(From left, IIR Director-General Koyama, Specially Appointed Professor Anne Zehnacker-Rentien, Professor Fujii)

＜Brief introduction of collaborative research and aims at WRHI＞

Our collaborative research belongs to the thematic area of molecular recognition. It aims at understanding the effect of chirality in the neurotransmitter/adrenergic receptor interaction or in drug/receptor interactions. We will characterize the structure of complexes formed by a short peptide sequence that mimics the binding motif of the receptor and the neurotransmitter, or the drug, by laser spectroscopy in a cryogenic ion trap. Comparison between the complex involving natural and non-natural chirality will allow understanding the role of chirality in the agonist role of the neurotransmitter or the activity of the drug at a molecular level. We expect these results to shed light on the so-called “homochirality of life”.

<Collaborative Researcher>

Dr. Masaaki Fujii(Professor, Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Tech)