4th Grant

I gave an oral presentation titled "Development of Label-free Stem Cell Separation System Using Mixed Polymer Brush Consisting of Thermo-responsive and Cationic Polymers" at the 48th International Symposium on High-Performance Liquid Phase Separations and Related Technique, held in Milan, Italy. Specifically, I reported on my research into the development of a new temperature-controlled cell separation system for the separation and purification of mesenchymal stem cells. Mesenchymal stem cells are pluripotent and, like iPS cells, are attracting attention in regenerative medicine. However, conventional separation systems require cell modification with fluorescent dyes or magnetic beads, raising concerns about adverse effects on the human body and decreased cell activity. Therefore, we focused on the fact that the thermo-responsive polymer PNIPAAm undergoes a sharp, reversible change in its hydrophobic/hydrophilic properties at around 32°C. We devised a system that enables control of the adhesion and detachment behavior of mesenchymal stem cells on a flat plate simply by changing the temperature. Furthermore, by taking advantage of the negative charge of cells and modifying glass with a cationic polymer, we succeeded in improving separation accuracy and significantly reducing the time required compared to previous studies.

Through my participation in the conference, I felt that the research field of cell separation is still new and has great potential for further study. In addition to the presentation, I had a very valuable experience for a master's student, such as engaging in a Q&A session in English, and was greatly inspired by my interactions with researchers from overseas. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for their warm support, which made this valuable experience possible. I am determined to devote myself even more to my studies and research in the future.

(Haruno Wakayama, 1st Year Master's Student, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences)

I gave an oral presentation titled "Development of Oxidative C-C Bond Formation between Phenols and Alkenes" at The 4th Joint Conference Keio & Kaohsiung Medical University, held at Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan. This research involves reacting an aromatic compound with a phenol structure and a compound with a carbon-carbon double bond through an oxidative method to form a new carbon-carbon bond.

I discussed this topic with medical, science and technology, and pharmaceutical researchers and graduate students from Keio University and Kaohsiung Medical University, demonstrating the novelty, foresight, and utility of the reaction we discovered. At this conference, I discussed topics such as the isolation, structural determination, and synthesis of bioactive natural products, as well as chemical biology and medicinal chemistry. I also received valuable advice that provided guidance for my future research. In particular, the research on applications to nanomaterials using carbene ligands and the isolation and structural determination of marine-derived natural products were topics I do not usually have the opportunity to hear about, and it was extremely meaningful. Furthermore, the opportunity to give an oral presentation in English and discuss with researchers from overseas was a valuable experience that I could not have gained in my daily life.

This research is aimed not only at the synthesis of bioactive natural products but also at the development of a new synthetic methodology for aromatic compounds. If an efficient synthetic supply of various organic compounds can be realized, it can be applied to the creation of promising pharmaceuticals, and I believe it will contribute significantly to the development of the pharmaceutical field.

Finally, this presentation was made possible by the Sato Pharmaceutical Research Encouragement Award from Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. I would like to express my deepest gratitude here.

(Yuki Deguchi, 2nd Year Master's Student, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences)

I participated in the American Society of Pharmacognosy 2019 Annual Meeting held in Madison, Wisconsin, and gave a poster presentation titled "Solubility-Enhancement of Berberine-Baicalin Complex by Crocins."

In this research, we are analyzing the interactions between components that occur during the decoction process of the Kampo medicine Oren-gedoku-to. We have previously clarified that crocins, contained in the crude drug Gardeniae Fructus (Sanshishi) which is part of the formulation, exhibit a certain degree of solubility for the precipitate formed by berberine and baicalin in water. This time, I presented the measurement results of the solubilizing activity of each crocin individually and the analysis results of the dissolution mechanism by MS and NMR.

I had discussions with many people from various fields about the background of the research and the mechanisms of precipitation formation and dissolution. As a result, I was able to clarify unresolved points between the phenomena of component interaction and solubility enhancement of the precipitate, as well as key points that need to be explained to convey the content clearly. In addition, I was able to learn directly that there are researchers overseas who are interested in the characteristic of Kampo medicine that involves using a combination of multiple crude drugs. Furthermore, I gained many valuable experiences, such as the Q&A session at a poster presentation on analytical methods for natural products and listening to lectures on marine and fungal-derived natural products, which I rarely have the opportunity to encounter. It was a fulfilling conference participation. I intend to make the most of this experience and put even more effort into my future research.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for funding my participation in this conference.

(Kazuki Ogoshi, 3rd Year Doctoral Programs Student, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences)

I am currently comparing the substrate specificity in CYP2C19 variant molecular species and the inhibitory properties of CYP2C19 inhibitors. Last year, our group discovered and reported that in CYP2C19 variant molecular species, the metabolic activity of OPZ varies greatly, and that the variation in metabolic activity in CYP2C19.23 (I331V, G91R) is likely due to the G91R mutation, one of the two amino acid mutations. And this time, I gave a poster presentation at the "2019 Asian Association of Schools of Pharmacy Conference" held in South Korea.

It was my first overseas conference, and although I was frustrated at times because I couldn't communicate as well as I wanted, it was a great stimulus, and it made me want to work harder to gain even more from the next opportunity.

Finally, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for their generous support and cooperation for this conference presentation.

(Daichi Watanabe, 1st Year Master's Student, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences)

I participated in the 48th International Symposium on High-Performance Liquid Phase Separations and Related Techniques held in Milan and gave a poster presentation titled "New cell separation method using the thermoresponsive surface modified with cell adhesion peptides." In recent years, regenerative medicine, which involves transplanting cells and tissues cultured outside the body into the human body, has been attracting attention as a new medical modality. However, there are still many challenges regarding the safety and cost of collecting and culturing necessary cells from the body, and there is a demand for a simple and non-invasive technology to separate the required cells. In this presentation, I reported that by using a thermo-responsive culture dish modified with a special polymer whose properties change with temperature and cell-adhesive peptides derived from the extracellular matrix, it was shown to be possible to capture only specific cells and recover them non-invasively.

Many people from a wide range of fields viewed my poster, and by receiving objective opinions from various perspectives, I gained new ideas and clarified the direction and points for improvement in my future research. I also listened to many unique research presentations, was impressed by the flexible thinking of other researchers, and gained new knowledge. As it was an international conference, I was greatly stimulated by the high-level research from around the world and feel that it was a valuable experience. I intend to make the most of what I learned at this conference and devote myself even more to my future research.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for their generous support in the form of a research encouragement fund.

(Masanori Shimura, 2nd Year Master's Student, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences)

I am reporting on my participation and oral presentation at "The 61st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Conference on the Biochemistry of Lipids," held at Hokkaido University from Thursday, July 4 to Friday, July 5.

This is a conference where renowned lipid experts from all over the country gather. Until the day of the conference, I spent my days in trial and error, figuring out how to explain my research clearly. During my presentation, I was pleased that the audience showed interest in each piece of data, including the comprehensive lipid analysis using a triple quadrupole LC-MS/MS, and I felt that my efforts during the preparation period had paid off. Furthermore, during the Q&A session after my presentation, I received various questions and advice from prominent professors who were the authors of papers I had read. This helped me realize what is necessary for the further improvement of my research and to recognize its strengths. I was also happy that many people were interested in and acknowledged my research so far, and it made me want to strive for further development in my research. Moreover, witnessing prominent professors presenting the background of their research and their latest data, as well as seeing students of my own age from other universities presenting, was a strong stimulus and a valuable experience that will encourage my future research activities.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for giving me an opportunity that not only contributed to the development of my research but also to my personal growth through participation in the conference.

(Manami Hirano, 1st Year Master's Student, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences)

I gave a poster presentation titled "Validation of the Estimation Accuracy of an Absolute Bioavailability Estimation Method without Using Intravenous Injection Data" at The 22nd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Drug Informatics.

To determine the absolute oral bioavailability (BA) of an orally administered drug, data from an intravenous administration study is generally required in addition to data from an oral administration study. We have previously shown theoretically that BA can be calculated without intravenous data and have verified its accuracy with actual drugs. However, the number of drugs with sufficient data available for verification is currently small. Therefore, we validated the accuracy of the BA estimation method by performing in silico simulations with model drugs using a population pharmacokinetics simulator (SimcypTM).

At the conference, I received many questions and comments from people in various fields, including Drug Informatics, and was able to engage in discussions. Among them were considerations and opinions from perspectives I had never considered before, which helped me broaden my own horizons. Also, in preparing for the conference, I was able to gain new insights by deeply re-examining my research to date.

I would like to utilize the knowledge gained from this conference participation in my future research activities.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for providing me with such a valuable opportunity.

(Natsumi Iwata, 6th Year, Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy)

I participated in the Forum on Clinical Pharmacy 2019 / The 27th Clinical Pharmacy Symposium held in Hiroshima Prefecture. I gave a poster presentation titled "The Effect of pH on the Metabolic Activity of Various Genetic Variants of CYP3A4."

In vitro drug metabolism studies are conducted at pH 7.4, which is the pH of human extracellular fluid. However, there are reports that the intracellular pH of hepatocytes is 7.0, and the effect of the pH environment on metabolic activity is unknown. In this study, using midazolam as a substrate, we compared the effect of pH on the metabolic activity of CYP3A4 between the wild type and four variants. This study found that in all variants, pH affects metabolic activity mainly by changing the maximum reaction velocity (Vmax), and that the degree of pH's effect on metabolic activity differs greatly among the variants.

After the presentation, I was able to have a meaningful discussion with researchers who are conducting studies using drug-metabolizing enzymes. I received valuable opinions from perspectives I had not considered on my own, and I hope to incorporate them into my future research. I also had the opportunity to listen to many poster presentations and symposia, which was a good opportunity to learn not only about research content but also about presentation methods that are easy for the audience to understand. I hope to apply this experience to my future student life.

Finally, my participation in this conference was made possible by the support of Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude. Thank you very much.

(Rina Ejiri, 6th Year, Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy)