Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research

Japan Science and Technology Agency

Nec Corporation

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Incorporated

Cancer Institute, Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research

Fujitsu Corporation

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Japan Science and Technology Corporation

Nof Corporation

The City University of New York

Fuso Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd.

The Jikei University

Kiyotaka Shiba

Kenichi Sano

Sumio Iijima

Paul R Schimmel

Ichiro Yamashita

Satoshi Yamada

Masaki Ito

Masako Yudasaka

Akio Matsuhisa

Nobuyuki Sakamoto

Tomozumi Noda

Hiroshi Matsui

Yuichiro Kishi

Kenji Iwahori

Masato Kitajima

Janice E Kranz

Kanako Suga

Kumiko Ajima

Tatsuya Murakami

Daisuke Kase

Katsutoshi Kokubun

Yoko Satou

Tracy L Ripmaster

Yoshikazu Mikawa

Min A Kang

A method for enhancing extracellular vesicle production is described. A peptide that induces polymer formation is incubated with a cell culture which results in enhanced EV production. The peptide penetrates the cells and subsequently polymerizes upon exposure to enzymes (e.g. phosphatase) within the cell. The cells that contain the newly formed polymers have an increased production of EVs. These EVs can be harvested using centrifugation techniques.

Method for enhancing extracellular vesicle production

A coating agent for preventing the adsorption of extracellular vesicles represented by exosomes to a tool has been developed. Adsorption of extracellular vesicles to a tool can be prevented by using a coating agent which contains a hydrophilic polymer having a weight average molecular weight of 10,000 or more and 1,000,000 or less, wherein a coated layer formed by the coating agent has a contact angle of 0 degree or more and 30 degrees or less.

Method of recovering extracellular vesicles and container for extracellular vesicles

A novel vaccine that can induce sufficiently high cell-mediated immunity is disclosed. The vaccine of the present invention contains, as an effective component, a polypeptide comprising a tandem repeat structure in which an MHC class I epitope region derived from an antigen protein and a spacer sequence are linked to each other alternately and repeatedly at least three times, or a recombinant vector which comprises a polynucleotide encoding said polypeptide and is capable of expressing said polypeptide in vivo. The spacer sequence is, for example, a sequence generated as an amino acid sequence inevitably encoded by a single base sequence which is designed such that the MHC class I epitope region derived from the antigen protein, an MHC class II epitope region derived from the antigen protein, and at least one higher-order-structure-stabilizing region are encoded by different reading frames in said single base sequence.

Cellular immunity inducing vaccine

[Problem to be Solved] An object of the present invention is to provide a novel peptide that has the high ability to bind to EpCAM, which can be easily prepared by a chemical synthesis method or a genetic engineering method. [Solution] The present inventors have improved a method for screening a phage library and thereby successfully screened for a peptide that has the higher ability to bind to EpCAM compared with publicly known peptides. The present inventors have also used an already disclosed peptide having the ability to bind to EpCAM as a lead compound to prepare diverse populations of derivatives thereof, from among which a peptide strongly binding to EpCAM has been selected. The obtained peptides exhibit at least 10 times higher ability to bind to EpCAM compared with publicly known peptides and as such, are effective for the detection or diagnosis of cancer cells.

Peptides that bind to epithelial cell adhesion molecule

It is to provide an inorganic thin film of titanium dioxide or the like which is controlled at the nanoscale and a three-dimensional structure of a functional material such as semiconductor nanoparticles. A three-dimensional structure of an inorganic material is manufactured by introducing onto a surface of an inorganic substrate ferritin presenting on its surface a plurality of inorganic material-binding peptides; binding the ferritin in a monolayer onto the inorganic substrate; introducing an inorganic material onto the ferritin which is bound in a monolayer, while the inorganic material-binding peptides is having a binding and/or biomineralization ability for the inorganic material; forming a biomineral layer utilizing the biomineralization ability of the inorganic material-binding peptides; and subsequently repeating one or more times the steps (a) and (b) of a multilayering operation: (a) introducing onto the biomineral layer thus formed the ferritin having a binding ability to the biomineral layer, and binding the ferritin in a monolayer onto the biomineral layer; (b) introducing the inorganic material onto the surface of the ferritin which is bound in a monolayer, and forming a biomineral layer.

Three-dimensional structure of functional material

The present invention makes it possible to efficiently recognize carbon nanotubes, carbon nanohorns or modifiers thereof and to support functional compounds by fusing the ability of ferritin molecules capable of forming nanoparticles of inorganic metal atoms or inorganic metal compounds. In addition, because ferritin molecules are capable of forming two-dimensional crystals at the interface, the present invention makes it possible to align carbon nanotubes, carbon nanohorns with the use of the molecular arrangement ability of ferritin fused with nanographite structure recognition peptides. A nanographite structure/metal nanoparticle composite is constructed, wherein a nanoparticle of an inorganic metal atom or an inorganic metal compound is retained in an interior space of a protein in which a nanographite structure recognition peptide is fused or chemically bound to a surface of a cage protein such as ferritin, and wherein a plurality of nanoparticles of an inorganic metal atom or an inorganic metal compound are supported on a nanographite structure with the use of affinity of the nanographite structure recognition peptide to the nanographite structure.

Nanographite structure/metal nanoparticle composite

The present invention provides a carbon nanohorn complex that is excellent in characteristics of adsorption or inclusion of drugs and release, in particular, a sustained release of drugs as a novel drug carrier in drug delivery systems, as well as a process for producing the complex. The complex of drug and carbon nanohorns comprises a steroidal or metal-containing drug being adsorbed onto the oxidized carbon nanohorns, or included in pores opened thereof.

Complex of drug-carbon nanohorn and a process for producing the complex

The present invention provides a peptide sequence, a phage, an artificial protein or a chimeric molecule having a binding ability to titanium, silver, silicon, necessary to confer higher capacity of titanium, silver, silicon material with the use of soft matters, or to provide a complex of a peptide, a phage, an artificial protein or a chimeric molecule, and titanium, having the peptide sequence and functional peptide sequence. By bringing into contact a population of phage wherein said phage of said population collectively express a library of different peptide sequence, recovering titanium bound to phage particles via peptide sequence by centrifugation, proliferating the obtained phage particles in bacteria, and repeating panning operation and concentrating titanium binding phage clones. Among the phage clones, peptide RKLPDAPGMHTW (SEQ ID NO: 3) and the like is identified. As for a peptide having a binding ability to titanium, silver, silicon, RKLPDA (SEQ ID NO: 1) or RALPDA (SEQ ID NO: 2) can be exemplified.

Peptides capable of binding to titanium silver silicone

It is intended to provide a peptide or a phage recognizing nanographite structures and thus enabling efficient recognition, binding, separation and alignment of nanographite structures such as carbon nanohorns or carbon nanotubes, an artificial protein or a chimeric molecule comprising the above-described peptide bonded to a functional peptide, a protein, a labeling, etc., and a complex of the above-described peptide molecule, artificial protein or chimeric molecule with a nanographite structure. By panning peptide-presenting phages bonded to nanographite structures, a nanographite structure-binding peptide capable of specifically recognizing nanographite structures such as carbon nanohorns or carbon nanotubes is obtained.

Peptide capable of binding to nanographite structures

A method for selectively arranging ferritin modified with a peptide, which specifically binds to titanium, to titanium formed on a substrate surface is provided. The method for arranging ferritin of the present invention is characterized in that ferritin is selectively bound on titanium on a substrate by modifying the N-terminal part of ferritin with a peptide which specifically binds to titanium. Also, the method for arranging ferritin of the present invention is characterized in that selectivity for titanium can be markedly improved by adding a nonionic surface activating agent.

Method of arrangement of titanium-binding ferritin and inorganic particles

A multifunctional base sequence method largely shortens the calculation time and reduces the volume of memory consumption of a processor by carrying out calculation with the advance exclusion of base sequences in which translation termination codons emerge in the second and third reading frames, which are to be excluded in the end. Focusing on the fact that a dipeptide sequence already contains information about the translation products of the second and third reading frames, proteins are analyzed and calculated as duplicated connective products of dipeptide sequences, and are not analyzed as connective products of 20 kinds of amino acids.

Method of designing multifunctional base sequence

A method of forming a macromolecular microgene polymer comprises allowing DNA polymerase to act on oligonucleotides A and B complementary at least partially to each other to effect polymerase chain reaction. According to the present invention, there can be obtained a polymer consisting of a repeating microgene, which is efficiently and simply formed.

Method of forming a macromolecular microgene polymer

Method for detecting nucleic acid

Isolated, recombinant nucleic acids which encode an isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase (IleRS) of human origin have been used to make expression constructs and transformed host cells for the production of a recombinant human IleRS. A recombinant enzyme has been purified, and is active in the specific aminoacylation of tRNA by isoleucine. Isolated, recombinant enzyme, and antibodies made specifically thereto, can be useful in assays to diagnose and monitor the autoimmune disease known as 'antisynthetase syndrome.' The essential isoleucyl-tRNA synthetases of microbes pathogenic in humans can be the targets of inhibitory agents having antimicrobial activity. A human isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase, isolated and purified, can be used to assess the toxic effect in humans of such an inhibitory agent in various biochemical activity assays. This human enzyme can also be expressed in 'tester strains,' whose cells rely upon the function of the human isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase for tRNA.sup.Ile charging. Such tester strains can be used to test for any toxic effects of an antimicrobial agent that specifically interacts with a heterologous human IleRS gene or gene product.

Human isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase proteins, nucleic acids and tester

Isolated, recombinant nucleic acids which encode alanyl-tRNA synthetase (AlaRS) of human origin have been used to make expression constructs and transformed host cells for the production of recombinant human AlaRS. The recombinant enzyme has been purified, and is active in the specific aminoacylation of tRNA by alanine. The isolated, recombinant human AlaRS is also recognized by antibodies made by patients with the particular autoimmune disease known as 'antisynthetase syndrome' in which the patients produce antibodies against the human alanyl-tRNA synthetase in their own cells. Thus, the isolated, recombinant enzyme, and antibodies made specifically thereto, can be useful in assays to diagnose and monitor this disease. The essential alanyl-tRNA synthetases of microbes pathogenic in humans can be the targets of inhibitory agents having antimicrobial activity. The human alanyl-tRNA synthetase, isolated and purified, can be used to assess the toxic effect in humans of such an inhibitory agent in various biochemical activity assays. This human enzyme can also be expressed in 'tester strains,' whose cells rely upon the function of the human alanyl-tRNA synthetase for tRNA.sup.Ala charging. Such tester strains can be used to test for any toxic effects of an antimicrobial agent that specifically interacts with the heterologous human AlaRS gene or gene product.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Kiyotaka Shiba