We investigate two independent research projects in this department. The first project aims to understand the molecular mechanisms regulating tissue homeostasis. The three keywords for our research are cancer, immunity, and metabolism. We previously revealed 1) an ubiquitin network involving the regulation of mammalian iron metabolism [Cell Metab. (2011), J. Biol. Chem. (2014), Mol. Cell. Biol (2017), Nat. Commun. (2017)], 2) regulatory mechanisms of the Hippo intracellular pathway [Cell (2015), Genes Dev. (2015), Nat. Commun. (2015), PNAS (2017), Nat. Cell Biol. (2017), Cancer Cell (2017)], and 3) involvement of extracellular vesicles in the induction of host anti-cancer immunity [Cell (2016)]. The goal of our research is to understand a physiological mechanism preventing cancer, and to provide scientific basis for drug discovery.
The second subject is the reaction mechanisms of coenzyme-dependent redox enzymes, which are investigated on the basis of crystal structural and various spectroscopic techniques. The mechanisms proposed are elucidated theoretically by molecular orbital calculations. The enzymes are those with vitamin-B2-related coenzyme (FAD), i.e., acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, acyl-CoA oxidase and D-amino acid oxidase. In the case of the oxidases, the control mechanisms with oxygen are also investigated with reference to their physiological significance.