Staff

TANIGUCHI TohruAssociate Professor

Laboratory
Laboratory of Molecular Chemical Biology
Research Theme
Chiral Chemical Biology
Research Keywords

nucleic acid, protein, carbohydrate, lipids, chemical biology, chirality, vibrational circular dichroism, the origin and evolution of life

Overview of Research

The secondary and higher-order structures of biomacromolecules govern various biological phenomena. In contrast to the extensive studies on proteins, biological roles of the secondary structures of nucleic acids and carbohydrates have not been well investigated, partly because of the difficulty of the analysis of their higher-order structures. Since the development and commercialization of a new chirotical spectroscopy, vibrational circular dichroism (VCD), we have extensively applied VCD spectroscopy to various biomacromolecules and demonstrated the effectiveness of this technique to their structural analysis. Based on our spectroscopic insight and organic synthesis, our current research aims to reveal the relationship between the sequences of nucleic acids / carbohydrates and their secondary structures. We should be able to control the secondary structures of these molecules through this work. (2) Then, we will test the biological activity of these structurally-regulated molecules. The molecules we will create should also be useful in studying an interaction mode of these biomolecules and their target proteins. (3) We also hope to gain an insight into the origin of the homochirality in our life system.

Charge

Message

In my 4-year research experience at Columbia and Harvard, I met good researchers and professors. I believe interaction with people with different thought and behavior enrich our life, which will be beneficial for performing interesting research.

Representative Publications

Refer to HOKKAIDO UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS DIRECTORY

Note

<Office Hour>
– Time: Anytime during the lecture period
– Place: Frontier-AMLS, 4F
Please contact in advance by E-mail.
E-mail: ttaniguchi[at]sci.hokudai.ac.jp

Affiliation