Labs in University of Tsukuba

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A lab that explores the causes of disease and drug discovery through the structures of molecules.

The Structural Biochemistry Lab studies the mysteries of life and the causes of disease by determining the structures of molecules. For structural analysis, the lab uses cryo-electron microscopy with single-particle analysis, as well as X-ray crystallography. Targeting viruses, bacteria, and soft tissue tumors, the lab performs structural analysis with the aim of contributing to drug discovery. On the lab's website, it is introduced under the name "Iwasaki Lab."

#Structural biochemistry #Cryo-electron microscopy #Soft tissue tumors

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A medicinal chemistry lab that designs and synthesizes molecules for drugs acting on sleep and the brain.

The Pharmaceutical Chemistry Lab conducts drug discovery research, designing and synthesizing new compounds that act on orexin receptors and opioid receptors and leading them toward drug development. It mainly targets drugs that act on the central nervous system, covering the control of sleep and wakefulness and the treatment of pain and depression. The lab repeats a cycle in which chemically synthesized molecules are pharmacologically evaluated, the results are reflected in the next molecular design, and new molecules are synthesized, aiming to develop drug candidate compounds. On the lab's website, it is introduced as the Kutsumura Group (Pharmaceutical Chemistry) in the Chemistry Division of the Institute of Pure and Applied Sciences, and as the Kutsumura-Saito Lab (Medicinal Chemistry) at the International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine.

#Orexin receptors #Medicinal chemistry #Synthetic organic chemistry

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The lab studies solar cells based on organic semiconductors and perovskites.

The Organic Electronics Chemistry Lab studies solar cells that use organic semiconductors and organic-inorganic hybrid materials. Solar cells made from organic semiconductors are attracting attention because they are low-cost, lightweight, flexible, and offer excellent design versatility. Perovskite solar cells are expected to achieve ultra-high efficiency when combined with silicon solar cells in a tandem configuration. Professor Yuji Yoshida is a researcher at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and also serves as a professor of a cooperative chair in the Chemistry Degree Program at the University of Tsukuba.

#Organic thin-film solar cells #Perovskite solar cells #Organic semiconductors

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The lab creates molecules and materials that change and move in response to light.

The Photofunctional Materials Chemistry Lab studies the phenomenon in which structural changes at the molecular level caused by light are amplified into visible changes, as well as its applications. Students handle the design, synthesis, and functional evaluation of photofunctional molecules from start to finish, gaining experience in creating molecules (organic synthesis) and developing materials (property evaluation and application development). The lab accepts students through a cooperative graduate school system, in which they conduct research in a laboratory at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and earn their degree (master's or doctoral) from the University of Tsukuba. Those who are interested can also arrange a lab visit.

#Photofunctional molecules #Solid-liquid transitions #Light-driven materials

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The lab develops gels driven by chemical reactions as tiny power sources for analytical chips.

The Functional Polymer Gel Chemistry Lab works on polymer gel components that move on the energy of chemical reactions (gel actuators). As a cooperative graduate school of the Chemistry Degree Program, the lab is located at the Tsukuba Center of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). Gel actuators can operate even when made very small, so the lab aims to use them as power sources for pumps and mixers built into microchannels. The lab's goal is to make disposable analytical chips that need no external power supply or external control device, and to apply them to biological and medical analysis.

#Gel actuators #Microfluidic devices #Self-excited vibration

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The lab studies organic reactions that break down stable plastics to give them new functions or return them to raw materials.

The Organic Reaction Chemistry Lab studies new molecular transformation reactions that convert the stable bonds of organic compounds and stable polymers. From the perspective of precisely breaking down underused resources and adding functions to them, the lab develops technologies that contribute to the chemical recycling of plastics. Under the University of Tsukuba's cooperative graduate school system, the lab operates at the Tsukuba Center of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). The lab can carry out joint research with a variety of AIST researchers, and AIST also has internal support programs for graduate students.

#Chemical recycling #Molecular transformation reactions #Super engineering plastics

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The lab studies catalysts and reactions for storing and releasing hydrogen using formic acid.

The High-Pressure Organic Chemistry Lab works on catalysts for reactions that extract hydrogen from formic acid and methanol (dehydrogenation), and for reactions that produce them from carbon dioxide and hydrogen. As a cooperative graduate school of the Degree Program in Chemistry, the lab is based at the Tsukuba Center of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). The lab also investigates a method that uses iridium complex catalysts to store hydrogen from carbon dioxide in the form of formate, and to release it through formic acid dehydrogenation. The lab has developed an analytical method that uses UV-Vis spectroscopy to directly observe reactions as they proceed, and uses it to study how catalysts degrade and how the reactions work.

#Formic acid #Hydrogen #Catalysis

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The lab develops reactions that modify only targeted positions on sugars.

The Precision Molecular Transformation Chemistry Lab studied reactions that chemically modify only targeted positions in sugar molecules. As a cooperative graduate school of the Degree Program in Chemistry, the lab was based at the Tsukuba Center of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). Because sugars have multiple hydroxyl groups in a single molecule, conventional synthesis and modification required cumbersome processes of repeated protection and deprotection. The lab developed methods that distinguish and modify specific hydroxyl groups or specific sugars without using protecting groups, and carried out research aiming at technologies that support glycan research and medicinal chemistry.

#Glycans #Regioselective reactions #Glycoproteins

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生体分子化学 (introduction coming soon)

We're preparing this lab's page. You can check its research on the lab's official website.

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The lab studies how luminescent polymers can be used as photocatalysts for organic synthesis.

The Catalytic Organic Chemistry Lab studies photocatalysts, which work when exposed to light, for use in reactions that produce organic compounds. As a cooperative graduate school program of the Degree Program in Chemistry, the lab is located at the Tsukuba Center of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). The lab is exploring the use of poly(diphenylacetylene)s, which have mainly been studied as materials because of their luminescent properties, as photocatalysts for organic synthesis. By taking advantage of the structural features of polymers, the lab aims to flexibly create photocatalysts suited to the target reaction.

#Photocatalysis #π-conjugated polymers #Electron transfer reactions