2026 (Current Year) Faculty Courses School of Life Science and Technology Department of Life Science and Technology Graduate major in Life Science and Technology

Functional Chemistry of Biomolecules

Academic unit or major: Graduate major in Life Science and Technology
Instructor(s): Hideya Yuasa / Kohji Seio / Hiroshi Tsutsumi / Satoshi Okada / Yoshiaki Masaki / Daisuke Asanuma
Class Format: Lecture (Livestream)
Media-enhanced courses: -
Day of week/Period (Classrooms): 3-4 Mon / 3-4 Thu
Class: -
Course Code: LST.A423
Number of credits: 200
Course offered: 2026
Offered quarter: 2Q
Syllabus updated: Apr 6, 2026
Language: English

Syllabus

Course overview and goals

[Intermediate-to-advanced Level]
Functional biomolecules, in which chemical modifications are introduced into nucleic acids, sugars, peptides and proteins, are extremely useful for understanding and controlling biological phenomena at the molecular and atomic level. This course provides a basis for understanding and controlling biological phenomena at the molecular and atomic level by covering a wide range of topics from basic knowledge of the chemical structure and synthesis of biomolecules to advanced applications of functional biomolecules.

Course description and aims

Students learn the basic knowledge of the chemical structures of nucleic acids, peptides and proteins, and then learn in detail how to introduce chemical modifications to them. Furthermore, students will develop the ability to design molecules applicable in medicine and engineering, and to apply optical control of them, as well as improving their understanding of life phenomena at the molecular and atomic level.

Keywords

Biomolecules, Nucleic acids, Sugars, Peptides, Proteins, Photochemistry, Synthetic organic chemistry.

Competencies

Specialist skills
Intercultural skills
Communication skills
Critical thinking skills
Practical and/or problem-solving skills

Class flow

Biomolecules, Nucleic acids, Sugars, Peptides, Proteins, Photochemistry, Synthetic organic chemistry.

Course schedule/Objectives

	Course schedule	Objectives
Class 1	Chemical Biology 1: Introduction, molecular design, and reactivity	Be able to explain the fundamentals of chemical reactions and molecular design that function in biological environments.
Class 2	Chemical Biology 2: Chemistry of protein labeling	Be able to explain site-selective chemical modification of proteins and labeling strategies.
Class 3	Chemical Biology 3: Chemistry of molecular imaging	Be able to explain the principles of molecular imaging using chemical probes.
Class 4	Nucleic Acid Structure	Understand and be able to explain the conformation of nucleosides and nucleic acids.
Class 5	Properties of modified nucleic acids	Understand and be able to explain the properties of chemically modified nucleic acids.
Class 6	Application of modified nucleic acids	Understand and be able to explain the application of chemically modified nucleic acids.
Class 7	Protection of amino acid and chemical synthesis of peptide	You will be able to understand and explain the chemistry of protection groups for amino acids and the strategy of chemical synthesis of peptides.
Class 8	Bioactive peptides and peptide medicines	You will be able to understand and explain chemical synthesis and structure-activity relationships of peptide hormones, antimicrobial peptides, cyclic peptide natural products and their derivatives.
Class 9	Peptide libraries for discovery of peptide medicines	You will be able to understand and explain methods for the construction of peptide libraries and discovery of peptide medicines using peptide libraries.
Class 10	Under what circumstances can light and matter interact?	Students will be able to consider the conditions under which light and matter can resonate (Laporte rule, heavy atom effect, El-Sayed rule, hyperfine coupling, etc.).
Class 11	Ways to obtain chemical energy from light and make it function	Students will be able to understand the transient phenomena in the interaction between light and matter, such as triplet-triplet annihilation and the magnetic field effect of radical pairs.
Class 12	Points to note when using light for life	By learning about the photosensitization mechanism and the deep tissue penetration of light, students will be able to think deeply about the biological applications of light.
Class 13	Fluorescence imaging for understanding biomolecular dynamics I	Understand the basic optical properties of fluorescent molecules and be able to explain photophysical and photochemical processes of excitation and emission. Learn the basic principles of fluorescence microscopy and how spatial resolution, sensitivity, and temporal resolution influence measurements of biomolecular dynamics. On this basis, consider design strategies for fluorescence visualization appropriate to specific targets and experimental objectives.
Class 14	Fluorescence imaging for understanding biomolecular dynamics II	Understand advanced fluorescence-based methods for analyzing the temporal and spatial behavior of biomolecules. Learn how to quantitatively capture molecular-scale biological phenomena in space and time, through examples of live-cell imaging and super-resolution microscopy.

Study advice (preparation and review)

To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.

Textbook(s)

N/A

Reference books, course materials, etc.

Distributed by each lecturer using T2SCHOLA

Evaluation methods and criteria

The home works assigned by each professor (100%)

Related courses

LST.A202 ： Organic Chemistry I (alkanes and haloalkanes)
LST.A207 ： Organic Chemistry II (alcohols and alkenes)
LST.A212 ： Organic Chemistry III (benzene and ketones)
LST.A217 ： Organic Chemistry IV (carbonyl compounds and amines)
LST.A333 ： Bioorganic Chemistry

Prerequisites

Knowledge on undergraduate-level organic chemistry