A disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs 2 cleaves and inactivates Reelin in the postnatal cerebral cortex and hippocampus, but not in the cerebellum.

Reelin plays important roles in regulating neuronal development, modulating synaptic function, and counteracting amyloid β toxicity. A specific proteolytic cleavage (N-t cleavage) of Reelin abolishes its biological activity. We recently identified ADAMTS-3 (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs 3) as the major N-t cleavage enzyme in the embryonic and early postnatal brain.

'Head-to-Head' mRNA display for the translation of multi-copied proteins with a free C-terminus.

With the development of various methods for affinity-based selection of proteins such as phage display, ribosomal display, and mRNA display, the progress in this field has been gradually shifting to function-based selection, such as through single-molecule observation, genetic selection, and compartmentalization technologies. In this vein, we present an opposite link mode of mRNA display termed as a 'Head-to-Head' (H2H) link. The key technique in H2H, formation of a covalent bond between O-benzylguanine (BG) and O-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase (AGT), was demonstrated to be workable in H2H ligation, where mRNA is linked to a nascent AGT via a BG-DNA linker, resulting in a "(C-terminus) protein-BG-DNA linker-mRNA (5'-terminus)" conjugate.

A radioisotope-nondependent high-sensitivity method for measuring the activity of glioblastoma-related O(6)-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase.

O(6)-Methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) cancels the anticancer effect of temozolomide (drug for glioblastoma), which introduces methylation to DNA. Therefore, developing an MGMT inhibitor is a promising strategy for the treatment of this cancer. For this purpose, a sensitive detection method that does not depend on the conventional radioisotope (RI) method was developed.