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Murakami Lab
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A structural biology lab that uncovers how proteins work from their three-dimensional structures.
AboutAbout the lab
Once the structure is known, the function becomes clear.
The Murakami Lab studies the three-dimensional structures of proteins using X-ray crystallography to understand how they function.
Although proteins are built from combinations of just 20 amino acids, they carry out complex functions.
The lab focuses mainly on membrane proteins, which sit in the cell membrane and handle the exchange of substances and information.
To tackle targets that are hard to analyze, the lab also refines its techniques for producing, purifying, and crystallizing proteins.
Key terms
- X-ray crystallography
- A method that crystallizes molecules, shines X-rays on them, and determines the arrangement of atoms from how the X-rays scatter
- Membrane protein
- A protein embedded in the cell membrane that handles the movement of substances and the transfer of information
- Membrane transporter
- A protein that carries substances across the cell membrane, taking in what is needed and expelling what is not
ResearchResearch themes
The lab aims to describe the functions of biomacromolecules such as proteins in the language of chemistry and physics, based on three-dimensional structures at atomic resolution. Focusing on membrane proteins, which are considered technically difficult to study, it uses X-ray crystallography to pursue a fundamental understanding of structure and function.
*Illustrative imageStructural Biology of Membrane Proteins
The cell membrane is not merely an enclosure; it is also a gateway for the exchange of substances and information, and many proteins work there. The lab focuses on membrane proteins, whose three-dimensional structures are difficult to analyze, and seeks to understand their functions from their structures.
*Illustrative imageStructure and Function of Membrane Transporters
Membrane transporters take in substances that cells need and expel unneeded or harmful ones. The lab was the first in the world to succeed in determining the crystal structure of a multidrug efflux transporter, which causes multidrug resistance in bacteria and cancer cells, and is investigating its molecular mechanism and its role in cells.
*Illustrative imageX-ray Crystallography
Membrane proteins are known to be very difficult to purify and to crystallize. The lab also develops techniques for tackling targets that are hard to analyze, such as efficient purification methods and new crystallization methods.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Murakami Lab consist of faculty members, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, and technical staff.As of 2026
- ProfessorSatoshi MurakamiPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorUi OkadaPublications ↗
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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: “Кристаллы белка DJ-1 HIS, выращенные в плашке методом висячей капли” Gorbacheva-marina26 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Structural Biology of Membrane Proteins: “Crystallized AcrB HAE-RND efflux protein” Schlenk / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Structure and Function of Membrane Transporters: “1iwg” Deposition authors: Murakami, S., Nakashima, R., Yamashita, E., Yamaguchi, A.; visualization author: User:Astrojan / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- X-ray Crystallography: “Macromolecular-Crystallography-beamline” Macromolecular crystallography group at SSRL / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (野澤研究室): “Model of Nucleosome Array” Rkott / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (林研究室): “1D electrophoresis gel with Cy dyes” Jean-Etienne Poirrier / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (増田研究室): “Cyanobacteria guerrero negro” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (本郷研究室): “Termite mounds at Kadavoor” Jeevan Jose, Kerala, India / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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