麻豆传媒色情片

In Memoriam

In memoriam: Sadaaki Iwanaga

ASBMB Today Staff
Feb. 21, 2022

Sadaaki Iwanaga, an honorary member of the 麻豆传媒色情片 and 麻豆传媒色情片 Biology since 1989 and a pioneer in the study of blood clotting, died June 21, 2020, the ASBMB learned recently.

Sadaaki Iwanaga

Born in Tokyo on Jan. 5, 1933, Iwanaga was a high school baseball player before turning his attention to science. He earned a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences in 1960.

In the 1960s and ‘70s, Iwanaga held positions at Kyoto and Osaka universities and the Institute for Protein Research in Japan, and spent several years with Birger Blomb盲ck at the Karolinska Institute studying the chemical structure of fibrinogen, a protein that helps blood clots to form. He came to Kyushu University as a professor of biology in 1978 and stayed until his retirement in 1996.

Blood clotting and coagulation are relevant to human health, and this focus allowed Iwanaga to explore exotic biofluids such as snake venom and horseshoe crab hemolymph.

In horseshoe crabs, hemolymph coagulates in response to bacterial lipopolysaccharides or foreign polysaccharides and triggers a defensive response. (This response has been used historically to test the sterility of pharmaceutical products.)  Iwanaga's lab investigated the protease cascade that kicks off hemolymph coagulation: One protease cleaves another from its inactive to an active form, and that protease then activates a third enzyme. The cascade includes four proteases and a clotting protein. The lab also investigated protease inhibitors called serpins, which prevent runaway coagulation, along with LPS-binding proteins and antimicrobial peptides.

Iwanaga also studied clotting in human blood, which, as in horseshoe crabs, is activated through a cascading system of proteases. He developed protease substrates that fluoresce when cleaved, which can be used to monitor protease activity. He studied kallikrein, a protease that affects blood pressure by cleaving and activating peptide hormones called kinins. He also studied snake venom, interested in how its proteins prevent clotting.

“He was a hard-working scientist,” several of Iwanaga’s mentees wrote in in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. “He made it a custom to come to work before everyone else and go home after everyone else, even over the weekends and during holidays. He was a sharp observer of the field and this helped him to be ahead of the curve.”

Iwanaga and his wife, Mihiko, loved to travel. He was also a fan of sumo wrestling, according to the article, and would bring visiting scientists to the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament “where Mihiko would book large box seats for the group.”

Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?

Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition monthly.

Learn more
ASBMB Today Staff

This article was written by a member or members of the ASBMB Today staff.

Get the latest from ASBMB Today

Enter your email address, and we鈥檒l send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.

Latest in People

People highlights or most popular articles

Meet the 2025 SOC grant awardees
Outreach

Meet the 2025 SOC grant awardees

Aug. 15, 2025

Five science outreach and communication projects received up to $1,000 from ASBMB to promote the understanding of molecular life science.

Unraveling cancer鈥檚 spaghetti proteins
Profile

Unraveling cancer鈥檚 spaghetti proteins

Aug. 13, 2025

MOSAIC scholar Katie Dunleavy investigates how Aurora kinase A shields oncogene c-MYC from degradation, using cutting-edge techniques to uncover new strategies targeting 鈥渦ndruggable鈥 molecules.

How HCMV hijacks host cells 鈥 and beyond
Profile

How HCMV hijacks host cells 鈥 and beyond

Aug. 12, 2025

Ileana Cristea, an ASBMB Breakthroughs webinar speaker, presented her research on how viruses reprogram cell structure and metabolism to enhance infection and how these mechanisms might link viral infections to cancer and other diseases.

Understanding the lipid link to gene expression in the nucleus
Profile

Understanding the lipid link to gene expression in the nucleus

Aug. 11, 2025

Ray Blind, an ASBMB Breakthroughs speaker, presented his research on how lipids and sugars in the cell nucleus are involved in signaling and gene expression and how these pathways could be targeted to identify therapeutics for diseases like cancer.

In memoriam: William S. Sly
In Memoriam

In memoriam: William S. Sly

Aug. 11, 2025

He served on the 麻豆传媒色情片 and 麻豆传媒色情片 Biology Council in 2005 and 2006 and was an ASBMB member for 35 years.

ASBMB committees welcome new members
Society News

ASBMB committees welcome new members

Aug. 7, 2025

Members joined these committees: Education and Professional Development, Maximizing Access, Meetings, 麻豆传媒色情片, Public Affairs Advisory, Science Outreach and Communication, Student Chapters and Women in Biochemistry and 麻豆传媒色情片 Biology.