Institute of Molecular Biology

The establishment of a research institute in molecular biology in Taiwan evolved from intensive discussions in 1982, both within and outside Academia Sinica. Once the decision was made to create a new institute, an advisory board of a group of scientists from Taiwan and the United States was quickly assembled. Under the leadership of Professor Paul O. P. Ts'o, a member of Academia Sinica, the task of program establishment proceeded efficiently and vigorously.

With full support of the government, building design and construction as well as staff recruitment began almost immediately. Scientists started their intensive research on July 1, 1986 under the directorship of Dr. James Wang. Drs. Ru-Chih C. Huang, Ray Wu, and Chien Ho served as interim directors. Dr. C. C. Wang of UCSF assumed the directorship from September 1981 to February 1994. In the meantime, the Institute completed its preparatory phase and was officially established as an institute on March 1, 1994. Dr. James C.-K. Shen assumed the long-term directorship from January 1995.

RESEARCH

At the Institute of Molecular Biology, we are engaged in active research at the molecular level in diverse fields of Cell Molecular Biology and Structural Biology.

Current research areas spread over Cellular Communication and Signal Transduction, Nuclear Structure and Function, Genetics and Development, and Structural-Functional Relationship in Biological Systems. Ongoing research projects are as follows:

• Immunological Memory in CD8⁺ T Lymphocytes; Enhancing T Cell Responses by Increasing Antigenic Peptide; Activation Requirements, Development, and Function of Murine IELs; Cloning and Characterization of Early Genes Involved in Cytokine Starvation of Dependent Cells; Molecular Genetic Studies of Nitrate Transport in Arabidopsis; Mechanism of Protein Import to the Chloroplast Outer Envelope Membrane; Mechanism of the Immunity of Cf1t from Xanthomonas campestris pv. citri; Molecular Analysis of pag1 in Hz-1 Baculovirus Infections; and the Roles of Cellular Genes Involved in Vaccinia Virus Entry and Pathoge-nesis.
• Mechanism and Regulation of the Human CYP11A1 Gene and Globin Gene; Mechanism of RNase Gene Regulation; Molecular Study of Transcriptional Regulation of Homeotic Genes in Drosophila; Molecular Mechanism of Metabolic Regulation of £\-Amylase Gene Expression in Plants; and Isolation of Cell Cycle-specific Transcriptional Regulators.
• Molecular Genetic Analysis of Carbohydrate Meta-bolism in Arabidopsis; Regulation of tsh Gene and Its Role in Drosophila Imaginal Development; Cloning and Functional Analysis of Hsc-70 in Arabidopsis; Tran-scriptional Regulation of Mouse Gsh-1 Gene; and Identification of NAK in Drosophila Sensory Organ Development.
• Studies on GST; Antitumor Effects of Ia; Functional Significance of the C-terminal Domain of Hsc 70; PRP19 and its Associated Complex; Structural and Functional Studies of HDV Ribozyme; Structural and Functional Studies of Fis Protein; and Model Building and Crystallographic Studies of Biological Macromolecules.

PERSONNEL AND FACILITIES

PERSONNEL

Reflex-A Modular Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer

The Institute has 1 distinguished research fellow, 8 research fellows, 11 associate research fellows, 7 assistant research fellows, 27 postdoctoral fellows, 19 research assistants, 6 assistants, 2 technicians, and 6 administrative staff.

FACILITIES

The Institute is well equipped with Rigaku RU300 18 KW Rotating Anode X-ray Generator, AFC5R X-ray Diffractometer, AFC6 X-ray Diffractometer, San Diego Multiwire System Area Detector, X-1000 Siemens Area Detector, Siemens Three-axis Goniometer,

X-1000 Siemens Area Detector

IRIS 4D/210 VGX Graphics, C120 CONVEX Analysis System, VAX Computers, Raxis-II Imaging Plate System, VG BIO-Q ESI/MS/MS/DS System, Matrix 96 Direct b Counter, COBRA II g Counter, g Dual Source Irradiator, Phosphorimager, Carl Zeiss Laser Scan Microscope, Reflex-A Modular Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer System, ABI Model 491 Protein Sequencer System, and AMSCO Eagle 3000 Vacumatic Scientific Sterilizer. The Reading Room houses 900 books on biological sciences. There is a SUN 670 workstation. Personal computers are linked to the Computing Center of Academia Sinica on DEC-alpha network, and to INTERNET.

MAJOR RESULTS OF RESEARCH

Baculovirus-mediated expression of green fluorexcence in diamondback moth larva.
A: non-infected (a) and infected (b)larvae photographed in visible light.
B:The same larvae photographed under long-wave UV light.

Recent major findings: we have transferred Green Fluorescent Protein from the jellyfish into a typical baculovirus, to produce an easily visible marker for detecting infected insects on crops, making pest control more environmentally safe. In studying the control of RNA decay, we found that the stem-loop structures downstream from these RNase E cleavage sites are entirely dispensable for cleavage. We have also identified four gas genes from mouse NIH3T3 cells, using retroviral gene trap vectors; Sp-1-like proteins were found to be bound to the G-rich sequences at the promoters and to activate steroidogenic genes through this binding; apoptosis is responsible for the homologous interference phenomenon observed in the cells persistently infected with Hz-1 baculovirus; four cytokine independent mutants of human erythroleukemic cells that undergo no apoptosis upon deprivation of their dependent cytokine, GM-CSF, were selected, and one mutant's mutation might lie close to a point where TPA and factor-removal induced apoptosis pathways cross talk to each other; mutation at anchoring residues remarkably reduced the binding affinity generated peptides which enhanced the binding of other antigenic peptides to I-E^k and increased I-E^k-restricted T cell reactivity. These results have been published in renowned journals, such as Nature, MCB, JBC, PNAS, EMBO, Genetics, J. Immunology, and J. Virology.

Crystallographic model of an antigenic peptide(red)anchored into major histocompatibility complex.

RESEARCH STAFF

MEMBER OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE