We really enjoyed the Post-BB2025 Mini-Symposium! All the talks were very stimulating, and we got to hear many exciting unpublished results. Huge thanks to Neal and all the invited speakers for making this symposium a success! 🥳

Here is the program. If you are nearby and interested, please feel free to join us! 😃

📣 We will organize the “Post-BB2025 Mini-Symposium on Lipid-Focused Chemical and Synthetic Biology” on Nov 27 at NITech!
Speakers: Prof. Neal K. Devaraj, Prof. Shohei Uchinomiya, Prof. Hao Zhu, Prof. Sayuri Higashi, Dr. Kristina V. Bayer, and Prof. Satoshi Yamaguchi.

Our paper has been featured on the front cover of the latest issue of ChemBioChem! Huge thanks to Hiroko Uchida for the beautiful artwork—we love it! 😊
chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14397633...

Welcome back, Keita! After a wonderful 3-month stay at the Neal Devaraj lab at UCSD, he’s back with exciting results and unforgettable memories👍 Huge thanks to Neal and his amazing team for hosting him!

Our PhD student Tomoki Miyazaki won the Best Poster Presentation Award at the Joint Meeting of the 77th JSCB and 58th JSDB for his work on a novel small protein tag for fluorescence imaging. Congrats, Tomoki! 🥳🎉
pub.confit.atlas.jp/en/event/jsc...

✈️ Our PhD student, Keita Tsutsui, has just left for California to join the Neal Devaraj lab at UCSD! He’ll be working on our collaborative research on synthetic cells over the next three months. Wishing you an exciting time in both science and life in the US, Keita!

Our new lab photo for 2025😃
Very grateful and excited to keep pushing science forward with this amazing team!!🚀

The in vitro-selected AzoTags work in mammalian cells! Together with HaloTag, they enable precise, reversible, and repeatable switching of cellular processes using dual light. Several applications are showcased in the manuscript.

Using this approach, we created artificial proteins named AzoTags, which selectively bind to the cis-forms of designed azobenzene derivatives. The trans–cis isomerization of these molecules can be reversibly controlled using two distinct wavelengths of visible light.

The in vitro-selected AzoTags function in mammalian cells! In combination with HaloTag, they enable precise, reversible, and repeatable switching of cellular processes using dual light. Several applications are showcased in the manuscript.

Using this approach, we generated artificial proteins called AzoTags, which selectively bind to the cis-form of a designed azobenzene derivative. The trans–cis isomerization of this molecule can be reversibly controlled using two distinct wavelengths of visible light.

This year's master's thesis defense and undergraduate research presentations are all complete! Here is a group shot of Tomoki and Xiaotong (M2), along with Masahiro, Shoei, and Yusuke (B4), after their presentations. They all did a great job in both their talks and the Q&A session👏

Program Overview

📣 On March 27, the Asian International Symposium will take place at the 105th CSJ Annual Meeting. Six leading researchers from China & Korea, along with six outstanding young researchers from Japan, will give talks. Chemical biologists attending the CSJ meeting—don’t miss it!

Got the protein structure pin of the SARS-CoV-2 protease from CreativeScienceCo! The actual pin looks even more stylish and high-class than I had imagined! Keita, who is developing a liposome sensor for the protease, looks great sporting it on his lab coat! ✨
www.etsy.com/jp/listing/1...

Xiaotong Wang won the Best Poster Award at ACBC2025! His poster, titled "Reversible chemogenetic control of ORP5-mediated membrane contacts and lipid transfer in mammalian cells," was a great success. Congrats, Xiaotong! 🥳🎉

🎉 Big congrats to Tomoki Miyazaki and Xiaotong Wang for winning the Best Poster Award at ISNM2024! Tomoki presented a novel small protein tag for fluorescence imaging, while Xiaotong showcased an inner-PM-specific peptide delivery tool. Their applications are ongoing in our lab!
www.isnm2024.com