Nobumoto WATANABE - Unit Leader

Nobumoto WATANABE
Nobumoto WATANABE
Ph.D Unit Leader

Unit Leader - Bio-Active Compounds Discovery Research Unit

MY RESEARCH INTEREST

I was really impressed by cell division when I first looked at the cleavage of sea urchin fertilized eggs. I was a graduate student at that time. Since then, I have worked on the analyses to elucidate how cells divide. I think I made some contribution towards the understanding of cell cycle regulation. Using these experience and knowledge, I am now trying to find small molecules that act on the cell cycle regulatory proteins. I wish to find compounds that are not only scientifically useful for the analyses of the cell cycle research but also practically applicable for medicinal purposes.

EDUCATION
1977-1982
The University of Tokyo, Zoological Institute, Faculty of Science
1982-1987
Graduate Course, The University of Tokyo, Faculty of Science
DEGREES
B.Sc. (1982)
The University of Tokyo
Dr. Science (1987)
The University of Tokyo
APPOINTMENTS
1987-1989
Post Doc., Molecular Oncology Laboratory, RIKEN
1989-1996
Research Scientist, Gene Bank,RIKEN
1992-1994
Research associate, Molecular Biology and Virology Laboratory, The Salk Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
1996-2001
Senior Research Scientist, Cell Science and Gene Banking Division, RIKEN
2001-present
Senior Research Scientist, Antibiotics Laboratory, RIKEN
2006-present
Visiting Professor, the School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
2008-2009
Senior Research Scientist, Chemical Library Validation Team, RIKEN
2009-2013
Senior Research Scientist,Chemical Library Validation Team,Chemical Biology Core Facility, RIKEN ASI
2009-2013
Team Head,Chemical Library Validation Team,Chemical Biology Core Facility, RIKEN ASI
2013.Apr.-
Unit Leader, Bio-Active Compounds Discovery Research Unit, Chemical Biology Research Group, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science
ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES
  • Japanese Cancer Association
  • Molecular Biology Society of Japan
  • Japanese Society for Chemical Biology
  • The Japanese Association for Molecular Target Therapy of Cancer
MY HOBBIES
Eating, Drinking, Sleeping and Joking
LIST OF SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
  1. Ooi LC, Watanabe N, Futamura Y, Sulaiman SF, Darah I, Osada H.: Identification of small molecule inhibitors of p27Kip1 ubiquitination by high-throughput screening.
    Cancer Sci, 104 (11), 1461-1467 (2013)
  2. Watanabe N., Sekine T., Takagi M., Iwasaki J., Imamoto N., Kawasaki H., Osada H.
    Deficiency in chromosome congression by the inhibition of PLK1 polo box domain-dependent recognition.
    J Biol. Chem., 284, 2344-2353 (2009)
  3. Watanabe N.
    Wee1
    UCSD-Nature Molecule Pages (2008)
    http://www.signaling-gateway.org/molecule/query?afcsid=A002371
  4. Watanabe N., Nishihara Y., Yamaguchi T., Koito A., Miyoshi H., Kakeya H., Osada H. Fumagillin suppresses HIV-1 infection of macrophages through the inhibition of Vpr activity. FEBS Letters, 580, 2598-2602 (2006)
  5. Watanabe N., Arai H., Iwasaki J., Shiina M., Ogata K., Hunter T., Osada H.
    Cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) phosphorylation destabilizes somatic Wee1 via multiple pathways.
    Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 102, 11663-11668 (2005)
  6. Watanabe N., Arai H., Nishihara Y., Taniguchi M., Watanabe N., Hunter T., Osada, H.
    M-phase kinases induce phospho-dependent ubiquitination of somatic Wee1 by SCFβ -TrCP
    Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 101, 4419-4424 (2004)