Masayori Inouye

My research accomplishments impact fundamental areas of biology, from genetics to biophysics. He discovered gene regulation by antisense RNA in E. coli. I have subsequently designed artificial antisense RNA against a specific gene to inhibit its expression or to create a new immune system against viral infection. These studies were cited by the 2006 Nobel Prize Committee as seminal leading to the discovery of RNA gene silencing methodologies. I have unearthed a broad spectrum of novel biological phenomena and principles, including many firsts: the discovery of pro-peptides for protein secretion in E. coli, the chemical determination of the RNA sequence of a mRNA, the discovery of a single-stranded DNA called msDNA in bacteria and bacterial reverse transcriptases, eukaryotic-like Ser/Thr protein kinases in bacteria, the three-dimensional structure of a histidine kinase and its role in signal transduction across the membrane, intra-molecular chaperone-mediated protein folding, and the mechanism of cold-shock adaptation in E. coli. Most recently, I discovered mRNA interferases that cleave mRNAs at specific sequences in bacteria. I then created a novel protein synthesis system in cells, the single-protein production or SPP system. This provides an unprecedented tool for isotope-labeling of a single protein, allowing, as one example, NMR structure determination of proteins in a living cell. I am also interested in the toxin-antitoxin systems in bacteria and  the molecular mechanisms for their functions leading cell growth arrest. In addition, I am working  on the roles of antimicrobial peptides from animals to determine their mechanisms of action.   I have published more than 690 manuscripts and nine books.