Shaping the future of mRNA based drug delivery

New study reveals that the stereochemistry of lipid nanoparticles critically influences safety and efficacy in mRNA delivery

05-Aug-2025 - A team from the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Hokkaido University, and Osaka University has discovered that subtle differences in molecular structure can have a major impact on the performance of mRNA-based drugs. Their findings, published in the Journal of the American Chemical ...

Healing the brain: Hydrogels enable neuronal tissue growth

Brain growth may be the stuff of science fiction, but a cross-disciplinary team of researchers has made a step towards it

27-Feb-2023 - Synthetic hydrogels were shown to provide an effective scaffold for neuronal tissue growth in areas of brain damage, providing a possible approach for brain tissue reconstruction. While growing brains may sound like something out of a science fiction movie, a cross-disciplinary team of ...

Reading out RNA structures in real time

16-Feb-2023 - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease and Stephen Hawking’s disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the gradual loss of control over the muscles in the body. It is currently incurable and the cause of the disease is unknown in over 90% of all ...

CO₂ recycling and efficient drug development – tackling two problems with one reaction

Work marks an especially large breakthrough, since CO₂ is used to carry out a traditionally difficult type of transformation with unprecedented efficiency

24-Feb-2022 - Using electricity, a new method offers the possibility of recycling CO2 while also performing a notoriously difficult reaction, producing compounds potentially useful for drug development. Scientists at the Institute for Chemical Reaction Design and Discovery (ICReDD) in Hokkaido University have ...

DNA origami to scale-up molecular motors

12-Jun-2019 - Researchers have successfully used DNA origami to make smooth-muscle-like contractions in large networks of molecular motor systems, a discovery which could be applied in molecular robotics."We successfully demonstrated programmed self-assembly of a biomolecular motor system," write the ...

Engineering a cancer-fighting virus

31-Jan-2019 - An engineered virus kills cancer cells more effectively than another virus currently used in treatments, according to Hokkaido University researchers. Hokkaido University researchers have engineered a virus that selectively targets and kills cancer cells. The virus, called dl355, has an even ...

Repeated interferon stimulation creates innate immune memory

29-Oct-2018 - The innate immune system may be able to be trained to react to viral infections more efficiently by repeated exposure to anti-viral signaling molecules. Mammalian cells seem to be able to memorize anti-viral stimulation at the level of DNA-packaging molecules, enabling faster and greater ...

Questioning conventional understanding of antifreeze proteins

Scientists describe new phenomenon possibly expanding application

02-Aug-2018 - Scientists have discovered that an ice-binding protein (fcIBP) from the sea ice microalga does not fit in the conventional classification of ice-binding proteins, suggesting unknown mechanisms behind its antifreeze property. This finding could lead to a broader application of the antifreeze ...

Key process in ebola infection identified

Ebola virus exploits host enzyme for efficient entry to target cells

07-Feb-2018 - Researchers have identified a key process that enables the Ebola virus to infect host cells, providing a novel target for developing antiviral drugs. The deadly Ebola virus incorporates a cellular enzyme into its virus particles, facilitating the infection to the target cells, according to new ...

Collagen controlling the thickness and juvenile state of skin

13-Jul-2017 - Type XVII collagen (COL17) is found to regulate the proliferation of epidermal cells and therefore the thickness of juvenile and aged skin, suggesting COL17 can potentially be used for future anti-aging strategies. Skin is the body's largest organ and is constantly confronted with a range of ...