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User:Toma Kashima
Dr. Toma Kashima (https://twitter.com/TKcaramel_sugar) is an Assistant Professor at the Laboratory of Enzymology, Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the University of Tokyo, Japan. He received his PhD in March 2022 at this same lab, and worked as a researcher at Kyoto University (Laboratory of Material Biology, Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere; Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Bioresponse, Graduate School of Biostudies) before joining his current position in July 2023.
With Prof. Shinya Fushinobu as his mentor, Dr. Kashima has been working on the structural and molecular analysis of novel CAZymes in bifidobacterial and other bacteria. Recently, his interest is shifting to the search of novel enzymes and the utilization of carbohydrates by microorganisms, and he is conducting some mysterious experiments while studying microbiology and bioinformatics.
Dr. Kashima has determined the crystal structures of
GH20 Bifidobacterium bifidum sulfoglycosidase (BbhII), involved in the degradation of mucin glycan [1]
GH172 Bifidobacterium dentium difructose dianhydride I synthase/hydrolase (αFFase1), which degrades oligosaccharides found in caramelized sugar [2, 3]
His hobbies are music (rock and metal) and clothes.
- Katoh T, Yamada C, Wallace MD, Yoshida A, Gotoh A, Arai M, Maeshibu T, Kashima T, Hagenbeek A, Ojima MN, Takada H, Sakanaka M, Shimizu H, Nishiyama K, Ashida H, Hirose J, Suarez-Diez M, Nishiyama M, Kimura I, Stubbs KA, Fushinobu S, and Katayama T. (2023). A bacterial sulfoglycosidase highlights mucin O-glycan breakdown in the gut ecosystem. Nat Chem Biol. 2023;19(6):778-789. DOI:10.1038/s41589-023-01272-y |
- Kashima T, Okumura K, Ishiwata A, Kaieda M, Terada T, Arakawa T, Yamada C, Shimizu K, Tanaka K, Kitaoka M, Ito Y, Fujita K, and Fushinobu S. (2021). Identification of difructose dianhydride I synthase/hydrolase from an oral bacterium establishes a novel glycoside hydrolase family. J Biol Chem. 2021;297(5):101324. DOI:10.1016/j.jbc.2021.101324 |
- Teze D and Svensson B. (2022). A healthy Bifidobacterium dentium caramel cocktail. J Biol Chem. 2022;298(1):101452. DOI:10.1016/j.jbc.2021.101452 |