Download In human history, bioactive small molecules have had three primary

FUNDING PROGRAM FOR NEXT GENERATION WORLD-LEADING RESEARCHERS
Project Title: Control and Analysis of Cells by Synthetic Small Molecules
Name: Motonari UESUGI
Institution: Kyoto University
1. Background of research
In human history, bioactive small molecules have had three primary uses: as medicines, agrochemicals, and
biological tools. This research proposes another application of small molecules: small molecule tools for cell
therapy. Although small molecule drugs will continue to be important, cell therapy will be a powerful approach to
curing difficult diseases that small molecule drugs are unable to cure.
2. Research objectives
The goal of this research is to explore a new way to use small molecules: development of small molecules for
cell therapy. To achieve this challenging goal, we need to chemically synthesize small molecules that
manipulate fundamental characteristics of human cells. As biological processes all stem from chemical events,
it should be possible to understand or manipulate biological events by using chemistry.
3. Research characteristics (incl. originality and creativity)
This research integrates chemistry and cell therapy, two of the prominent fields that are strongly represented in
Japan. By combining the cutting-edge techniques of chemistry and those of biology, we may be able to
generate a series of unique small molecules that we have never seen before. These unexplored types of small
molecules may benefit us in both basic cell biology research and cell therapy application.
4. Anticipated effects and future applications of research
In near future, cell therapy will be more common treatment in clinics. One of the remaining problems is its high
cost. Mass-production of low-cost, stable, and defined small molecule tools for cell therapy would be able to
reduce the cost and might also improve the safety of cell therapy.