RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research Laboratory for Advanced NMR Application and Development
Team Leader: Yoshitaka Ishii (Ph.D.)
Research Summary

Based at the internationally renowned NMR research center at the RIKEN Yokohama Campus, we develop world-leading high-field NMR methodologies and conduct advanced application research. In particular, we will work on development of NMR methods to elucidate the structures and functions of biomolecules such as amyloid proteins, RNA, and nano-biomaterials, which are difficult to analyze using conventional structural biology methods. We also develop advanced NMR methods suited for ultra-high-field NMR magnets that are under development at RIKEN as part of a JST-MIRAI project. It is also within our scope to explore novel NMR applications and NMR analysis integrated with electron microscopy and other methods.
Main Research Fields
- Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering
Related Research Fields
- Engineering
- Chemistry
- Mathematical & Physical Sciences
- Biological Sciences
- Biology
- Structural Biochemistry
- Polymer/Fiber material
- Applied Organic Chemistry
Keywords
- High-field NMR
- Physical chemistry
- Structural Biology
Selected Publications
- 1.
Shintaro Minami, Naohiro Kobayashi, Toshihiko Sugiki, Toshio Nagashima, Toshimichi Fujiwara, Rie Tatsumi-Koga, George Chikenji & Nobuyasu Koga.:
"Exploration of novel αβ-protein folds through de novo design."
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology volume 30, pages 1132–1140 (2023) - 2.
Kyoko Takatsu, Naohiro Kobayashi, Nan Wu , Yves L. Janin, Toshio Yamazaki, Yutaka Kuroda.:
"Biophysical analysis of Gaussia luciferase bioluminescence mechanisms using a non-oxidizable coelenterazine"
BBA Advances, Volume 3, 2023, 100068 - 3.
Koya Sakuma, Naohiro Kobayashi, Toshihiko Sugiki, Toshio Nagashima, Toshimichi Fujiwara, Kano Suzuki, Naoya Kobayashi, Takeshi Murata, Takahiro Kosugi, Rie Tatsumi-Koga & Nobuyasu Koga.:
"Design of complicated all-α protein structures"
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology volume 31, pages 275–282 (2024) - 4.
Techit Tritrakarn, Kouki Yamamoto, Masato Takahashi, Tetsuji Okamura.:
"New unifying metric for NMR/MRI probe evaluation based on optimized solenoid coil geometry"
Journal of Magnetic Resonance, Volume 358, January 2024, 107602 - 5.
Takako Ohyama, Takuo Osawa, Shun-ichi Sekine, Yoshitaka Ishii.:
"NMR Studies of Genomic RNA in 3′ Untranslated Region Unveil Pseudoknot Structure that Initiates Viral RNA Replication in SARS-CoV-2"
JACS Au, Vol 4, Issue 4, pp.1323−1333 (2024) - 6.
Kousuke Kashihara, Muneki Oouchi, Yu Kodama, Tatsuhiro Arai, Miki Horie, Takehiro Kitaura, and Yoshitaka Ishii*.:
"High-Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Studies Reveal New Structural Landscape of Sulfur-Vulcanized Natural Rubber"
Biomacromolecules 2022 23 (11), pp. 4481-4492 - 7.
Matsunaga T, Okabe R, Ishii Y.:
"Efficient solvent suppression with adiabatic inversion for 1H-detected solid-state NMR."
Journal of Biomolecular NMR (2021), Volume 75, pages 365–370 - 8.
Wickramasinghe A, Xiao Y, Kobayashi N, et al.
"Sensitivity-Enhanced Solid-State NMR Detection of Structural Differences and Unique Polymorphs in Pico- to Nanomolar Amounts of Brain-Derived and Synthetic 42-Residue Amyloid-β Fibrils."
Journal of the American Chemical Society 143(30), 11462-11472 (2021) - 9.
Matsunaga T, Matsuda I, Yamazaki T, Ishii Y.:
"Decoherence optimized tilted-angle cross polarization: A novel concept for sensitivity-enhanced solid-state NMR using ultra-fast magic angle spinning."
Journal of Magnetic Resonance 322, 106857 (2021)
Recent Research Results
Related Links
Lab Members
Principal investigator
- Yoshitaka Ishii
- Team Leader
Core members
- Naohiro Kobayashi
- Senior Scientist
- Masato Takahashi
- Senior Scientist
- Takako Ohyama
- Research Scientist
- Ayesha Wijalath Pelige
- Research Scientist
- Mohammad JafarTehrani
- Research Associate
- Kyoko Seimiya
- Technical Staff I
Contact Information
N108 West NMR Complex,
1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku,
Yokohama City, Kanagawa,
230-0045, Japan
Email: yoshitaka.ishii@riken.jp