RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences Laboratory for In situ Structural Biology

Team Director: Reiya Taniguchi (Ph.D.)

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Research Summary

The intracellular space is a highly complex environment, where diverse macromolecules coexist with multiple cellular organelles in an extremely crowded manner. How individual protein molecules behave under such conditions and how those molecules interact with the surrounding environment to fulfill biological functions remain largely unexplored. Our team is trying to address this fundamental question by visualizing and analyzing protein structures in situ, using cryo-electron tomography. Specifically, we focus on intracellular vesicle trafficking and cargo sorting processes, aiming to understand their molecular basis from a structural perspective.

Main Research Fields

Biology

Related Research Fields

Biological Sciences
Structural biochemistry
Cell biology
Molecular biology

Keywords

Cryo-electron tomography
Cryo-focused ion beam milling
In situ structural biology

Selected Publications

Papers with an asterisk(*) are based on research conducted outside of RIKEN.

1. *Taniguchi R, Orniacki C., Kreysing JP., Zila V., Zimmerli CE., Böhm S., Turoňová B., Kräusslich H-G., Doye V., Beck M.:
"Nuclear pores safeguard the integrity of the nuclear envelope."
bioRxiv. doi: 10.1101/2024.02.05.578890 (2024)
2. *Xing H, Taniguchi R, Khusainov I, Kreysing JP, Welsch S, Turoňová B, Beck M.:
"Translation dynamics in human cells visualized at high resolution reveal cancer drug action."
Science. 381(6653), adh1411 (2023)
3. *Mosalaganti S, Obarska-Kosinska A, Siggel M, Taniguchi R, Turoňová B, Zimmerli CE, Buczak K, Schmidt FH, Margiotta E, Mackmull MT, Hagen WJH, Hummer G, Kosinski J, Beck M.:
"AI-based structure prediction empowers integrative structural analysis of human nuclear pores."
Science, 376(6598), abm9506 (2022)
4. *Kato T, Kumazaki K, Wada M, Taniguchi R, Nakane T, Yamashita K, Hirata K, Ishitani R, Ito K, Nishizawa T, Nureki O.:
"Crystal structure of plant vacuolar iron transporter VIT1."
Nat. Plants. 5(3), 308-315 (2019)
5. *Oda K, Vierock J, Oishi S, Rodriguez-Rozada S, Taniguchi R, Yamashita K, Wiegert JS, Nishizawa T, Hegemann P, Nureki O.:
"Crystal structure of the red light-activated channelrhodopsin Chrimson."
Nat. Commun. 9(1):3949, doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-06421-9 (2018)
6. *Taniguchi R, Inoue A, Sayama M, Uwamizu A, Yamashita K, Hirata K, Yoshida M, Tanaka Y, Kato H.E., Nakada-Nakura Y, Otani Y, Nishizawa T, Doi T, Ohwada T, Ishitani R, Aoki J, and Nureki O.:
"Structural insights into ligand recognition by the lysophosphatidic acid receptor LPA₆."
Nature 548, 356-360 (2017)
7. *Taniguchi R, Kato H.E., Font J, Deshpande C.N., Wada M, Ito K, Ishitani R, Jormakka M, and Nureki O.:
"Outward- and inward-facing structures of a putative bacterial transition-metal transporter with homology to ferroportin."
Nat. Commun. 6:8545, doi: 10.1038/ncomms9545 (2015)

Lab Members

Principal investigator

Reiya Taniguchi: Team Director

Contact Information

Email: reiya.taniguchi@riken.jp