Research field：Chemical Biology, Synthetic Organic Chemistry

Keywords：Organic synthesis, Lipid science, Bioimaging

Education 

2009–2013       Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Nagoya University

2013–2018      Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University (Prof. Kenichiro Itami)

2018. May          Ph.D (Science) 

Experience

2015–2018
JSPS Research Fellowship for Young Scientists (DC1)

2018–2019
Designated Researcher
Department of Chemistry & Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo (Prof. Shinsuke Sando)

2019–2019
Special Postdoctoral Researcher
Molecular Bioregulation Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (Dr. Shinya Hagihara)

2019–present
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry & Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo (Prof. Shinsuke Sando)

その他

2016
Visiting student at California Institute of Technology, USA (Prof. Brian M. Stoltz)

2016
Student of the Noyori Forum

Publication

1. "Solid-phase synthesis of polyunsaturated fatty acids facilitates precise structural investigation on FFAR1/4 agonist activities and the inhibition of neutrophil pseudopod formation"
   Yaohong Shi,   Yutaro Saito,*   Masashi Hotta, Mayuko Akita, Akiharu Uwamizu, Junken Aoki, Jun Kunisawa, Shinsuke Sando*
   RSC Adv. 2025, 15, 32263–32270, DOI: 10.1039/d5ra04836b

2. "Ala-[1-13C]Gly-d2-15NMe2: Hyperpolarized Molecular Probe for Aminopeptidase N Activity with Suppressed Scalar Relaxation"
   Yutaro Saito,† Hiroyuki Yatabe,† Murali C. Krishna, Kazutoshi Yamamoto, Shinsuke Sando*
   Chem. Lett. 2025, 54, upaf150, DOI: 10.1093/chemle/upaf150
   Selected as Editor's Choice.
   †These authors contributed equally to this work

3. "Expedited access to polyunsaturated fatty acids and biofunctional analogs by full solid-phase synthesis"
   Yutaro Saito,†,* Mayuko Akita,† Azusa Saika,† Yusuke Sano, Masashi Hotta, Jumpei Morimoto, Akiharu Uwamizu, Junken Aoki, Takahiro Nagatake, Jun Kunisawa,* Shinsuke Sando*
   Nature Chem. 2025, 17, 1391– 1400. DOI: 10.1038/s41557-025-01853-5
   ChemRxiv 2024, DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2024-p2tcc
   †These authors contributed equally to this work

4. "In vivo monitoring of hyperpolarized [15N]betaine-d11 signal for one hour"
   Ruki Ashikaga†, Yutaro Saito†, Abdelazim Elhelaly, Hiroyuki Yatabe, Yohei Kondo, Hiroshi Nonaka, Imai Hirohiko, Fuminori Hyodo, Masayuki Matsuo, Shinsuke Sando*
   ChemRxiv 2025, DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2025-0qxks
   †These authors contributed equally to this work

5. "Imaging Heterogeneous Patterns of Aminopeptidase N Activity in Hierarchical Tissue Structures Through High-resolution Whole-organ 3D Mapping"
   Bo Yi, Hiroyuki Yatabe, Daichi M. Sakamoto, Iori Tamura, Yutaro Saito, Naoki Yamada, Ruki Ashikaga, Masafumi Kuroda, Shimpei I. Kubota, Kazuki Tainaka, and Shinsuke Sando*
   Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2025, 64, e202504668. DOI: 10.1002/anie.202504668

6. "Zwitterionic polymer with minimal reactivity against PEG antibodies to enhance the therapeutic effects of cytokine-targeting DNA aptamer"
   Seojung Cho, Miyuki Hori, Ryosuke Ueki, Yutaro Saito, Yukiko Nagai, Haruka Iki, Akira Tsuchiya, Tomohiro Konno, Kensuke Owari, Haishun Piao, Kazunobu Futami, Shinsuke Sando
   Biomatr. Sci. 2025, 13, 1347-1353. DOI: 10.1039/D4BM01541J

7. "In vivo multiplexed analysis of aminopeptidase activities by hyperpolarized molecular probes for tumor diagnostic applications"
   Hiroyuki Yatabe, Keita Saito, Ayumi Koike, Yoichi Takakusagi, Abdelazim E. Elhelaly, Fuminori Hyodo, Masayuki Matsuo, Wataru Mizukami, Maki Sugaya, Tsuyoshi Osawa, Murali C. Krishna, Kazutoshi Yamamoto, Yutaro Saito, Shinsuke Sando*
   ChemRxiv 2025, DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2025-wcbc3

8. "Directly monitoring the dynamic in vivo metabolisms of hyperpolarized 13C-oligopeptides"
   Yohei Kondo, Yutaro Saito, Tomohiro Seki, Yoichi Takakusagi, Jumpei Morimoto, Hiroshi Nonaka, Koichiro Miyanishi, Wataru Mizukami, Makoto Negoro, Abdelazim Elsayed Elhelaly, Fuminori Hyodo, Masayuki Matsuo, Natarajan Raju, Rolf Swenson, Murali C. Krishna, Kazutoshi Yamamoto, and Shinsuke Sando
   Science Adv. 2024, 10, eadp2533. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adp2533
   ChemRxiv 2022, DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2022-tfkk1.

9. "Oxidation-guided and collision-induced linearization assists de novo sequencing of thioether macrocyclic peptides"
   Ayaka Hayashi   Yuki Goto,* Yutaro Saito, Hiroaki Suga, Jumpei Morimoto,* Shinsuke Sando*
   Chem. Commun. 2024, 60, 9436–9439. DOI: 10.1039/D4CC03179B

10. "Click3D: Click reaction across deep tissues for whole-organ 3D fluorescence imaging"
    Iori Tamura, Daichi M. Sakamoto, Bo Yi, Yutaro Saito, Naoki Yamada, Jumpei Morimoto, Yoichi Takakusagi, Masafumi Kuroda, Shumpei I. Kubota, Hiroyuki Yatabe, Minoru Kobayashi, Hiroshi Harada, Kazuki Tainaka, and Shinsuke Sando*
    Science Adv. 2024, 10, eado8471. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ado8471
    ChemRxiv 2024, DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2024-sdjss

11. "Pimonidazole-alkyne conjugate for sensitive detection of hypoxia by Cu-catalyzed click reaction"
    Iori Tamura, Daichi M. Sakamoto, Bo Yi, Yutaro Saito, Naoki Yamada, Yoichi Takakusagi, Shinsuke Sando*
    Anal. Sci., 2024, 40, 1061–1070. DOI: 10.1007/s44211-024-00520-y

12. "Whole-body and whole-organ 3D imaging of hypoxia using activatable covalent fluorescent probe compatible with tissue clearing"
    Daichi M. Sakamoto, Iori Tamura, Bo Yi, Sho Hasegawa, Yutaro Saito, Naoki Yamada, Yoichi Takakusagi, Shimpei I. Kubota, Hiroshi Harada, Kenjiro Hanaoka, Masayasu Taki, Masaomi Nangaku, Kazuki Tainaka*, and Shinsuke Sando*
    ACS Nano 2024, 18, 5167–5179. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c12716
    ChemRxiv 2023, DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2023-brfdm

13. "Label-free quantification of passive membrane permeability of cyclic peptides across lipid bilayers: Penetration speed of cyclosporin A across lipid bilayers"
    Takahiro Ono, Kazuhito V. Tabata, Yuki Goto, Yutaro Saito, Hiroaki Suga, Hiroyuki Noji, Jumpei Morimoto* and Shinsuke Sando*
    Chem. Sci. 2023, 14, 345–349. DOI: 10.1039/D2SC05785A

14. "C–H Borylation of Arenes: Steric-controlled Para-selectivity and Application to Molecular Nanocarbons"
    Yasutomo Segawa*, Mai Nagase, Yutaro Saito, Kenta Kato, and Kenichiro Itami*
    J. Synth. Org., Jpn. 2022, 80,994–999. DOI: 10.5059/yukigoseikyokaishi.80.994

15. "Structure-guided design enables development of a hyperpolarized molecular probe for the detection of aminopeptidase N activity in vivo"
    Yutaro Saito, Hiroyuki Yatabe, Iori Tamura, Yohei Kondo, Ryo Ishida, Tomohiro Seki, Keita Hiraga, Akihiro Eguchi, Yoichi Takakusagi, Keisuke Saito, Nobu Oshima, Hiroshi Ishikita, Kazutoshi Yamamoto, Murali C. Krishna,* Shinsuke Sando*
    Science Adv. 2022, 8, eabj2667. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abj2667

16. “Evaluation of enzymatic and magnetic properties of γ-glutamyl-[1-13C]glycine and its deuteration toward longer retention of the hyperpolarized state"
    Yohei Kondo, Yutaro Saito, Abdelazim Elsayed Elhelaly, Fuminori Hyodo, Tatsuya Nishihara, Marino Itoda, Hiroshi Nonaka, Masayuki Matsuo, and Shinsuke Sando
    RSC Adv. 2021, 11, 37011–37018. DOI: 10.1039/D1RA07343E

17.  “Regulation of cadherin dimerization by chemical fragments as a trigger to inhibit cell adhesion"
    Akinobu Senoo, Sho Ito, Satoru Nagatoishi, Yutaro Saito, Go Ueno, Daisuke Kuroda, Kouhei Yoshida, Takumi Tashima, Shota Kudo, Shinsuke Sando, and Kouhei Tsumoto
    Commun. Biol. 2021, 4, 1041. DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02575-3

18. “Structural basis for selective inhibitor of human serine hydroxymethyltransferase by secondary bile acid conjugate"
    Tomoki Ota‡, Akinobu Senoo‡, Masumi Shirakawa‡, Hiroshi Nonaka, Yutaro Saito, Sho Ito, Go Ueno, Satoru Nagatoishi, Kouhei Tsumoto, and Shinsuke Sando
    iScience, 2021, 24, 102036. DOI: 10.1016/j.isci. 2021.102036

19. “In vivo detection of γ-glutamyl-transferase up-regulation in glioma using hyperpolarized γ-glutamyl-[1-13C]glycine”
    Georgios Batsios, Chloé Najac, Peng Cao, Pavithra Viswanath, Elavarasan Subramani, Yutaro Saito, Anne Marie Gillespie, Hikari A.I. Yoshihara, Peder Larson, Shinsuke Sando, Sabrina M. Ronen
    Sci. Rep. 2020, 10, 6244. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-63160-y

20. “Synthesis of Polybenzoacenes by Annulative Dimerization of Phenylene Triflate through Twofold C‐H Activation”
    Mizuho Uryu, Taito Hiraga, Yoshito Koga, Yutaro Saito, Kei Murakami, and Kenichiro Itami
    Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 6551–6554. DOI: 10.1002/anie.202001211

21. “Selective Transformation of Strychnine and 1,2-Disubstituted Benzenes by C–H Borylation”
    Yutaro Saito, Kotono Yamanoue, Yasutomo Segawa, and Kenichiro Itami
    Chem 2020, 6, 985–993. DOI:10.1016/j.chempr.2020.02.004

22. “Design strategy for serin hydroxymethyltransferase probe based on retro-aldol-type reaction”
    Hiroshi Nonaka, Yuki Nakanishi, Satoshi Kuno, Tomoki Ota, Kentaro Mochidome, Yutaro Saito, Fuminori Sugihara, Yoichi Takakusagi, Ichio Aoki, Satoru Nagatoishi, Kouhei Tsumoto, and Shinsuke Sando
    Nat. Commun. 2019, 10, 876. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-08833-7

23. “Synthesis of partially and fully fused polyaromatics by annulative chlorophenylene dimerization”
    Yoshito Koga, Takeshi Kaneda, Yutaro Saito, Kei Murakami, and Kenichiro Itami
    Science 2018, 359, 435–439. DOI: 10.1126/science.aap9801

24. “(R)- and (S)-2,2’-Bis(3,5-dimethylphenylphosphino)-6,6’-dimethoxy-1,1’-biphenyl”
    Yutaro Saito, Yasutomo Segawa, and Kenichiro Itami
    e-EROS 2017, DOI: 10.1002/047084289X.rn02052

25. “Flexible Reaction Pocket on Bulky Diphosphine−Ir Complex Controls Regioselectivity in para-Selective C−H Borylation of Arenes”
    Brandon E. Haines, Yutaro Saito, Yasutomo Segawa, Kenichiro Itami, and Djamaladdin G. Musaev
    ACS Catal. 2016, 6, 7536–7546. DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.6b02317

26. “para-C−H Borylation of Benzene Derivatives by a Bulky Iridium Catalyst”
    Yutaro Saito, Yasutomo Segawa, and Kenichiro Itami
    J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 135, 5193–5198. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b02052

Award

2016   Poster award, The 32nd Seminar on Synthetic Organic Chemistry

2020   The 36th Inoue Research Award for Young Scientists

2020   Best Presentation Award, The 2nd Annual Meeting of the Quantum Life Science Society

2022   Young Investigator Award, the Quantum Life Science Society

2022    KONICA MINOLTA Award in Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Japan

2025    Young Scholar Lecture in The 105th CSJ Annual Meeting

2025    PCCP Prize 2025

2025　Lecture Award at 19th Symposium on Biorelevant Chemistry 

Invited Lecture

(1) "Development of hyperpolarized molecular probes for in vivo detection of peptidase activities", THE INTERNATIONAL CHEMICAL CONGRESS OF PACIFIC BASIN SOCIETIES 2021, 2021/12/22, online

(2) 「生体内アミノペプチダーゼN活性を検出・可視化する量子超偏極核磁気共鳴分子プローブの開発」、量子生命科学会 第4回大会、若手優秀賞受賞講演、2022年5月27日、神戸大学

(3) 「精密分子設計による生体応用可能な分子プローブの開発」、第50回 日本核磁気共鳴医学会大会、2022年9月9日、名古屋国際会議場

(4) 「生体内アミノペプチダーゼ活性を可視化する超偏極核磁気共鳴分子プローブの開発」、第17回メタボロームシンポジウム、2023年10月19日、神奈川県川崎市殿町国際戦略拠点キングスカイフロント

(5) 「生体分子の代謝や多様性の理解に資する分子プローブおよび合成法の開発」、関西学院大学理工生命学部講演会（村上彗 研究室）、2023年11月10日、関西学院大学 三田キャンパス

(6)「化学の力で生命の謎を解く~世界で最も精密な”ものづくり”と生命を支える”分子”の理解~」、刈谷高校 令和6年度 サイエンスデーSSH特別講演会、2024年6月12日、愛知県刈谷市

(7) 「多価不飽和脂肪酸の固相合成と抗炎症性脂肪酸Antiefinの開発」、京都大学 化学研究所・附属元素科学国際研究センター 有機分子変換化学セミナー（中村正治 研究室）、2025年1月21日、京都大学 宇治キャンパス

(8) 「脂質科学イノベーションを志向した脂質固相合成への挑戦—人に感謝される、かけがえのない「ものづくりの匠」を目指して—」、先端ケミカルバイオロジー2025、2025年6月3日、京都大学 桂キャンパス

(9)「Expedited Access to Biologically Relevant Carbon Chains and Functional Analogs via Solid-phase Synthesis」、名古屋大学 ITbMワークショップ、2025年6月27日、名古屋大学 ITbM

(10) 「多価不飽和脂肪酸の固相合成と抗炎症性人工脂肪酸の開発 」、第4回Lipidフォーラム、2025年8月21日、国立健康危機管理研究機構（東京）