Development research and human resource development of therapeutic drugs and vaccines for viral infections based on structural analysis

Photo: Cryo-electron microscope

Led by Professor Katsumi Maenaka of Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences (in charge of Graduate School of Life Science), we are promoting the development of therapeutic drugs and vaccines for viral infections, including the new coronavirus, at the Research and Education Center for Pharmaceutical Sciences. For this, it is important to see how the virus actually infects human cells, and how the infection is stopped by binding with drugs, antibodies, etc. Viruses and drugs are invisible and small, so we use special equipment that uses X-rays and electron beams, such as X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopes. If we can see the state of binding, we can predict what kind of effect we can expect, and we can design even better drugs and antibodies. At the Maenaka Laboratory, we are working with graduate students of Graduate School of Life Science, students of School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacy, and international students, as well as jointly with top overseas laboratories, to develop researchers and technologies who can play an active role globally in the future. We hope that this will lead to the development of human resources. In order to strongly promote these research and education, our university has established the Global Station for Biosurface Drug Discovery (GSD), an international research base that focuses on the surfaces of viruses and cells.