• EpisomiR, a new family of miRNAs, and its possible roles in human diseases (Biomedicines, 2022)

     

    MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are synthesized through a canonical pathway and play a role in human diseases. Given that miRNA variants, called isomiRs, generated through a non-canonical pathway by several enzymes, recent findings have shown that isomiR family is expanding further to include episomiRs, which are miRNAs with different modifications. The knowledge of episomiRs and isomiRs can possibly contribute to the optimization of diagnosis and therapeutic technology for precision medicine.

  • Direct observation of DNA alterations induced by DNA disruptor(Scientific Reports, 2022)

    Detection of DNA alterations caused by exposure to exogenous reagents is important for the precision medicine.  We performed a single-molecule electrical detection method for the direct observation of DNA alterations. We found that the trifluridine (FTD) incorporation at the p53 DNA binding regions led to its less binding. This work suggests that single-molecule detection of DNA sequence alterations is a useful methodology for understanding DNA sequence alterations.

  • Detection techniques for epitranscriptomic marks (Am J Physiol, 2022, in press)

    In the academia-industry collaboration, we highlighted the detection techniques for RNA modifications, epitranscriptomic marks. Similar to epigenetic DNA modification, RNA can be methylated and altered for stability and processing. Epitranscriptomes involve the following three functions: writing, erasing, and reading of marks. The current study presents an overview of the development of detection techniques for epitranscriptomic marks and briefs about the recent progress.

  • Nematode applied technology for human tumor microenvironment research and development(Current Issues in Molecular Biology, 2022, in press)

     

    In the industry-academia collaboration with Hirotsu Bioscience Inc., we highlighted milestones in cancer research history and, from a unique viewpoint, focused on recent information on the contribution of nematodes in the cancer research towards human precision medicine.

  • Cancer metabolism challenges genomic instability and clonal evolution as therapeutic targets (Cancer Science, 2022)

     

    In the collaboration with Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan (Professors Eguchi and Doki) and academia-industry collaboration with Idea Consults, Inc., Osaka, Dr. Takeda has focused on the mechanism of cancer metabolism, which is involved in genomic instability, mutations, and evolution of damaged cell clones. The study will be emerged to be important as the innovation and discovery of diagnostic and therapeutic, novel targets.

  • Clinicopathological significance of MYL9 expression in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (Cancer Rep., 2021)

     

    In collaboration with Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Gastroenterology (Profs Yuichiro Doki, Hidetoshi Eguchi, and Masaki Mori), Matsushita et al. studied s significant molecule in mechanical biology, Myl9, in pancreatic cancer, and demonstrated its importance as both biomarker and therapeutic target.

  • Methylosystem for Cancer Sieging Strategy(Cancers 2021)

    In the international collaboration with Department of Radiation Oncology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan (Professor Ogawa) and Italy (Professor Vecchione), Dr. Tatekawa proposed the therapeutic concept, “methylosystem” (i.e., the intercellular and intracellular communications of upstream regulatory factors and/or downstream effectors that affect the epigenetic mechanism involving the transfer of a methyl group from S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) onto the specific positions of nucleotides or other metabolites in the tumor microenvironment) and emphasized the importance of tracking these metabolic products for understanding spatial heterogeneity. Their significance and implications will contribute to the discovery of efficient methods for the diagnosis of and therapeutic approaches to human cancer.

  • Single-Molecule RNA Sequencing for Simultaneous Detection of m6A and 5mC (Scientific Reports, 2021)

     

    Epitranscriptomics is the study of RNA base modifications involving functionally relevant changes to the transcriptome. We have proposed a single-molecule quantum sequencer for mapping RNA base modifications in microRNAs (miRNAs), such as N6-methyladenosine (m6A) or 5-methylcytidine (5mC). Here, we investigated 5mC and m6A in cancer cells; the rates were comparable to those determined by mass spectrometry. The methylation ratio of cytidine and adenosine is facilitated by the presence of vicinal methylation. Our work provides a robust new tool for sequencing various types of RNA base modifications.

  • Computational healthcare, present and future perspectives (Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, 2021, in press)

     

    As the international collaboration with University of Rome, Italy (Prof. Andrea Vecchione), Asai et al. updated the Knowledge of

  • Scent test using Caenorhabditis elegans to screen for early-stage pancreatic cancer (Oncotarget, 2021, in press)

     

    In the international collaboration with Hirotsu Bio Science Inc., Asai et al. studied a new biomarker by scent test with nematodes for the detection of early stages in pancreatic cancer.