Life science projects in Japan

Former name: Genome, post genome projects in Japan


Targeted Proteins Research Program
Project Name Targeted Proteins Research Program
Start Year 2007
End Year 2011
Implementing Period -
Budget Amount 5.5 billion yen(FY2007)
5.2 billion yen(FY2008)
Major Researchers Promotion Committee Chairperson: Teruhiko Beppu (Nihon University Advanced Research Institute for the Sciences and Humanities)
Summary Elucidation of basic structure and function for major proteins
Major Features of Project With the use of the results and foundation achieved in Protein 3000 Project and other projects, important proteins essential for academic works and industrial promotion will be selected as targets, and development of those technologies and researches that necessary for structural and functional analyses of such target proteins will be carried out. Specifically, this Project is composed of the following research fields.
- Targeted Proteins Research
- "investigations of fundamental biological phenomena"
- "contribution to medical and pharmaceutical sciences"
- "industrial applications including food and environment"
- Research and Technological Development
- "protein production
- "protein structural analysis"
- "protein regulation"
- "information platform"

List of Research Subjects ( http://www.tanpaku.org/e_research/ )
Description of Project Excerps from "Targeted Proteins Research Program" Web site "Outline"
( http://www.tanpaku.org/e_about.php )

The Targeted Proteins Research Program is a national project promoted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan. The program aims to reveal the structure and function of proteins that have great importance in both academic research and industrial application. The results of the studies on the targeted proteins selected will deepen our understanding of fundamental biological phenomena, contribute to the advancement of medical and pharmaceutical sciences, and be industrially applied in various areas, such as the enhancement of food production and bioremediation. As most of the targeted proteins are difficult to study structurally and functionally, the project also promotes the development of basic and innovative technology for protein production, structural analysis, and function regulation using chemicals, as well as the construction of an information platform. The project started as a five-year plan in FY 2007 with a budget of 5.5 billion yen, and more than 150 scientists are now conducting e_research on 43 subjects. The budget for FY2008 is 5.2 billion yen.
Public Release Status The portal site of the project is now open, and the summary of the project, related documents and evaluation reports can be easily accessed. Amino Acid Sequence database is now released.
Classification of Database Public Release Status Publicly released
Public Database Amino Acids Sequences Annotated database (CASA db) ( http://sqpr-web.genes.nig.ac.jp/UI/index.html.en )
Data Download Site -
Website Targeted Proteins Research Program web site ( http://www.tanpaku.org/e_index.php )
Implementing Ministry/Agency Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)
Reports -
Evaluation Reports Targeted Proteins Research Program web site "Evaluation" ( http://www.tanpaku.org/evaluation/ ) (Japanese)
Other Literatures - "Protein Studies Carve Out A New World" (MEXT booklet to introduce protein-related research projects) ( http://www.tanpaku.org/pdf/material/tanpakul_pomfret_01.pdf ) (Japanese)
- Preliminary Proceedings of 1st Public Symposium ( http://www.tanpaku.org/pdf/material/op_symposium_proceeding_01.pdf ) (Japanese)
- FY2005 Proteomics Working Group Report (Summary) ( http://www.tanpaku.org/pdf/evaluation02.pdf ) (Japanese)
- FY2005 Proteomics Working Group Report (Main Body) ( http://www.tanpaku.org/pdf/evaluation03.pdf ) (Japanese)
- FY2006 Protein Working Group Report (Summary) ( http://www.tanpaku.org/pdf/evaluation04.pdf ) (Japanese)
- FY2006 Protein Working Group Report (Main Body) ( http://www.tanpaku.org/pdf/evaluation05.pdf ) (Japanese)