CHIHO WATANABE

Last Updated :2025/05/09

Affiliations, Positions
Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life, Associate Professor
Web Site
https://nrid.nii.ac.jp/en/nrid/1000050838076/
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chiho-Watanabe
https://researchmap.jp/chiho_watanabe?lang=en
E-mail
cwatanhiroshima-u.ac.jp
Self-introduction
I am working on wet experiments using artificial cell models like lipid bilayers (liposomes, vesicles) and polymer microdroplets. I am aiming to understand life from a physicochemical viewpoint. Currently, I am interested in lipid diversity, liquid-liquid phase separation(LLPS), and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.

Basic Information

Major Professional Backgrounds

  • 2020/07/01, 2023/09/30, Hiroshima University, Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life, Assistant Professor
  • 2019/01/01, 2020/06/30, The University of Tokyo, Assistant Professor (Special Appointment)
  • 2016/04/01, 2018/12/31, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Engineering Department, Postdoctoral Researcher

Educational Backgrounds

  • University Paris Diderot, Paris 7, L'Ecole Doctorale 564 Physique en Ile-de-France, Doctoral course, France, 2012/09, 2015/09
  • Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems, Master course, Japan, 2010/04, 2012/03
  • Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Organic and Polymer Materials Chemistry, Japan, 2006/04, 2010/03

Academic Degrees

  • PhD, Universite Paris Diderot Paris 7
  • Master of Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology

Research Fields

  • Mathematical and physical sciences;Physics;Biological physics / Chemical physics / Soft matter physics

Research Keywords

  • Soft matter
  • Liposome
  • Droplet
  • Lipid membrane
  • Polymer
  • Fluorescent microscopy

Affiliated Academic Societies

  • Japan Society for Dementia Research
  • The Physical Society of Japan
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  • The Biophysical Society of Japan
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  • The Chemical Society of Japan; Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry
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Educational Activity

Course in Charge

  1. 2025, Liberal Arts Education Program1, 4Term, Chemistry of life
  2. 2025, Liberal Arts Education Program1, 3Term, Experimental Methods and Laboratory Work in Chemistry I
  3. 2025, Liberal Arts Education Program1, 4Term, Experimental Methods and Laboratory Work in Chemistry II
  4. 2025, Liberal Arts Education Program1, Second Semester, Chemistry and human being
  5. 2025, Liberal Arts Education Program1, 1Term, Introductory Seminar for First-Year Students
  6. 2025, Undergraduate Education, 3Term, Laboratory Course in Natural Environmental Sciences A
  7. 2025, Undergraduate Education, 3Term, Practical Methods in Natural Environmental SciencesA
  8. 2025, Undergraduate Education, 1Term, Laboratory Course in Natural Environmental Sciences B
  9. 2025, Undergraduate Education, 1Term, Practical Methods in Natural Environmental SciencesB
  10. 2025, Undergraduate Education, 2Term, Laboratory Course in Natural Environmental Sciences C
  11. 2025, Undergraduate Education, 2Term, Practical Methods in Natural Environmental SciencesC
  12. 2025, Undergraduate Education, 3Term, Invitation to Integrated Global Studies II
  13. 2025, Undergraduate Education, 2Term, Experimental Methods and Laboratory Work in Science for IGS I
  14. 2025, Undergraduate Education, 2Term, Experimental Methods and Laboratory Work in Science for IGS II
  15. 2025, Undergraduate Education, 3Term, Introduction to Biophysics I
  16. 2025, Undergraduate Education, 3Term, Introduction to Biophysics II
  17. 2025, Undergraduate Education, 2Term, Experimental Methods and Laboratory Work in Science for IGS III
  18. 2025, Graduate Education (Master's Program) , 1Term, Introduction to Integrated Arts and Sciences
  19. 2025, Graduate Education (Master's Program) , 3Term, Biomedical Science Seminar A
  20. 2025, Graduate Education (Master's Program) , 3Term, Biomedical Science Seminar B
  21. 2025, Graduate Education (Doctoral Program) , 3Term, Biomedical Science Seminar C
  22. 2025, Graduate Education (Doctoral Program) , 3Term, Biomedical Science Seminar D
  23. 2025, Graduate Education (Doctoral Program) , 3Term, Biomedical Science Seminar E

Research Activities

Academic Papers

  1. Phase-Separated Giant Liposomes for Stable Elevation of alpha-Hemolysin Concentration in Lipid Membranes, LANGMUIR, 39(32), 11481-11489, 20230802
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  2. Cell-Sized Confinements Alter Molecular Diffusion in Concentrated Polymer Solutions Due to Length-Dependent Wetting of Polymers, ACS Materials Au, 3(5), 442-449, 20230516
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  3. Cell-Size Space Regulates the Behavior of Confined Polymers: From Nano- and Micromaterials Science to Biology, Langmuir, 38(39), 11811-11827, 20221004
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  4. Phase Separation and Molecular Diffusion Modulated by Cell-size Micrometric Membrane Confinement, Shibutsu Butsuri, 62(5), 301-302, 20220925
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  5. Stress-dependent cell stiffening by tardigrade tolerance proteins that reversibly form a filamentous network and gel, PLOS Biology, 20(9), e3001780-e3001780, 20220906
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  6. Dynamic ordering caused by a source-sink relation between two droplets, SOFT MATTER, 18(34), 6465-6474, 20220831
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  7. ★, Cell-Sized Confinement Initiates Phase Separation of Polymer Blends and Promotes Fractionation upon Competitive Membrane Wetting, ACS Materials Letters, 4(9), 1742-1748, 20220824
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  8. Modulation of internal molecular diffusion in cell-sized polymer droplets by membrane surfaces, C & I Commun, 47(3), 27-29, 20220810
  9. Observation of phase separation in artificial cells, Experimental Medicine (extra issue), Protocols for phase separation analysis, 20220705
  10. Evaporation Patterns of Dextran-Poly(Ethylene Glycol) Droplets with Changes in Wettability and Compatibility, LIFE-BASEL, 12(3), 373-373, 20220304
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  11. Perpendicular alignment of the phase-separated boundary in adhered polymer droplets, Soft Matter, 20210917
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  12. From phase separation in cell-sized space to intracellular phase separation, Experimental Medicine (Special edition), 39(10), 17 (1473)-23 (1479), 20210615
  13. ★, Membrane Surface Modulates Slow Diffusion in Small Crowded Droplets, Langmuir, 37(1), 437-444, 20201222
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  14. Amyloid-beta Interactions with Lipid Rafts in Biomimetic Systems: A Review of Laboratory Methods, Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 2187, 47-86, 20200809
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  15. Microfluidic Formation of Honeycomb-Patterned Droplets Bounded by Interface Bilayers via Bimodal Molecular Adsorption, MICROMACHINES, 11(7), 20200720
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  16. Liposomal adhesion via electrostatic interactions and osmotic deflation increases membrane tension and lipid diffusion coefficient, Soft Matter, 16(18), 4549-4554, 20200423
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  17. Unique phase behavior in cell size space: synergistic effect of molecular crowding and confinement., Biophysical reviews, 20, 385-386, 20200410
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  18. ★, Quantitative Analysis of Membrane Surface and Small Confinement Effects on Molecular Diffusion., The journal of physical chemistry B, 124(6), 1090-1098, 20200213
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  19. Single Micrometer-Sized Gels: Unique Mechanics and Characters for Applications., Gels (Basel, Switzerland), 4(2), 29-29, 20180328
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  20. ★, Cell-size confinement effect on protein diffusion in crowded poly(ethylene)glycol solution, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 20(13), 8842-8847, 20180309
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  21. ★, On the possible structural role of single chain sphingolipids Sphingosine and Sphingosine 1-phosphate in the amyloid-beta peptide interactions with membranes. Consequences for Alzheimer's disease development, Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 510, 317-327, 20161205
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  22. Tuning of membrane electrostatic properties by single chain sphingolipids sphingosine and sphingosine-1-phosphate: The effect on bilayer dipole potential, Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 483, 181-186, 20151020
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  23. ★, Antagonism and Synergy of Single Chain Sphingolipids Sphingosine and Sphingosine-1-phosphate toward Lipid Bilayer Properties. Consequences for Their Role as Cell Fate Regulators, Langmuir, 30(46), 13956-13963, 20141128
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  24. Lo/Ld phase coexistence modulation induced by GM1, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Biomembranes, 1838(8), 2105-2114, 201408
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI

Awards

  1. 2021/11/26, Early Career Award in Biophysics, Biophysical Society of Japan (BSJ), Phase separation and molecular diffusion modulated by cell-size micrometric membrane confinement
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  2. 2021/09, Young oral presentation award, The 72nd Divisional Meeting of Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry, The Chemical Society of Japan; Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry
  3. 2020/09, The emerging science lecture prize at the 17th Australia-Japan Colloids Symposium, The 17th Australia-Japan Colloids Symposium organizing committees

External Funds

Acceptance Results of Competitive Funds

  1. 17th Shiseido Female Researcher Science Grant, Approach towards understanding Tauopathy from the Lipid Membrane Reconstitution System, 2024/06/01, 2025/05/31
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  2. ACT-X, Spatiotemporal design of diseases seen from cell models, 2019, 2021
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  3. KAKENHI, Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists, Characteristic phase separation dynamics guided by interfacial properties and its visualization, 2020, 2024
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  4. Strategic Basic Research Programs(ACT-X) , "Life and Chemistry", Acceleration phase, 2022/04/01, 2023/03/31