蛋白質溶液学

蛋白質の溶液の状態を理解する方法と、溶液状態を制御する技術の研究をしています。蛋白質溶液の研究は、卵白のような身近な食材の制御や、バイオ医薬品の安定化や美容品の開発、細胞内で生命現象を生み出す働きまでさまざまなところに関連します。

蛋白質の溶液中の振る舞いは第三成分（添加剤）で制御できるとともに、その応答から相互作用の特性が理解できます。このような分子や物理量に還元しにくい現象を理解するモノサシ作りが面白いと思っています。

We are researching how to understand the state of protein solutions and develop techniques to control their solution state. The study of protein solutions relates to various fields such as controlling common food ingredients like egg whites, stabilizing biopharmaceuticals, developing cosmetics, and generating life phenomena in cells. We are interested in researching how much we can rationally understand the behavior of proteins in solution and how we can explain it in a way that is easily understood by anyone.

相分離生物学

免疫グロブリンGとポリアミノ酸や、卵白リゾチームとオボアルブミンなどのありふれた蛋白質でも混ぜると白濁する様子が観察できます。これがいわゆる液-液相分離です。最近では、遺伝子の転写や翻訳、DNAの修復、シグナル伝達、自然免疫の応答、酵素機能の区画化など、多様な生命現象が液-液相分離と関わることがわかってきています。

相分離生物学とは、蛋白質の溶液物性から生命現象を理解しなおす新しい生物学です。生きた細胞をミキサーにかけると、分子は壊れなくても死んでしまう、ここで失われるものを扱うのが相分離生物学だという説明がわかりやすいと思います。

Proteins have a tendency to aggregate in aqueous solutions. For example, mixing common proteins such as immunoglobulin G and polyamino acids, or egg white lysozyme and ovalbumin, results in turbidity. This is known as liquid-liquid phase separation. Recently, it has been found that diverse biological phenomena, such as transcription and translation of genes, DNA repair, signal transduction, natural immune response, and compartmentalization of enzymatic functions, are related to liquid-liquid phase separation.

Phase separation biology is a new biology that re-examines biological phenomena from the properties of protein solution. By changing the unit of understanding from molecules (covalent bonds) to molecular aggregates (non-covalent bonds), many biological phenomena become much more transparent. A simple explanation of phase separation biology is that it deals with what is lost when live cells are placed in a blender, even though the molecules themselves are not broken and are still intact.

連絡先

〒305-8573 茨城県つくば市天王台 1-1-1

筑波大学 数理物質系 物理工学域

白木賢太郎