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Bioorganic Chemistry Lab
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The lab performs organic chemistry inside cells to tag only the molecules it targets.
AboutAbout the lab
Pioneering organic chemistry inside cells and living organisms.
The Bioorganic Chemistry Lab studies how to trigger organic chemical reactions inside cells and inside the bodies of living organisms.
It is a chemical biology lab that combines organic chemistry, molecular recognition chemistry, analytical chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology.
The lab develops molecular probes for studying biomolecules such as proteins and lipids.
Using these tools, it takes on the challenges of understanding how the brain works and developing new cancer therapies.
Key terms
- Chemical biology
- A research field that uses molecules made through chemistry as tools to investigate and manipulate the mechanisms of life
- Molecular probe
- An artificial molecule that binds to the biomolecule of interest and reports its location and function
- Organelle
- A small, membrane-bound structure inside a cell, such as the nucleus or mitochondria
NewsLab news
A student received a Poster Award at the 20th Symposium on Bio-related Chemistry
Paper on tmPhoxID accepted by Nature Communications
ResearchResearch themes
Centered on proteins, the lab pursues chemical biology research that uses organic chemistry, molecular recognition chemistry, and analytical chemistry as its main tools. It develops methods to mark proteins and lipids inside living cells and to read out where they are located and what they do.
*Illustrative imageTagging proteins inside cells
The lab develops reactions that selectively modify only the targeted proteins that naturally exist in cells and in the body. Tagged proteins can be used to analyze biological functions and to search for drug molecules that inhibit their activity.
*Illustrative imageSeeing and manipulating neural receptors
Many mechanisms in the central nervous system, which governs memory and thought, remain unknown. The lab develops chemical methods to visualize neurotransmitter receptors and to identify the partners they bind to.
*Illustrative imageMaking organelle lipids fluoresce
The lipids that form cell membranes and intracellular organelles constantly change in both structure and location. The lab developed the world's first method to fluorescently modify only the lipids of a specific organelle in living cells, and is tracking their behavior.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Bioorganic Chemistry Lab include faculty members, researchers, JSPS Research Fellows, technical assistants, administrative assistants, and students.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorTomonori Tamura
VoicesStudent voices
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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: “Crystal Jelly ("Aequorea Victoria"), Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, California, USA” Jim G from Silicon Valley, CA, USA / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Tagging proteins inside cells: “Fluorescein in ammonia solution (Part 13)” RaúlCHTRY / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Seeing and manipulating neural receptors: “Neurons (Purkinje cells)” Lennart Rikk / CC0 (cropped)
- Making organelle lipids fluoresce: “Lipid Islands on Soap Bubble” KarlGaff / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (有機金属化学): “Photoreactor Sun Tracking LERF Timisoara RO 1” Mihai-Cosmin Pascariu / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (分子生物化学): “Domestic canary from Morocco” Mounir Neddi / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (先端医工学): “PET MRI Scanner (NIH BioArt )” Courtesy of NIAID Malcolm Houston / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (分子集合体化学): “CSIRO ScienceImage 11637 Scanning electron microscope image of the seed inside the MOF crystals” Dr Paolo Falcaro and Dr Dario Buso, CSIRO / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
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