Outline of our achievements
Laboratory of Medical Genomics
About our research
Purpose of our research
Till now, we have analyzed more than 2,000 genes and have prepared antibodies against the proteins they produce. To contribute to the society with these results, we have made various attempts to exploit the genetic data to overcome cancer and allergy in collaboration with Chiba Cancer Center, Chiba University, etc. Our laboratory is newly set up to accomplish further contribution to medical treatment.
Feature of our research
Using various data of the genes that we have accumulated at our institute, we develop effective diagnostic and therapeutic methods for human diseases by close cooperation with universities and medical institutions.
Expected fields of application
If we succeed in developing therapeutic methods based on genes and making a reagent kit available, it will contribute to the prescription of medicines most appropriate to individual patients based on the objective data. Aside from the diseases we are currently tackling, we seek further cooperation with various medical researchers to combat other diseases. We anticipate development of medicines and efficient diagnosis methods for genetic diseases.
Our research projects
- Analysis of immunodeficiency
- Comprehensive analysis of transcription factors
- Development of a gene diagnosis method to cure pains
The primary immunodeficiency is a grave disease caused by genetic disorder, in which the immune system does not function and patients are susceptible to infection of pathogens such as viruses. 120 or more responsible genes have been identified till now, but their functions remain to be clarified further. Therefore, we started to investigate diagnosis of immunodeficiency and the mechanism of its occurrence in collaboration with a few medical universities and colleges.
Many diseases have been reported to be caused by abnormality in proteins termed "transcription factors" that play important roles in the process of transcription of messenger RNA from a gene. To clarify such diseases, we have made antibodies against about 400 of the putative 1,700-2,000 transcription factors in the CREATE (Collaboration of Regional Entities for the Advancement of Technological Excellence) Program. Antibodies against additional 600 will be prepared to cover a half of the transcription factors during the next 3 years to promote the research further.
The dosage of analgesic drugs to cure pains caused by surgery or cancers is currently solely decided by the doctors’ judgment. Supported by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, we have been developing a reagent kit to analyze individual variations of pains based on genes in collaboration with Tokyo Institute of Psychiatry since 2005.