Publications

PUBLISHED / 2026

Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry

Physicochemical and RNA structural features of selective RNA binding by drug-like small molecules

Examines how drug-like small-molecule properties and RNA structural features relate to selective RNA binding, informing the design of RNA-focused chemical matter.

CITATIONHiroki Yoshida, Ryosuke Nagasawa, Kaoru R. Komatsu. Physicochemical and RNA structural features of selective RNA binding by drug-like small molecules. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry, 2026. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0968089626001033

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PUBLISHED / 2026

Nature Communications

Systematic identification of variant-specific RNA structure-small molecule interactions exemplified by RNA G-quadruplexes

Introduces BIVID-MaP, a sequencing-based method that detects how single-nucleotide variants alter RNA structure–small molecule interactions.

CITATIONEmi Miyashita, Kazumitsu Onizuka, Yutong Chen, Hiroki Yoshida, Hina Hatayama, Shunya Ishikawa, Peijie Yan, Takahito Hasegawa, Mamiko Ozawa, Kaho Maeta, Fumi Nagatsugi, Hirohide Saito, Kaoru R. Komatsu. Systematic identification of variant-specific RNA structure-small molecule interactions exemplified by RNA G-quadruplexes. Nature Communications, 2026. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-70097-9

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PUBLISHED / 2026

RSC Chemical Biology

RNA-binding fluorogenic probes: G-clamp conjugated with a thiazole orange derivative for screening RNA-binding small molecules

Reports a fluorogenic G-clamp probe that signals RNA binding directly, giving screens for RNA-binding small molecules a fluorescence readout.

CITATIONRyosuke Nagasawa, Kazumitsu Onizuka, Ryohei Iwata, Kosuke Tsuzuki, Kaoru R. Komatsu, Emi Miyashita, Sayaka Dantsuji, Hirotaka Murase, Hirohide Saito, Fumi Nagatsugi. RNA-binding fluorogenic probes: G-clamp conjugated with a thiazole orange derivative for screening RNA-binding small molecules. RSC Chemical Biology, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1039/d5cb00078e

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PUBLISHED / 2025

Chemical Communications

Crystallographic analysis of G-clamp–RNA complex assisted by large scale RNA-binding profile

Solves the crystal structure of a G-clamp derivative bound to RNA, using a large-scale RNA-binding profile to choose which complex to crystallize.

CITATIONRyosuke Nagasawa, Kazumitsu Onizuka, Karen Kawamura, Kosuke Tsuzuki, Hirotaka Murase, Kaoru R. Komatsu, Emi Miyashita, Hirohide Saito, Jiro Kondo, Fumi Nagatsugi. Crystallographic analysis of G-clamp–RNA complex assisted by large scale RNA-binding profile. Chemical Communications, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1039/d4cc04677c

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PUBLISHED / 2024

Communications Chemistry

Large-scale analysis of small molecule-RNA interactions using multiplexed RNA structure libraries

Demonstrates large-scale interaction analysis with multiplexed RNA structure libraries to reveal affinity and selectivity across many RNA motifs in parallel.

CITATIONRyosuke Nagasawa, Kazumitsu Onizuka, Kaoru R. Komatsu, Emi Miyashita, Hirotaka Murase, Kanna Ojima, Shunya Ishikawa, Mamiko Ozawa, Hirohide Saito, Fumi Nagatsugi. Large-scale analysis of small molecule-RNA interactions using multiplexed RNA structure libraries. Communications Chemistry, 2024. https://www.nature.com/articles/s42004-024-01181-8

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PUBLISHED / 2020

Nature Communications

RNA structure-wide discovery of functional interactions with multiplexed RNA motif library

Establishes a multiplexed RNA motif library approach for discovering functional RNA–small molecule interactions across structural space.

CITATIONKaoru R. Komatsu, Toshiki Taya, Sora Matsumoto, Emi Miyashita, Shunichi Kashida, Hirohide Saito. RNA structure-wide discovery of functional interactions with multiplexed RNA motif library. Nature Communications, 2020. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19699-5

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