Structural Biology
Nishimasu Laboratory

Understanding of the Structure and Function of Diverse Proteins and Nucleic Acids, and Development of New Technologies

Structural and functional elucidation of proteins and nucleic acids

Proteins and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) are involved in a wide variety of biological processes. While ordinary proteins act like “lock and key” on specific substrates, some proteins associate with RNAs, which determine the specificity for its target nucleic acids. For example, the Cas9 protein from the prokaryotic CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune system associates with a guide RNA and cleaves a doublestranded DNA that is complementary to the RNA guide. Thus, Cas9 has been applied to various new technologies, including genome editing. We have determined the structures of protein-nucleic acid complexes, such as Cas9, Cas12 and Cas7-11, and have elucidated their action mechanisms. In addition, we performed structurebased molecular engineering to develop new genome-editing technologies. Using multiple techniques, such as biochemistry, X-ray crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy, and single-molecule observation, we elucidate the action mechanisms of diverse proteins and nucleic acids, understand biological processes at atomic levels, and develop new useful technologies. Furthermore, we aim to explore novel enzymes that have not yet been discovered, and to elucidate their structure and function.

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• Nishimasu lab

Member

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• • Professor
    Hiroshi NISHIMASU
  Specialized field: Biochemistry, Structural Biology

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