BIOGRAPHY

PhD degree   2015-2018, Department of Physics, Graduate School of Sciences, Kyushu University, Japan

MSc degree   2013-2015, Department of Physics, Graduate School of Sciences, Kyushu University, Japan

BSc degree    2009-2013, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

EMPLOYMENT RECORD

2019 Mar. -                         Postdoc.  (The Developmental Biology Institute of Marseille)

2018 Apr. - 2019 Feb.        Postdoc.  (Kyushu University)

   2015 Apr. - 2018 Mar.           Research Fellowships for Young Scientists (JSPS) DC1

PUBLICATIONS

1) ○Kenji Nishizawa, Marcel Bremerich, Heev Ayade, Christoph F. Schmidt, Takayuki Ariga and Daisuke Mizuno “Feedback-tracking microrheology in living cells” Science Advances 3, e1700318 (2017)

2) ○Kenji Nishizawa, Kei Fujiwara, Masahiro Ikenaga, Nobushige Nakajo, Miho Yanagisawa, and Daisuke Mizuno “Universal glass-forming behavior of in vitro and living cytoplasm” Scientific Reports 7, 15143 (2017)  pp.1-12

3) ○Kenji Nishizawa, Natsuki Honda, Masahiro Ikenaga, Shono Inokuchi, Yujiro Sugino, Takayuki Ariga and Daisuke Mizuno “Feedback Microrheology in Soft Matter”arXiv:2106.05119,  (2021)

4) ○Kenji Nishizawa, Claire Chardès , Raphael Clement, and Pierre-François Lenne , “Two-point optical manipulation of cell junctions in vivo” Mechanobiology. Humana, New York, NY, 2023. 107-118 (2023)

5) ○Kenji Nishizawa, Shao-Zhen Lin , Claire Chardès , Jean-François Rupprecht , Pierre-François Lenne , “Two-point optical manipulation reveals mechanosensitive remodeling of cell-cell contacts in  vivo” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  (2023) acepted　

6) Katsuhiro Umeda, ○Kenji Nishizawa,  Wataru Ngao, Takafumi Miyamoto, Hiroyuki Ebata, Daisuke Mizuno　“Activity-dependent glassy cell mechanics Ⅰ: Mechanical properties measured with active microrheology” (2022)  bioRxiv

CURRENT WORK

I carry out an optical-based manipulation method to impose different force patterns on cell contacts in the early epithelium of the Drosophila embryo. The method relies on dual-optical traps, which tweeze two distinct junctions to generate a deformation on an adjacent junction. I found different mechanical response depending on whether the manipulated junctions belonged to the same cell or to two cells sharing a junction. I have also found that direct manipulation of both vertices of a junction can cause the junction to shrink completely. To understand the molecular origin of such deformations, I monitored, during the manipulation, the distribution of junctional constituents, including the adhesion protein E-Cadherin, actin and Myosin-II. The observed changes in the molecular distribution reveal feedbacks that depend on the modes of deformation. 

HONORS & AWARDS

2018          Kyushu University Outstanding Academic Research Award

2017　　   Best poster award in International Symposium on Fluctuation and Structure out of

Equilibrium 2017

2017　　　Best presentation award in workshop about cell competition and dying code

2016　　　Student Presentation Award in The biophysical society of Japan

RESEARCH SUPPORT

2015 Apr. - 2018 Mar.  Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, JP15J04464, 3,400,000JPY

2014 Apr. - 2015 Mar.  Nippon Foundation, 26-219, 600,000JPY

CONTACT

kenji.NISHIZAWA"at"univ-amu.fr