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Molecular Life Chemistry Lab
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A lab that aims to understand, control, and create the functions of transporters in the cell membrane.
AboutAbout the lab
Pumps in the cell membrane that sustain life
The Molecular Life Chemistry Lab studies membrane proteins in the cell membrane, especially active transporters.
In living cells, substances and information are unevenly distributed across the cell membrane, and this lies at the foundation of life.
It is the membrane proteins in the cell membrane that create and maintain this uneven distribution.
Because membrane proteins are involved in many biological processes, their mutations are linked to disease, and they are also targets for drugs.
Key terms
- Membrane protein
- A protein embedded in the cell membrane. It handles the movement of substances in and out of the cell and the exchange of information.
- Active transporter
- A membrane protein that uses energy to move substances from the side with lower concentration to the side with higher concentration.
- Cryo-electron microscope
- A microscope that directs an electron beam at a frozen sample to capture the three-dimensional shape of proteins.
NewsLab news
Paper by Prof. Abe and colleagues published in Journal of Biological Chemistry
Paper by Prof. Abe and colleagues published in International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Paper by Prof. Abe and colleagues published in Pharmacological Research
Molecular Life Chemistry Lab launched
ResearchResearch themes
The lab focuses on membrane proteins that create uneven distributions of substances, especially active transporters. Aiming to understand, control, and create their functions, it studies them from both structure and function.
*Illustrative imageGastric proton pump
When food is digested, the stomach becomes strongly acidic at around pH 1, which serves to digest proteins and acts as a barrier against pathogens. The membrane protein that pumps this acid into the stomach is the gastric proton pump, and the lab works to elucidate how it operates from its structure and function.
*Illustrative imageLipid transporters
The cell membrane is a bilayer of phospholipids, and the lipid phosphatidylserine is concentrated in the inner layer. When a cell dies, it appears on the outer side and becomes a signal for macrophages to engulf the cell. The lab investigates how flippases and scramblases, which are responsible for this asymmetry, work.
*Illustrative imageSodium pump
In animal cells, there is a difference in sodium ion concentration across the cell membrane, which underlies nutrient uptake, regulation of osmotic pressure, and the action potentials of neurons. The lab aims to understand how the sodium pump that creates this difference works and to connect that understanding to new therapeutic strategies.
*Illustrative imageSeeing shapes with cryo-electron microscopy
Proteins are much smaller than the wavelength of visible light and cannot be seen with an optical microscope, but they can be seen with an electron microscope, which uses electron beams. Once the shape is visible, compounds that bind to it, in other words drugs, can be designed. The lab also incorporates methods that use AI to design compounds.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Molecular Life Chemistry Lab consist of faculty, international research fellows, administrative assistants, and master's and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorKazuhiro Abe
- Assistant ProfessorChai Chandru Gopalasingam
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Molecular view of glutamatergic synapse” Maria Voigt and PDB-101 / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Gastric proton pump: “Normal gastric mucosa intermed mag” Nephron / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Lipid transporters: “Apoptosis DU145 cells mosaic” Egelberg / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Sodium pump: “Sodium Potassium pump visualization” SuperMug / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Seeing shapes with cryo-electron microscopy: “Myxoma virus (transmission electron microscope)” David Gregory & Debbie Marshall / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (有機反応論研究室): “Lab on a Chip ( )” National Institute of Standards and Technology / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (理論化学研究室): “Potential Energy Surface for Water” AimNature / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (構造化学研究室): “Human Oxy-Hemoglobin Protein” PDB code 2DN1 1.25 a resolution crystal structures of human haemoglobin in the oxy, deoxy and carbonmonoxy forms. Park, S.-Y., Yokoyama, T., Shibayama, N., Shiro, Y., Tame, J.R. (2006) J Mol Biol 360: 690-701 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb. Image created using JSmol (Javascript) / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (固体化学研究室): “Ferroelectric liquid crystal image from a polarizing microscope” Ingo Dierking / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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