Professor OKUBO Yohei

Creation of Nano-Pharmacology

Pharmacology is the discipline that builds the foundation of drug therapy by understanding the interactions between molecules (drugs) and organisms. Among the many approaches in pharmacological research, the analysis of spatiotemporal dynamics holds a central position. From molecular events such as ligand-receptor binding to whole-body pharmacokinetics, capturing these "dynamics" across all levels is at the very core of pharmacology.

In our laboratory, we explore these dynamics by visualizing the movements of individual protein molecules with nanometer precision. Using our uniquely developed fluorescent labeling techniques and advanced microscopy systems, we have succeeded in tracking the real-time movements of single protein molecules within thick biological tissues such as brain slices and organoids.

This technology is expected to make it possible to evaluate drug actions from the perspective of single-molecule behavior, as well as to detect molecular changes that arise at the very earliest stages of disease.