構造タンパク質の学術的探究

タンパク質素材を自在に使いこなし、広く社会に普及させるために私たちが培ってきた技術は、実に多様で分野横断的な知見の集積に基づいています。なかでも私たちの技術の中核にある構造タンパク質の特性を実現するメカニズムをひも解く研究分野にはまだ未知の部分が多く、まさしくフロンティアであると言えます。この未開の領野を切り拓くには、学術界・産業界双方の知を高次に、かつ有機的に融合させることが不可欠です。

私たちは学術界の知を参照し、また構造タンパク質の素材産業化に向けた新しい試みのなかで得られた知を還元し続けることで、学術の世界と共に持続可能な未来を形作ることができると考えています。天然のクモ糸やカシミヤといったさまざまな種類のタンパク質の研究に私たちが取り組むのは、背景にそのような動機づけがあるからです。構造タンパク質が持つ素材としての豊かな可能性を探究し、産業化に向けて求められる特性を追求すること、そして、構造タンパク質素材の産業化・普及化が、人類社会、ひいては地球環境にどのような意味をもたらすのかを考究し続けること。これらのテーマは、学術界と産業界が共に力を合わせることによってこそ、加速させることができるのではないでしょうか。

• Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America|August 6, 2021
  Multicomponent nature underlies the extraordinary mechanical properties of spider dragline silk

  Nobuaki Kono, Hiroyuki Nakamura, Masaru Mori, Yuki Yoshida, Rintaro Ohtoshi, Ali D. Malay, Daniel A. Pedrazzoli Moran, Masaru Tomita, Keiji Numata, and Kazuharu Arakawa

  -> Abstract
• Biomolecules|April 12, 2021
  Xanthurenic Acid Is the Main Pigment of Trichonephila clavata Gold Dragline Silk

  Masayuki Fujiwara, Nobuaki Kono, Akiyoshi Hirayama, Ali D. Malay, Hiroyuki Nakamura, Rintaro Ohtoshi, Keiji Numata, Masaru Tomita and Kazuharu Arakawa

  -> Abstract
• Scientific Reports|January 8, 2021
  Environmental biodegradability of recombinant structural protein

  Yuya Tachibana, Sunita Darbe, Senri Hayashi, Alina Kudasheva, Haruna Misawa, Yuka Shibata & Ken-ichi Kasuya

  -> Abstract
• Polymer Journal|October 1, 2020
  Aqueous spinning system with a citrate buffer for highly extensible silk fibers

  Jianming Chen, Yoshinori Ohta, Hiroyuki Nakamura, Hiroyasu Masunaga, Keiji Numata

  -> Abstract
• Scientific Reports|September 24, 2020
  Spidroin profiling of cribellate spiders provides insight into the evolution of spider prey capture strategies

  Nobuaki Kono, Hiroyuki Nakamura, Masaru Mori, Masaru Tomita & Kazuharu Arakawa

  -> Abstract
• Molecular Biology and Evolution|August 14, 2019
  Sequenceserver: a modern graphical user interface for custom BLAST databases

  Anurag Priyam, Ben J Woodcroft, Vivek Rai, Ismail Moghul, Alekhya Munagala, Filip Ter, Hiten Chowdhary, Iwo Pieniak, Lawrence J Maynard, Mark Anthony Gibbins, HongKee Moon, Austin Davis-Richardson, Mahmut Uludag, Nathan S Watson-Haigh, Richard Challis, Hiroyuki Nakamura, Emeline Favreau, Esteban A Gómez, Tomás Pluskal, Guy Leonard, Wolfgang Rumpf, Yannick Wurm

  -> Abstract
• Scientific Reports|June 10, 2019
  Orb-weaving spider Araneus ventricosus genome elucidates the spidroin gene catalogue

  Nobuaki Kono, Hiroyuki Nakamura, Rintaro Ohtoshi, Daniel A. Pedrazzoli Moran, Asaka Shinohara, Yuki Yoshida, Masayuki Fujiwara, Masaru Mori, Masaru Tomita & Kazuharu Arakawa

  -> Abstract
• Communications Biology|April 29, 2019
  The bagworm genome reveals a unique fibroin gene that provides high tensile strength

  Nobuaki Kono, Hiroyuki Nakamura, Rintaro Ohtoshi, Masaru Tomita, Keiji Numata & Kazuharu Arakawa

  -> Abstract
• Mitochondrial DNA Part B|August 1, 2018
  The complete mitochondrial genome of Eumeta variegata (Lepidoptera: Psychidae)

  Kazuharu Arakawa, Nobuaki Kono, Rintaro Ohtoshi, Hiroyuki Nakamura, Masaru Tomita

  -> Abstract
• Polymer Degradation and Stability|April 12, 2018
  Stabilization of recombinant spider silk in thermo-oxidative degradation: High-throughput screening for antioxidants

  Anh T.N. Dao, Jun'ichi Shimokata, Kengo Takeuchi, Koyuru Nakayama, Toshiaki Taniike

  -> Abstract
• Scientific Reports|January 29, 2018
  Reconstruction of cysteine biosynthesis using engineered cysteine-free enzymes

  Kosuke Fujishima, Kendrick M. Wang, Jesse A. Palmer, Nozomi Abe, Kenji Nakahigashi, Drew Endy & Lynn J. Rothschild

  -> Abstract
• Macromolecules|October 13, 2017
  NMR Investigation about Heterogeneous Structure and Dynamics of Recombinant Spider Silk in the Dry and Hydrated States

  Yugo Tasei, Akio Nishimura, Yu Suzuki, Takehiro K. Sato, Junichi Sugahara, and Tetsuo Asakura

  -> Abstract
• Polymer Degradation and Stability|August 12, 2017
  Chemiluminescence from recombinant spider silk under thermo-oxidative degradation

  Koyuru Nakayama, Anh T.N. Dao, Kengo Takeuchi, Junichi Shimokata, Toshiaki Taniike

  -> Abstract
• Polymer Chemistry|January 2, 2017
  Multilateral characterization of recombinant spider silk in thermal degradation

  Anh T. N. Dao, K. Nakayama, J. Shimokata and T. Taniike

  -> Abstract
• Biomacromolecules|February 2, 2016
  Influence of Water Content on the β-Sheet Formation, Thermal Stability, Water Removal, and Mechanical Properties of Silk Materials

  Kenjiro Yazawa, Kana Ishida, Hiroyasu Masunaga, Takaaki Hikima and Keiji Numata

  -> Abstract
• Molecular Ecology Resources|November 12, 2015
  Evaluation of the impact of RNA preservation methods of spiders for de novo transcriptome assembly

  Nobuaki Kono, Hiroyuki Nakamura, Yusuke Ito, Masaru Tomita, Kazuharu Arakawa

  -> Abstract
• Polymer|October 23, 2015
  Crystal structure and physical properties of Antheraea yamamai silk fibers: Long poly(alanine) sequences are partially in the crystalline region

  Keiji Numata, Ryota Sato, Kenjiro Yazawa, Takaaki Hikima, Hiroyasu Masunaga

  -> Abstract
• Soft Matter|June 30, 2015
  Use of extension-deformation-based crystallisation of silk fibres to differentiate their functions in nature

  Keiji Numata, Hiroyasu Masunaga, Takaaki Hikima, Sono Sasaki, Kazuhide Sekiyama and Masaki Takata

  -> Abstract