Toshiharu HASE, D. Sci., Director

The Institute for protein Research (IPR) celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. IPR was established as an inter-university joint-use facility attached to Osaka University and has been functioned as the forum of protein and related research communities in Japan. To realize efficient collaboration among researchers, Prof. Shiro Akabori, the founder of IPR, and the fellow scientists organized IPR consisting of different fields such as chemistry, physics, biology and medicine. Protein research has made a remarkable progress for the past 50 years in the research fields of the structure and function of protein molecules and their biological significance at cellular and higher levels. The researchers in IPR and the collaborators gathered in IPR have made a great contribution to the progress. Gaining the wide support from the community, IPR has expanded over time, from three initial divisions (3 labs), to four divisions (12 labs) with an attached center (6 labs). Following the completion of Human Genome Project, protein science is now entering a new research stage, the structural and functional elucidation of proteins in life processes in cells. This effort will bring us deeper insight into the mystery of life. To reflect the new scientific trend, we have reformed our institute by reorganizing eleven divisions to four divisions with twelve laboratories and have set up a new research group led by a foreign principal investigator. The concept of this reform traces back to the idea of the foundation of IPR. IPR members are also involved in the education in Graduate School of Science, Graduate School of Medicine and Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, and supervising more than one hundred graduate students in their labs. As a joint-use research organization, IPR has been accepting foreign visiting professors and has been holding international meetings to promote international exchanges. Last year IPR conducted collaborative works with about 70 researchers around country and the world, and held 12 seminars of over 1300 participants to stimulate scientific exchanges in the domestic and regional communities. IPR was selected as one of the centers for 21-century COE programs in 2002 and started a joint project on biomembranes with NINS Okazaki Center for Integrative Bioscience. Last year, IPR also participated in the national project, Target Protein Research Project. IPR operates Worldwide Protein Data Bank (wwPDB) and Biomagnetic Resonance Data Bank (BMRB) as one of three worldwide centers, mainly covering Asia-Oceania region. On the occasion of the start of its second half century, IPR is determined to make an essential contribution to revealing the structure and function of proteins encoded by genes buried in the genome to improve quality of life, promote health and provide protection against disease. All the members of the Institute for Protein Research would like to thank you for your continuing support and further encouragement to our activity.