Chief Scientist Laboratories Biofunctional Synthetic Chemistry Laboratory

Chief Scientist: Katsunori Tanaka (Ph.D.)

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Research Summary

The long-term goal of our research is to develop the working tools and methodologies that will form the foundation of “Therapeutic In Vivo Synthetic Chemistry”. The main benefit of this approach is that synthetic transformations can be directly performed at target regions within the body to generate molecules that elicit localized biological effects. This method should largely circumvent off-target binding and instability issues associated with current drug administration techniques. We have been dedicated to developing the initial working proofs-of-concept and then to spearheading investigations toward their utility for therapeutic and diagnostic applications.

Main Research Fields

Chemistry

Related Research Fields

Complex Systems
Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering
Biology
Medicine, Dentistry & Pharmacy
Bio-related Chemistry
Biomolecule Chemistry
Chemical Biology

Keywords

Drug
Theranostics
Bioactive Compound
Glycan
Therapeutic In Vivo Synthetic Chemistry

Selected Publications

1. K. Vong, K. Tanaka:
"Chemical Biology tools take the strain"
Nature Chem. Biol., 21, 24, DOI: 10.1038/s41589-024-01780-5 (2024).
2. K. Yamada, A. Mukaimine, A. Nakamura, Y. Kusakari, A. R. Pradipta, T.-C. Chang, K. Tanaka:
"Chemistry-driven translocation of glycosylated proteins in mice"
Nature Commun., 15, 7409, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51342-5 (2024).
3. K. Imai, K. Muguruma, A. Nakamura, Y. Kusakari, T.-C. Chang, A. R. Pradipta, K. Tanaka:
"In vivo synthetic anticancer approach by resourcing mouse blood albumin as a biocompatible artificial metalloenzyme"
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., e202411225, DOI: 10.1002/anie.202411225 (2024).
4. T. Sumida, S. Hiraoka, K. Usui, A. Ishiwata, T. Sengoku, K. A. Stubbs, K. Tanaka, S. Deguchi, S. Fushinobu, T. Nunoura:
"Genetic and functional diversity of β-N-acetylgalactosamine residue-targeting glycosidases expanded by deep-sea metagenome and domain search"
Nature Commun., 15, 3543, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47653-2 (2024).
5. M. Shimokawa, A. Ishiwata, T. Kashima, C. Nakashima, J. Li, R. Fukushima, M. Sawai, K. Mimata, M. Nakamori, Y. Tanaka, A. Kudoh, S. Morigami, G. Akai, N. Shimizu, T. Arakawa, C. Yamada, K. Tanaka, Y. Ito, S. Fushinobu, K. Fujita:
"Identification and characterization of endo- and exo-hydrolases cleaving the α- and β-D-arabinofuranosidic bonds of lipoarabinomannan and arabinogalactan of Mycobacteria"
Nature Commun., 14, 5803, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41431-2 (2023).
6. M. Kurimoto, T.-C. Chang, Y. Nishiyama, T. Suzuki, N. Dohmae, K. Tanaka, S. Yokoshima:
"Anticancer approach inspired by the hepatotoxic mechanism of pyrrolizidine alkaloids by glycosylated artificial metalloenzymes"
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 61, e202205541, DOI: 10.1002/anie.202205541 (2022).
7. I. Nasibullin, I. Smirnov, P. Ahmadi, K. Vong, A. Kurbangalieva, K. Tanaka:
"Synthetic prodrug design enables biocatalytic activation in mice to elicit tumor growth suppression"
Nature Commun., 13, 39, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27804-5 (2022).
8. K. Vong, T. Tahara, S. Urano, I. Nasibullin, K. Tsubokura, Y. Nakao, A. Kurbangalieva, H. Onoe, Y. Watanabe, K. Tanaka:
"Disrupting tumor onset and growth via selective cell tagging (SeCT) therapy"
Sci. Adv., 7, eabg4038, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abg4038 (2021).
9. K. Vong, S. Eda, Y. Kadota, I. Nasibullin, T. Wakatake, S. Yokoshima, K. Shirasu, K. Tanaka:
"An artificial metalloenzyme biosensor can detect ethylene gas in fruits and Arabidopsis leaves"
Nature Commun., 10, 5746, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-13758-2 (2019).
10. S. Eda, I. Nasibullin, K. Vong, N. Kudo, M. Yoshida, A. Kurbangalieva, K. Tanaka
"Biocompatibility and therapeutic potential of glycosilated albumin artificial metalloenzymes"
Nature Catal., 2, 780-792, DOI: 10.1038/s41929-019-0317-4 (2019).