Proteins are essential nano-materials and nano-machine in living organisms. Structure and function of many proteins have been reported due to progress of molecular biology and structural biology. Our next challenge is to design and construct custom-made functional proteins as we would like it. We are trying to design and construct functional artificial proteins. For example, the ongoing research projects are design and construction of de novo sensor protein, de novo binding proteins, and fusion proteins with silk-like proteins. We would like to apply artificial proteins to industries and medicals, and to contribute to society in the near future.
Profile
Ryoichi ARAI
- Research Area:
- Protein engineering, Structural biology
- Keywords:
- Protein design, Chimeric protein, Fusion protein, Engineered protein, X-ray crystallography
- Contact:
- 3-15-1 Tokida, Ueda-shi, Nagano-ken
Japan 386-8567
E-mail: rarai[at-mark]shinshu-u.ac.jp - URL:
- http://bs.shinshu-u.ac.jp/arai/
Employment Experience:
12/2007-present :
Assistant professor, Fiber-Nanotech Young Researcher
Empowerment Center, Shinshu University, Ueda, Nagano, Japan.
2/2006-11/2007:
JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow for Research Abroad, Department
of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA (Supervisor: Dr.
Michael H. Hecht).
4/2004-2/2006 :
Research Scientist, Protein Research Group, Genomic
Sciences Center, RIKEN Yokohama Institute, Yokohama, Japan (Supervisor:
Dr. Shigeyuki Yokoyama).
4/2001-3/2004 :
Research Associate, Protein Research Group, Genomic
Sciences Center, RIKEN Yokohama Institute, Yokohama, Japan (Supervisor:
Dr. Shigeyuki Yokoyama).
4/1998-3/2001 :
Education:
Ph.D. in Biotechnology, Department of Chemistry and
Biotechnology, Graduate school of Engineering, The University of Tokyo,
Tokyo, Japan (2001) (Supervisor: Dr. Teruyuki Nagamune)
M. Eng. in Biotechnology, Department of Chemistry and
Biotechnology, Graduate school of Engineering, The University of Tokyo,
Tokyo, Japan (1998) (Supervisor: Dr. Teruyuki Nagamune)
B. Eng. in Biotechnology, Department of Chemistry and
Biotechnology, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
(1996) (Supervisor: Dr. Shintaro Furusaki)
Awards:
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
Postdoctoral Fellowships for Research Abroad (2006-2007)
Ishii Science Promotion Award, General Research Promotion Foundation (2001)
Research Fellowships for Young Scientists, Japan Society
for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). (1998-2001)
Award for graduate students, The Society of Chemical
Engineers, Japan (1997)
Selected Publications:
- Arai, R., Ito, K., Ohnishi, T., Ohba, H., Akasaka, R., Bessho, Y., Hanawa-Suetsugu, K., Yoshikawa, T., Shirouzu, M. and Yokoyama, S. Crystal structure of human myo-inositol monophosphatase 2, the product of the putative susceptibility gene for bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and febrile seizures. Proteins 67, 732-742 (2007).
- Arai, R., Kukimoto-Niino, M., Uda-Tochio, H., Morita, S., Uchikubo-Kamo, T., Akasaka, R., Etou, Y., Hayashizaki, Y., Kigawa, T., Terada, T., Shirouzu, M. and Yokoyama, S. Crystal structure of an enhancer of rudimentary homolog (ERH) at 2.1 Angstroms resolution. Protein Sci 14, 1888-1893 (2005).
- Arai, R., Nishimoto, M., Toyama, M., Terada, T., Kuramitsu, S., Shirouzu, M. and Yokoyama, S. Conserved protein TTHA1554 from Thermus thermophilus HB8 binds to glutamine synthetase and cystathionine beta-lyase. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1750, 40-47 (2005).
- Arai, R., Wriggers, W., Nishikawa, Y., Nagamune, T. and Fujisawa, T. Conformations of variably linked chimeric proteins evaluated by synchrotron X-ray small-angle scattering. Proteins 57, 829-838 (2004).
- Arai, R., Nakagawa, H., Tsumoto, K., Mahoney, W., Kumagai, I., Ueda, H. and Nagamune, T. Demonstration of a homogeneous noncompetitive immunoassay based on bioluminescence resonance energy transfer. Anal. Biochem. 289, 77-81 (2001).
- Arai, R., Ueda, H., Tsumoto, K., Mahoney, W.C., Kumagai, I. and Nagamune, T. Fluorolabeling of antibody variable domains with green fluorescent protein variants: application to an energy transfer-based homogeneous immunoassay. Protein Eng. 13, 369-376 (2000).
Research Statement
