The Goto Lab, established in 2025 at Weill Cornell Medicine, is dedicated to exploring the complex biology of intestinal stem cells and colorectal cancer. Our research focuses on the critical role of the stem cell niche—the surrounding microenvironment, including fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and immune cells—in regulating stem cell behavior in both health and disease.
We aim to uncover how these niche cells influence cancer progression, immune responses, and gastrointestinal disorders. By shedding light on the previously underappreciated biology of the stem cell niche, we seek to pave the way for innovative therapeutic strategies that harness the power of the microenvironment to improve patient outcomes.
Tissue-resident stem cells are central to the homeostasis of many high-turnover tissues, including intestinal stem cells. The decline in their functionality is an established cause of tissue aging, whereas they are also susceptible to cancer transformation. In understanding the function and regulation of stem cells, the importance of supportive “niche” cells has become increasingly recognized. Yet, the role of niche cells in the context of health and disease remains poorly understood.
A central question that guides our research is:
How do niche cells contribute to gastrointestinal diseases?
To address this question, we have developed a suite of innovative tools:
By integrating these tools, the Goto Lab is uncovering how niche cells drive gastrointestinal diseases, such as metastatic colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease, as well as fundamental biological processes like stem cell aging. Our long-term goal is to leverage the dynamic interactions between niche cells and stem cells to develop novel treatments for colorectal cancer and other gastrointestinal diseases.
Dr. Norihiro Goto is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, and the Jill Roberts Institute for Research in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Weill Cornell Medicine. He is a physician-scientist with a clinical background in gastroenterology and a research focus on stem cell and cancer biology. Dr. Goto graduated from Kyoto University and completed his residency and fellowship in gastroenterology. He then earned his Ph.D. from the Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, where he elucidated the distinctions between cancer stem cells and normal stem cells. Dr. Goto conducted his postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he identified critical niche cells that support intestinal stem cells and uncovered mechanisms by which early colorectal cancers initiate immune evasion. He is a recipient of the NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award.
For further details contact nog4004@med.cornell.edu
Goto N*, Agudo J, Yilmaz ÖH*. Early Immune Evasion in Colorectal Cancer: Interplay Between Stem Cells and the Tumor Microenvironment. Trends in Cancer. 2025. In press
*co-corresponding author
Goto N, Westcott PWK, Goto S, Imada S, Taylor MS, Eng G, Braverman J, Deshpande V, Jacks T, Agudo J, Yilmaz ÖH. SOX17 enables immune evasion of early colorectal adenomas and cancers. Nature. 2024 Mar;627(8004):636-645. Epub 2024 Feb 28. PMID: 38418875.
Masuda T, Fukuda A, Yamakawa G, Omatsu M, Namikawa M, Sono M, Fukunaga Y, Nagao M, Araki O, Yoshikawa T, Ogawa S, Masuo K, Goto N, Hiramatsu Y, Muta Y, Tsuda M, Maruno T, Nakanishi Y, Masui T, Hatano E, Matsuzaki T, Noda M, Seno H. Pancreatic RECK inactivation promotes cancer formation, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and metastasis. J Clin Invest. 2023 Sep 15;133(18):e161847. PMID: 37712427
Araki O, Tsuda M, Omatsu M, Namikawa M, Sono M, Fukunaga Y, Masuda T, Yoshikawa T, Nagao M, Ogawa S, Masuo K, Goto N, Muta Y, Hiramatsu Y, Maruno T, Nakanishi Y, Koyasu S, Masui T, Hatano E, Saur D, Fukuda A, Seno H. Brg1 controls stemness and metastasis of pancreatic cancer through regulating hypoxia pathway. Oncogene. 2023 Jun;42(26):2139-2152. PMID: 37198398
Yamada Y, Bohnenberger H, Kriegsmann M, Kriegsmann K, Sinn P, Goto N, Nakanishi Y, Seno H, Chigusa Y, Fujimoto M, Minamiguchi S, Haga H, Simon R, Sauter G, Ströbel P, Marx A. Tuft cell-like carcinomas: novel cancer subsets present in multiple organs sharing a unique gene expression signature. Br J Cancer. 2022 Aug 23. PMID: 35999270.
Goto N*, Goto S, Imada S, Hosseini S, Deshpande V, Yilmaz ÖH*. Lymphatics and fibroblasts support intestinal stem cells in homeostasis and injury. Cell Stem Cell. 2022 Aug 4;29(8):1246-1261.e6. PMID: 35931033.
*co-corresponding author
Yoshikawa T, Fukuda A, Omatsu M, Namikawa M, Sono M, Fukunaga Y, Masuda T, Araki O, Nagao M, Ogawa S, Masuo K, Goto N, Hiramatsu Y, Muta Y, Tsuda M, Maruno T, Nakanishi Y, Kawada K, Takaishi S, Seno H. JNK pathway plays a critical role for expansion of human colorectal cancer in the context of BRG1 suppression. Cancer Sci. 2022 Aug 4. PMID: 35924439.
Nagao M, Fukuda A, Omatsu M, Namikawa M, Sono M, Fukunaga Y, Masuda T, Araki O, Yoshikawa T, Ogawa S, Masuo K, Goto N, Hiramatsu Y, Muta Y, Tsuda M, Maruno T, Nakanishi Y, Taketo MM, Ferrer J, Tsuruyama T, Nakanuma Y, Taura K, Uemoto S, Seno H. Concurrent Activation of Kras and Canonical Wnt Signaling Induces Premalignant Lesions That Progress to Extrahepatic Biliary Cancer in Mice. Cancer Res. 2022 May 3;82(9):1803-1817. PMID: 35247892.
Mead BE, Hattori K, Levy L, Imada S, Goto N, Vukovic M, Sze D, Kummerlowe C, Matute JD, Duan J, Langer R, Blumberg RS, Ordovas-Montanes J, Yilmaz ÖH, Karp JM, Shalek AK. Screening for modulators of the cellular composition of gut epithelia via organoid models of intestinal stem cell differentiation. Nat Biomed Eng. 2022 Apr;6(4):476-494. PMID: 35314801.
Goto N, Yilmaz ÖH. Bispecific antibodies seek out colon cancer stem cells. Nat Cancer. 2022 Apr;3(4):379-380. PMID: 35469016.
Yoshikawa T, Fukuda A, Omatsu M, Namikawa M, Sono M, Fukunaga Y, Masuda T, Araki O, Nagao M, Ogawa S, Masuo K, Goto N, Hiramatsu Y, Muta Y, Tsuda M, Maruno T, Nakanishi Y, Kawada K, Takaishi S, Seno H. Brg1 is required to maintain colorectal cancer stem cells. J Pathol. 2021 Nov;255(3):257-269. PMID: 34415580.
Maruno T, Fukuda A, Goto N, Tsuda M, Ikuta K, Hiramatsu Y, Ogawa S, Nakanishi Y, Yamaga Y, Yoshioka T, Takaori K, Uemoto S, Saur D, Chiba T, Seno H. Visualization of stem cell activity in pancreatic cancer expansion by direct lineage tracing with live imaging. Elife. 2021 Jan 4;10. PMID: 33393460
Ogawa S, Fukuda A, Matsumoto Y, Hanyu Y, Sono M, Fukunaga Y, Masuda T, Araki O, Nagao M, Yoshikawa T, Goto N, Hiramatsu Y, Tsuda M, Maruno T, Nakanishi Y, Hussein MS, Tsuruyama T, Takaori K, Uemoto S, Seno H. SETDB1 Inhibits p53-Mediated Apoptosis and Is Required for Formation of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinomas in Mice. Gastroenterology. 2020 Aug;159(2):682-696.e13. PMID: 32360551.
Kakiuchi N, Yoshida K, Uchino M, Kihara T, Akaki K, Inoue Y, Kawada K, Nagayama S, Yokoyama A, Yamamoto S, Matsuura M, Horimatsu T, Hirano T, Goto N, Takeuchi Y, Ochi Y, Shiozawa Y, Kogure Y, Watatani Y, Fujii Y, Kim SK, Kon A, Kataoka K, Yoshizato T, Nakagawa MM, Yoda A, Nanya Y, Makishima H, Shiraishi Y, Chiba K, Tanaka H, Sanada M, Sugihara E, Sato TA, Maruyama T, Miyoshi H, Taketo MM, Oishi J, Inagaki R, Ueda Y, Okamoto S, Okajima H, Sakai Y, Sakurai T, Haga H, Hirota S, Ikeuchi H, Nakase H, Marusawa H, Chiba T, Takeuchi O, Miyano S, Seno H, Ogawa S. Frequent mutations that converge on the NFKBIZ pathway in ulcerative colitis. Nature. 2020 Jan;577(7789):260-265. PMID: 31853061.
Matsumoto Y, Nakanishi Y, Yoshioka T, Yamaga Y, Masuda T, Fukunaga Y, Sono M, Yoshikawa T, Nagao M, Araki O, Ogawa S, Goto N, Hiramatsu Y, Breyer RM, Fukuda A, Seno H. Epithelial EP4 plays an essential role in maintaining homeostasis in colon. Sci Rep. 2019 Oct 23;9(1):15244. PMID: 31645712
Goto N, Fukuda A, Yamaga Y, Yoshikawa T, Maruno T, Maekawa H, Inamoto S, Kawada K, Sakai Y, Miyoshi H, Taketo MM, Chiba T, Seno H. Lineage tracing and targeting of IL17RB+ tuft cell-like human colorectal cancer stem cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Jun 25;116(26):12996-13005. PMID: 31182574
Ikuta K, Fukuda A, Ogawa S, Masuo K, Goto N, Hiramatsu Y, Tsuda M, Kimura Y, Matsumoto Y, Kimura Y, Maruno T, Kanda K, Nishi K, Takaori K, Uemoto S, Takaishi S, Chiba T, Nishi E, Seno H. Nardilysin inhibits pancreatitis and suppresses pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma initiation in mice. Gut. 2019 May;68(5):882-892. PMID: 29798841.
Hiramatsu Y, Fukuda A, Ogawa S, Goto N, Ikuta K, Tsuda M, Matsumoto Y, Kimura Y, Yoshioka T, Takada Y, Maruno T, Hanyu Y, Tsuruyama T, Wang Z, Akiyama H, Takaishi S, Miyoshi H, Taketo MM, Chiba T, Seno H. Arid1a is essential for intestinal stem cells through Sox9 regulation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Jan 29;116(5):1704-1713. PMID: 30635419
Yamaga Y, Fukuda A, Nakanishi Y, Goto N, Matsumoto Y, Yoshioka T, Maruno T, Chiba T, Seno H. Gene expression profile of Dclk1+ cells in intestinal tumors. Dig Liver Dis. 2018 Dec;50(12):1353-1361. PMID: 30001952.
Tsuda M, Fukuda A, Roy N, Hiramatsu Y, Leonhardt L, Kakiuchi N, Hoyer K, Ogawa S, Goto N, Ikuta K, Kimura Y, Matsumoto Y, Takada Y, Yoshioka T, Maruno T, Yamaga Y, Kim GE, Akiyama H, Ogawa S, Wright CV, Saur D, Takaori K, Uemoto S, Hebrok M, Chiba T, Seno H. The BRG1/SOX9 axis is critical for acinar cell-derived pancreatic tumorigenesis. J Clin Invest. 2018 Aug 1;128(8):3475-3489. PMID: 30010625
Kanda K, Sakamoto J, Matsumoto Y, Ikuta K, Goto N, Morita Y, Ohno M, Nishi K, Eto K, Kimura Y, Nakanishi Y, Ikegami K, Yoshikawa T, Fukuda A, Kawada K, Sakai Y, Ito A, Yoshida M, Kimura T, Chiba T, Nishi E, Seno H. Nardilysin controls intestinal tumorigenesis through HDAC1/p53-dependent transcriptional regulation. JCI Insight. 2018 Apr 19;3(8). PMID: 29669932
Goto N, Ueo T, Fukuda A, Kawada K, Sakai Y, Miyoshi H, Taketo MM, Chiba T, Seno H. Distinct Roles of HES1 in Normal Stem Cells and Tumor Stem-like Cells of the Intestine. Cancer Res. 2017 Jul 1;77(13):3442-3454. PMID: 28536281.
Goto N, Kusaka T, Tomita Y, Tanaka H, Itokawa Y, Koshikawa Y, Yamaguchi D, Nakai Y, Fujii S, Kokuryu H. Magnifying narrow-band imaging with acetic acid to diagnose early colorectal cancer. World J Gastroenterol. 2014 Nov 21;20(43):16306-10. PMID: 25473188.
Goto N, Mimura J. Gastrointestinal: bevacizumab-induced reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome in patient with rectal cancer. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2014 May;29(5):895. PMID: 24750201.
Goto N, Mimura J, Itani T, Hayashi M, Shimada Y, Matsumori T. Autoimmune pancreatitis complicated by gastric varices: a report of 3 cases. World J Gastroenterol. 2012 Aug 21;18(31):4228-32. PMID: 22919259
Matsumori T, Murakami S, Araki O, Tsuda T, Sasaki A, Goto N, Adachi K, Shimada Y, Hayashi M, Itani T, Mimura J, Hashimoto K. A case report of primary small cell esophageal carcinoma responding successfully to radiochemotherapy. Gan To Kagaku Ryoho. 2012 Jul;39(7):1119-21. PMID: 22790051.
Goto N, Yoshioka M, Hayashi M, Itani T, Mimura J, Hashimoto K. Intraductal papillary-mucinous neoplasm of the pancreas penetrating to the stomach and the common bile duct. JOP. 2012 Jan 10;13(1):61-5. PMID: 22233949.
