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Biological Structure and Function Analysis Lab
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A lab that determines the structures of disease-related proteins and applies them to drug discovery.
AboutAbout the lab
Determining 3D protein structures to advance drug discovery
The Biological Structure and Function Analysis Lab (Inoe Lab) studies the three-dimensional structures of disease-related proteins and applies them to drug development.
Mainly using X-ray crystallography, the lab investigates how proteins work at the atomic level.
The lab has also developed its own technology for finding proteins involved in disease.
By combining its work with other fields such as polymer chemistry, the lab is also developing techniques to accelerate cryo-electron microscopy and antibody-based imaging technologies.
Key terms
- X-ray crystallography
- A method that collects diffraction data from X-rays directed at a crystal to determine the positions of the atoms in a protein
- Serial femtosecond crystallography
- A method that collects data by continuously exposing many microcrystals to the extremely short X-ray pulses of an X-ray free-electron laser
- Epiregulin
- A growth factor of the epidermal growth factor family, highly expressed particularly in colorectal cancer cells
NewsLab news
A master's student won a Poster Award at the Annual Meeting of the Protein Science Society of Japan
Results from Assistant Professor Fukuda and colleagues and their collaborating institution were published in Nature Communications
A doctoral student and an undergraduate student won Student Excellent Presentation Awards at the 146th Annual Meeting of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan
A paper by Assistant Professor Fukuda and colleagues on a glycogen-degrading enzyme from gut bacteria was published in PNAS
An undergraduate student won the Best Poster Award at AsCA 2025
ResearchResearch themes
Most proteins function only after folding into a three-dimensional structure, and they are deeply involved in sustaining life. Mainly through X-ray crystallography, this lab elucidates protein functions at the atomic level, with the aim of contributing to the development of drugs that use small molecules and antibodies.
*Illustrative imageNew Techniques and Applications of X-ray Crystallography
A 2016 paper used serial femtosecond crystallography to examine a complex of copper-containing nitrite reductase and nitrite, and found a coordination geometry different from that seen in previous structural analyses. The lab is also developing methods for observing enzyme reactions as they happen.
*Illustrative imageHow Antibodies and Inhibitors Recognize Their Targets
A 2016 paper examined how the antibody 9E5 binds to Epiregulin, a growth factor highly expressed in colorectal cancer cells, by comparing the structures in the bound and unbound states. It showed that the antibody binds with high affinity and dissociates very slowly.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Inoe Lab consist of faculty, project researchers, researchers, joint researchers, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, and secretaries.As of 2026
- ProfessorTsuyoshi Inoe
- Associate ProfessorHaruyasu Asahara
- Assistant ProfessorYota Fukuda
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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: “MiTeGen Crystal Mounts” Henrysz / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- New Techniques and Applications of X-ray Crystallography: “CSIRO ScienceImage 418 XRay Crystallography Protein Crystals” division, CSIRO / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- How Antibodies and Inhibitors Recognize Their Targets: “Antibody IgG1 structure” Tokenzero / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Clinical Drug Efficacy Analysis Lab (Medical and Public Health Pharmaceutical Sciences)): “CT Coronary Artery Imaging” Goleisureintl / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Quantum Life Informatics and Pharmaceutical Sciences Lab): “Pleiades supercomputer racks 1” Oleg Alexandrov / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Quantitative Biophysical Chemistry Lab (Chemical Pharmaceutical Sciences Area)): “Orthogonal views of cytoplasmic capping protein superposed onto its homolog CapZ” Martin Kollmar / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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