GO TOP

Field

Molecular and Chemical Life Science :
Multilevel Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics

Research

JAPANESE
Assistant Professor TAGUCHI Masahiko
Campus Katahira campus
Laboratory Dynamic Structural Biology
Tel +81-22-217-5345
E-mail masahiko.taguchi.c4＠tohoku.ac.jp
Website https://www2.tagen.tohoku.ac.jp/lab/nango/html/
researchmap
 
I studied physics (such as semiconducting and superconducting nanostructures) until receiving a Ph.D. After that, I was attracted to biophysics which uses concepts and methods developed in physics to investigate biological phenomena, and have been engaged in molecular simulation focusing on chemical reactions and dynamics of protein molecules. Current my main projects are biomolecular simulation utilizing with time-resolved structural data taken in our laboratory.
Career
Obtained Ph.D. in physics from University of Tsukuba on 2016. After receiving Ph.D., I was working as a postdoctoral fellow at Kyoto University on 2016-2020 and QST (National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology) on 2020-2023. From 2023, I joined IMRAM of our university as an assistant professor.
Selected Publications
  1. T. Yasuda, Y. Ueno, M. Taguchi, N. Tochio, H. Yagi, S. Yazaki, R. Arai, B. Zhu, T. Kigawa, H. Ueda, and T. Kitaguchi, “Switchbody, an Antigen-Responsive Enzyme Switch Based on Antibody and Its Working Principle”, Advanced Science, e08422 (2025).
     
  2. Y. Yamamoto, M. Taguchi, D. Tanaka, Y. Uchida, and S. Hayashi, “Self-Assembly of V-Shaped Polyaromatic Amphiphiles Studied by Molecular Dynamics Simulation”, The Journal of Physical Chemistry B 129, 1399 (2024).
     
  3. M. Taguchi, S. Sakuraba, J. Chan, and H. Kono, “Unveiling the Photoactivation Mechanism of BLUF Photoreceptor Protein through Hybrid Quantum Mechanics/Molecular Mechanics Free-Energy Calculation”, ACS Physical Chemistry Au 4, 647 (2024).
     
  4. M. Taguchi, R. Oyama, M. Kaneso, and S. Hayashi, “Hybrid QM/MM free energy evaluation of drug-resistant mutational effect on binding of an inhibitor Indinavir to HIV-1 protease”, Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling 62, 1328 (2022).
     
  5. A. Kumar, J. Chan, M. Taguchi, and H. Kono, “Interplay among transacting factors around promoter in the initial phases of transcription”, Current Opinion in Structural Biology 71, 7 (2021).
Activities in Academic Societies
The Biophysical Society of Japan, Protein Science Society of Japan, Quantum Life Science Society, The Antibody Society of Japan

Recent Activities

I am working on biomolecular simulation in the structural biology lab. We utilize the structural data of protein molecules obtained from time-resolved measurements performed in our laboratory to investigate chemical reactions and dynamics of protein molecules. We focus on photoreceptors converting light energy into their work and enzymes having unique catalytic reactions, and clarify their functional expression processes at the atomic level. We aim to elucidate the relationship between structure and function for protein design and pharmaceutical applications.

Message to Students

Whenever you are interested in biomolecular simulation, please feel free to contact us (of course, people from other fields are also welcome !). We would like to discuss about possible utilization of the time-resolved data for molecular simulation, as well as the collaboration with other methods (such as machine learning, spectroscopic/biochemical experiments), by freely sharing ideas with students and researchers.

Research