1.Development of conformational-constrained templates for drug discovery.
Drug-discovery templates for conformational restriction, which enable pharmacophores of bioactive compounds (ex. peptides) to be suitably disposed in three-dimensional space, are being developed. Drug discovery for the chemotherapy of cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, SARS, etc. is being performed based on targeting several receptors, enzymes, etc.
2.Development of bio-probes, bio-sensing, medicinal chemistry towards chemical biology.
Bio-probes that specifically recognize each receptor or enzyme are being developed for research on chemical biology involving imaging and sensing.
3.Structural analysis of the interactions between receptors/enzymes and their ligands.
Using X-ray crystal structural analysis, the mechanism of signal transduction operated by binding of ligands to receptors/enzymes is being analyzed.
4. Development of applications of zinc finger protein for gene therapy and nano technology.
Utilizing DNA sequence-specific recognition of zinc finger protein, technologies for DNA recombination, modifications, and DNA labeling are being developed.