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Natural Products Chemical Biology Lab
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The lab studies natural products to explain the mysterious phenomena of living organisms through chemistry.
AboutAbout the lab
Elucidating mysterious biological phenomena through chemistry.
The Natural Products Chemical Biology Lab studies the bioactive substances that govern biological phenomena, starting from natural products chemistry.
It takes on substances whose mechanisms of action have not been understood and phenomena that are still unknown at the level of substances, aiming to discover compounds that could become the basis of drugs and agrochemicals and to discover new pharmacological actions.
It uses a variety of methods, including organic synthesis, instrumental analysis, identification of biological target molecules, bioactivity assays, and computational science and molecular design.
Key terms
- Chemical biology
- A research field that investigates biological phenomena using compounds as clues. This lab starts from natural products chemistry.
- Chemical probe
- A molecule made by introducing a reactive group and a detection group into a bioactive substance. It is used to identify target molecules and analyze binding sites.
- LA-LDI MS
- Label-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry, which requires no matrix. It can detect fluorescent tags with high sensitivity.
NewsLab news
A paper by a doctoral student was published in Chem Asian J
A paper by students and graduates was published in Angewandte Chemie, and a press release was issued
A paper by master's students and others was published in Toxins
A paper by students and graduates was published in Angewandte Chemie, and a press release was issued
Assistant Professor Takato Inoue won the Young Investigator Award at the 70th Toxin Symposium
ResearchResearch themes
Many biological phenomena in nature are controlled by endogenous and exogenous bioactive substances. The lab targets substances whose mechanisms of action are not understood, among others, and aims to discover compounds that could become the basis of drugs and agrochemicals and to discover new pharmacological actions.
*Illustrative imageElucidating neurotoxins of mammals
The lab studies the venoms of venomous mammals such as shrews and platypuses. It isolated a protease toxin from a North American shrew for the first time in a mammal, and will next work on identifying the target molecules on which the toxin acts.
*Illustrative imageElucidating the function of antitumor substances from marine organisms
The lab clarified how aplyronine A, derived from the sea hare (a mollusk), acts on actin and tubulin to inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Going forward, it will focus on antitumor and anti-inflammatory natural products whose functions are unknown.
*Illustrative imageA method for investigating the binding sites of target proteins
By combining chemical probes with a mass spectrometry method called LA-LDI MS, the lab aims to develop a method for examining in high resolution how bioactive substances bind to their target proteins. It is also working on improving fluorescent tags.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Natural Products Chemical Biology Lab consist of faculty members, postdoctoral researchers, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, research support staff, and technical assistants.As of 2026
- ProfessorMasaki Kita
- Associate ProfessorYuta Tsunematsu
- Assistant ProfessorTakato Inoue
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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: “LABORATORY SCENES IN CHEMISTRY LABORATORY AND INSTRUMENT RESEARCH LABORATORY IRL BASEMENT - NARA - 17451414” Martin Brown / Public domain (cropped)
- Elucidating neurotoxins of mammals: “Northern Short-tailed Shrew (Blarina brevicauda) - Kitchener, Ontario )” Ryan Hodnett / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Elucidating the function of antitumor substances from marine organisms: “Aplysia brasiliana (mottled sea hare) (Sanibel Island, Florida, USA) )” James St. John / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- A method for investigating the binding sites of target proteins: “Liquid chromatograph with a mass spectrometer operating on the principle of flight time in combination with a quadrupole analyzer (qTOF) in CAFIA laboratory, Czech Republic” Sarka Na kopci / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Natural Products Chemistry Lab): “Fume hood contains chemicals” Rayhana Alhour / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Integrative Organic Chemistry Lab): “Laboratory scientist conducts an experiment with a Rotary evaporator” National Eye Institute / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Bioorganic Chemistry Lab): “Rotary evaporator” Waag Society from Amsterdam, The Netherlands / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Molecular Biological Regulation Lab): “Electron microscope ISP” Yakovlev Viktor / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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