Our study shows how the pioneer factor NR5A2 ensures robust gene activation through feed-forward regulatory loops with lineage-determining factors. A quick summary follows (1/n)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Takaku Lab
🚨Amidst all the uncertainty at NIH Welcome Leap just launched an important new $50M program in Women’s Health👩🏻🔬🧠
CARE focuses on the link between Alzheimer’s and perimenopausal hormonal changes wellcomeleap.org/care/
Note: full indirects!
Please share widely to support women’s health 🙏🏼
CARE focuses on the link between Alzheimer’s and perimenopausal hormonal changes wellcomeleap.org/care/
Note: full indirects!
Please share widely to support women’s health 🙏🏼
CARE Program Details | Wellcome Leap: Unconventional Projects. Funded at Scale.
NEW $50M Program in Women's Health care Cutting Alzheimer's Risk through EndocrinologyWe are pleased to announce the selected performers.Sabine Vollstädt-Klein, Central Institute of Mental Health ...
wellcomeleap.org
February 14, 2025 at 12:11 AM
🚨Amidst all the uncertainty at NIH Welcome Leap just launched an important new $50M program in Women’s Health👩🏻🔬🧠
CARE focuses on the link between Alzheimer’s and perimenopausal hormonal changes wellcomeleap.org/care/
Note: full indirects!
Please share widely to support women’s health 🙏🏼
CARE focuses on the link between Alzheimer’s and perimenopausal hormonal changes wellcomeleap.org/care/
Note: full indirects!
Please share widely to support women’s health 🙏🏼
Excited to share our first preprint on cell-free DNA! Led by our talented grad student Sakuntha, we have developed a machine learning pipeline guided by ATAC-seq to identify unique nucleosomal fragment patterns in cancer patients. www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-5...
ATAC-seq Guided Interpretable Machine Learning Reveals Cancer-Specific Chromatin Features in Cell-free DNA
Cell-free DNAs (cfDNAs) are DNA fragments found in blood. In healthy individuals, cfDNAs are primarily derived from immune cells, while in cancer patients, a significant fraction of cfDNAs originates ...
www.researchsquare.com
January 14, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Excited to share our first preprint on cell-free DNA! Led by our talented grad student Sakuntha, we have developed a machine learning pipeline guided by ATAC-seq to identify unique nucleosomal fragment patterns in cancer patients. www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-5...