Keiko Kono

Keiko Kono
Keiko Kono
Assistant Professor
Ph.D. University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, Japan 2005
M.S. University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, Japan 2002
B.S. University of Tokyo, Department of Science, Japan 2000
keiko.kono
Japan

Keiko Kono earned her B. Sc. in Biology at the University of Tokyo, Japan. She then obtained her Ph.D. in life science at the University of Tokyo in 2005. From 2005 to 2012, Keiko received postdoctoral training in Prof. David Pellman’s laboratory at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, USA. She was then appointed Lecturer at the Nagoya City University, Japan. In December 2017, she started her own unit at OIST.

Professional Experience

  • Teaching Assistant, University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan, 2005
  • Postdoctoral Fellow in Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA, 2005-2012
  • Lecturer of Cell Biology, Graduate School of Medical Science and Medical Department, Nagoya City University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, 2012-2017
  • JST PRESTO Researcher, JST, Japan, 2016-2021
  • Assistant Professor, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, 2017-present

Select Publications

  • Nishimura K, Johmura Y, Deguchi K, Jiang Z, Uchida KSK, Suzuki N, Shimada M, Chiba Y, Hirota T, Yoshimura SH, Kono K, and Nakanishi M. Cdk1-mediated DIAPH1 phosphorylation maintains metaphase cortical tension and inactivates the spindle assembly checkpoint at anaphase. (2019) Nature Commun. 10: 981. Co-corresponding Author.    
  • Kono K and Ikui AE. A new cell cycle checkpoint that senses plasma membrane/cell wall damage in budding yeast. (2017) BioEssays. 39(4): 1600210. Review. Corresponding Author. Featured on the cover.  
  • Hatakeyama R, Kono K and Yoshida S. Ypk1/Ypk2 kinases maintain Rho1 at the plasma membrane by flippase-dependent lipid remodeling after membrane stresses. (2017) J. Cell. Sci. 130: 1169-1178.
  • Kono K, Al-Zain A, Schroeder L, Nakanishi M, Ikui AE. Plasma membrane/cell wall perturbation activates a novel cell cycle checkpoint during G1 in S. cerevisiae. (2016) Proc. Natl. Acad, Sci. U. S. A. 113(25): 6910-5.  
  • Kono K, Saeki Y, Yoshida S, Tanaka K and Pellman D. Proteasomal degradation resolves competition between cell polarization and cellular wound healing. (2012) Cell. 150: 151-164.  
  • Kono K, Nogami S, Abe M, Nishizawa, M, Morishita S, Pellman D and Ohya Y. G1/S Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Regulates Small GTPase Rho1p through Phosphorylation of RhoGEF Tus1p in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. (2008) Mol. Biol. Cell. 19:1763-1771.   
  • Yoshida S, Kono K, Lowery DM, Bartolini S, Yaffe MB, Ohya Y, and Pellman D. Polo-like kinase Cdc5 controls the local activation of Rho1 to promote cytokinesis. (2006) Science. 313: 108-11.