Biofunctional Chemistry Research Section

概要

A transition to renewable energy technologies requires new chemistry to learn from nature. Nature has developed fantastic solutions to convert the solar energy to the chemical energy and to utilize them in the exceptionally efficient manners for almost 3 billion years. It is our challenge to understand the efficient bioenergetic processes of nature and to construct bio-inspired energy utilization systems. The research interests in our group focus on the design of biomacromolecules and their assemblies for molecular recognition, catalysis and signal transduction in water, the solvent of life. We take synthetic, organic chemical, biochemical and biophysical approaches to understand the biological molecular recognition and chemical reactions. Proteins and protein/nucleic acids assemblies are explored to realize biomimetic function of biological systems, such as visualization of cellular signals by fluorescent biosensors, directed self-assembly of peptides and proteins to build up nanobiomaterials, tailoring artificial receptors and enzymes based on the complex of RNA and a peptide or a protein, and reconstitution of the functional assemblies of receptors and enzymes on the nanoarchitectures. Followings are main research achievements in fiscal year 2020.

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