Laboratory of Bioinformatics

1. Members

2. Objectives

We carry out bioinformatics and computational biology research to assist drug discovery and development. Our work aims to provide a systems view of how genes and proteins interact with each other and perform their functions in a specific biological pathway, and of how they can be perturbed by therapeutic agents.

3. Research

I. Methods development for improved efficacy and safety

• Integrated databases for genes, proteins and chemical compounds.
• Network-based prioritization of candidate genes/proteins.
• Resources for biomarker discovery and toxicity prediction.
• Prediction of protein structure, function and interaction.

II. Applications to specific systems

Analysis of experimental data in areas including infectious diseases, cancer, vaccine development, neurological disorders, chronic inflammatory diseases and membrane proteins.

4. Applications

In specific drug discovery projects, our predictions have been verified experimentally and led to new therapeutic strategies. Some of our databases and software tools have been commercialized and used widely to characterize drug targets and related proteins.

References

1. Doi K., Numasaki H., Anetai Y.,  Natsume-Kitatani Y., Homology-feature-assisted quantification of fibrotic lesions in computed tomography images: a proof of concept for CT image feature-based prediction for gene-expression-distribution, International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, Springer Nature, 2025.5.28
2. Allendes Osorio RS., Kosugi Y., Nyström-Persson JT., Mizuguchi K., Natsume-Kitatani Y. A modern multi-omics data exploration experience with Panomicon. Bioinformatics Advances,  Volume 4, Issue 1,  vbae147,  2024.
3. Natsume-Kitatani, Y., Itoh, M. N., Takeda, Y., Kuroda, M., Hirata, H., Miyake, K., ... & Ueda, N., Data-driven patient stratification and drug target discovery by using medical information and serum proteome data of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients, 2022.
4. Osorio, R. S. A., Nyström-Persson, J. T., Nojima, Y., Kosugi, Y., Mizuguchi, K., & Natsume-Kitatani, Y., Panomicon: A web-based environment for interactive, visual analysis of multi-omics data. Heliyon, 6(8), 2020.

Laboratory of Bioinformatics