(教員からのメッセージ),Proteins play many important different yet vitally important roles in natural systems, for example, as structural factors, in metabolism, and in signal transduction, yet each is a precisely controlled function. Many proteins are metalloproteins, which bind metal ions for expressing their unique structure and functions. Graduate students of the Structural Biology course study the experimental research techniques and the molecular scientific background of protein structure and function involving interactions of metals in proteins of several metalloproteins. The students also study multiple and complimentary research techniques for elucidating the molecular function of proteins. Protein samples are extracted and purified from natural biological sources and/or genetically engineered biology, and the structure of the purified proteins are determined by crystallographic analyses and/or neutron/X-ray small angle scattering together with the quasi-elastic neutron scattering, as well as through a combination of several spectroscopic techniques (Raman, electronic absorption, EPR, X-ray absorption, and mass spectroscopy) and quantum chemical calculations. Together these methods are utilized to obtain a precise knowledge of the protein structure and function. The reactions of protein molecules are also studied by pulse radiolysis and stopped-flow kinetics to gain a further appreciation of the functional aspects of proteins and to more deeply understand protein science that accompanies the precise structural information provided by crystallography and spectroscopy. In addition, a number of key techniques of molecular biology are also studied in this course. Finally, the important basic research techniques and the results of analyses for the developments of medicinal drugs, cosmetics, and several chemical and biological requirements for the environment will be explored during the course of Structural Biology.,(研究経歴),1989, April Reserach Associate (Osaka University),1994, April Associate Professor (Ibaraki University),1994, July-September, Postdoctral Fellow (University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England),2004, October, Professor (Ibaraki University),2019, April, Director of Frontier Research Center of Applied Atomic Science (Ibaraki University)