Hiroyuki OSADA (D.Agr.)
Small molecules produced by microorganisms have diversity in chemical structures and biological activities.
The Antibiotics Laboratory is focusing on the isolation of new compounds that regulate the mammalian cell function from microbial metabolites.
Cellular factors involved in proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis in mammalian cells are molecular targets to be inhibited by the chemical compounds.
The compounds isolated from microorganisms are deposited in the newly established Natural Products Depository RIKEN (NPDepo), which makes chemical libraries.
The laboratory is also devoted to the cloning of biosynthetic gene clusters of microbial secondary metabolites, the investigation of the molecular interaction between small molecules and their binding proteins, and proteomic analyses of drug targets.
The research will provide the biochemical tools to investigate the complex biochemical processes of the mammalian cell functions and also establish the foundation for developing new medicines such as antitumor agents.
■ LINK ■
 |  |
 |  |
