Kohei Sato

Supramolecular assembly of peptide-based monomers into nanostructures offers many promising applications in advanced therapies. In this Tutorial Review, we introduce molecular designs to control the structure and potential biological function of supramolecular assemblies. An emphasis is placed on peptide-based supramolecular nanostructures that are intentionally designed to signal cells, either directly through the incorporation of amino acid sequences that activate receptors or indirectly by re

Ultrafast water permeation in aquaporins is promoted by their hydrophobic interior surface. Polytetrafluoroethylene has a dense fluorine surface, leading to its strong water repellence. We report a series of fluorous oligoamide nanorings with interior diameters ranging from 0.9 to 1.9 nanometers. These nanorings undergo supramolecular polymerization in phospholipid bilayer membranes to form fluorous nanochannels, the interior walls of which are densely covered with fluorine atoms. The nanochanne

Chiral monomers 1 and 2, carrying C4- and C3-symmetric bowl-shape peptidic macrocycle cores, respectively, undergo supramolecular polymerization in solution via van der Waals and hydrogen bonding interactions. Size-exclusion chromatographic studies, using UV and CD detectors, on the supramolecular copolymerization of their enantiomers demonstrated that these monomers are the first chiral macrocycles that polymerize enantioselectively with a strong preference for chiral self-sorting.

Being inspired by naturally occurring peptidic macrocycles, we developed liquid-crystalline (LC) compounds 1 and 2 that are capable of self-assembling into hexagonal columnar mesophases over a wide temperature range that includes room temperature. Their bowl-shaped macrocyclic cores are conformationally robust because of the presence of internal H-bonds, while the columnar assembly is ensured by intermolecular H-bonding interactions involving the exocyclic amide units. When an electric field was

Controlling the number of monomers in a supramolecular polymer has been a great challenge in programmable self-assembly of organic molecules. One approach has been to make use of frustrated growth of the supramolecular assembly by tuning the balance of attractive and repulsive intermolecular forces. We report here on the use of covalent bond formation among monomers, compensating for intermolecular electrostatic repulsion, as a mechanism to control the length of a supramolecular nanofiber formed

The Fujigatani tungsten deposit occurs in Triassic sediments composed mainly of pelitic rocks and chert within the contact aureole of an Upper Cretaceous granodiorite to monzogranite batholith. The orebodies were formed in nearly pure limestone lenses in pelitic hornfels. The Akemidani orebodies occur at an estimated 100 to 300 m above the contact. The mineralizing solutions may have been supplied through original fissures which were later filled with quartz veins.Scheelite precipitated in the a

Abstract Metallogeny of granitoid affinity was reviewed from the aspect of geotectonic history of the continental crust, particularly of the genesis of sedimentary crust involved in magmatism. The redox state of granitoids and related mineralization shows a remarkable contrast between the east and west sides of the P acific R im, but if examined closely, the reduced‐type and oxidized‐type granitoid provinces are juxtaposed in three regions: the circum‐ J apan S ea region, the central A ndes, and

Transmembrane proteins located within biological membranes play a crucial role in a variety of important cellular processes, such as energy conversion and signal transduction. Among them, ion channel proteins that can transport specific ions across the biological membranes are particularly important for achieving precise control over those processes. Strikingly, approximately 20% of currently approved drugs are targeted to ion channel proteins within membranes. Thus, synthetic molecules that can

Inspired by mechanosensitive potassium channels found in nature, we developed a fluorinated amphiphilic cyclophane composed of fluorinated rigid aromatic units connected via flexible hydrophilic octa(ethylene glycol) chains. Microscopic and emission spectroscopic studies revealed that the cyclophane could be incorporated into the hydrophobic layer of the lipid bilayer membranes and self-assembled to form a supramolecular transmembrane ion channel. Current recording measurements using cyclophane-

Transmembrane proteins within biological membranes exhibit varieties of important functions that are vital for many cellular activities, and the development of their synthetic mimetics allows for deep understanding in related biological events. Inspired by the structures and functions of natural ion channels that can respond to multiple stimuli in an anisotropic manner, we developed multiblock amphiphile <b>V</b>_<b>F</b> in this study. When <b>V</b>_<b>F</b> was incorporated

On the basis of the exclusive existence of homochirality in biomolecules and the well-known phenomenon of chiral recognition, it is obvious that chirality is a crucial factor in biological events. We report here that supramolecular assemblies of peptide amphiphiles interact with lipid bilayer membranes in a stereospecific manner. When negatively charged chiral phospholipid bilayer vesicles were subjected to the assemblies, we found that peptide amphiphiles with l-amino acids show stronger affini

Abstract The metallogeny of Japan can be grouped into four environments: (1) Paleozoic‐Mesozoic stratiform Cu and Mn deposits within accretionary complexes, (2) Cretaceous‐Paleogene post‐accretionary deposits related to felsic magmatism in a continental‐margin are environment, (3) Miocene epigenetic and syngenetic deposits related to felsic magmatism during back‐arc opening, and (4) late Miocene‐Quaternary volcanogenic deposits in an island‐are environment. Group (1) deposits were a major source

Abstract: Age of magmatism and tin mineralization in the Khingan‐Okhotsk volcano–plutonic belt, including the Khingan, Badzhal and Komsomolsk tin fields, were reviewed in terms of tectonic history of the continental margin of East Asia. This belt consists mainly of felsic volcanic rocks and granitoids of the reduced type, being free of remarkable geomagnetic anomaly, in contrast with the northern Sikhote‐Alin volcano–plutonic belt dominated by oxidized‐type rocks and gold mineralization. The nor

Felsic magmatism has occurred over a large region of East Asia since Jurassic times and has provided important mineral resources such as tin, tungsten, base metals and gold. The circum-Japan Sea region preserves various geological records of active continental margins, including Jurassic to Early Tertiary magmatic arcs and subduction zones and pre-Jurassic continental basements, which were separated by the opening of the Japan Sea during the Miocene. The felsic magmatism in this region shows a w