WELCOME TO THE IWATA-REUYL
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Research in the lab focuses on problems at the interface of chemistry and biology, and addresses diverse aspects of protein function, mechanism, structure, evolution, and design. We employ a multidisciplinary approach that includes enzymology, kinetics, molecular biology, and organic synthesis, and our close collaborations with other research groups allow us to further broaden the scope of our work to include structural biology, computational genomics, genetics, and physiology.
The inspiration for all of our research is post-transcriptional processing of RNA, specifically the phenomena of nucleoside modification in the maturation of transfer and ribosomal RNA. This process results in the generation of a rich mosaic of structurally modified nucleosides, and we're working to discover the biological roles of nucleoside modification, elucidate the biosynthetic pathways responsible for the formation of these fascinating molecules, and understand the biochemistry of the enzymes making up the pathways.
While the lab is especially interested in the enzymes of nucleoside modification as models to explore fundamental questions of enzyme catalysis and evolution, we are also investigating their potential as therapeutic targets and industrial biocatalysts.
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