【Research Theme】
Hideaki Tanaka
Osaka University, Institute for Protein Research, Assistant Professor
http://www.protein.osaka-u.ac.jp/crystallography/
Vaults are large barrel-shaped ribonucleoprotein particles and are found in numerous eukaryotic species. We have determined the x-ray structure of rat liver vault at 3.5 angstrom resolution in 2008. A vault particle shell is composed of 78 MVP (Major Vault Protein) chains with 39-fold dihedral symmetry, and has a large cavity. In this study, I will develop novel Drug Delivery System (DDS) using vault particles as nanocarriers. Development of structure-based DDS will be an efficient strategy to create new nanosystems.
