2025 Activity Report vol.39:Konan University

Frontier Institute for Biomolecular Engineering Research (FIBER) in Konan University is a research institute specializing in nucleic acid chemistry. It has conducted quantitative analyses of the physicochemical properties of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), which constitute genes, and has built databases useful for various fields—including biomedical engineering, agriculture, and pharmacy—such as the design of nucleic acid-based therapeutics. From February 24 to March 10, 2026, we invited two doctoral students from the University of Calcutta and Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth University in India to conduct joint research activities. In India, research on plant-derived natural compounds, such as spices, is actively underway, and in recent years, numerous examples have been reported in which these compounds bind to the quadruplex structure—a unique structure of nucleic acids—and exhibit pharmacological activity. Consequently, efforts to effectively utilize plant-derived compounds in India for the development of biomedical engineering technologies are considered highly important. FIBER is also advancing the development of biomedical engineering technologies based on the analysis of interactions between nucleic acids and compounds, and has long sought to collaborate with Indian researchers. The visiting researchers were under the guidance of Dr. Sudipta Bhowmik, a collaborative researcher, and we promoted joint research through a research exchange program aimed at mastering the fundamentals of physicochemical analysis of nucleic acids.

As part of the program, we first held an international exchange event titled “International Exchange Seminar on Science and Culture.” This event was designed as a forum for researchers from Konan University and the visiting scholar to exchange views on how their research styles were shaped by their cultural backgrounds. This allowed for discussions not only on specialized scientific and technological topics but also on philosophical perspectives. As a result, we were able to foster global exchange not only between laboratories but also across disciplines and between universities. Furthermore, we held a research seminar titled “FIBER Future College,” inviting top-level researchers in nucleic acid chemistry not only from within Japan but also from the UK to give lectures. This provided the visiting researchers with a valuable opportunity to learn about various domestic research projects related to their own knowledge and experience.

As part of the exchange program, we visited the laboratories of Assistant Professor NAKATA Shuya and Professor Emeritus TANAKA Shigenori at the Graduate School of Systems and Information Engineering, Kobe University, who specialize in structural analysis of nucleic acids and proteins using computational chemistry methods. This visit facilitated high-level research exchange with the highly skilled Indian researchers, who specialize in computational chemistry. Additionally, we visited the laboratories of Professor NAGASAWA Kazuo and Associate Professor TERA Masayuki at the Graduate School of Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, which are renowned for their technology in stabilizing DNA structures using synthetic compounds, and exchanged views on enhancing compound performance through chemical modification. During the laboratory visits, we were able to implement a program that was appropriate and effective for the objectives and purpose of the exchange program by providing participants with the opportunity to present their own research to researchers from different fields. In addition, through visits to museums in Kobe and the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan), participants were able to experience culture, including science and history.

As a result of this exchange, we conducted joint research on “Comprehensive Screening of Flavonoids That Regulate the Formation of DNA Quadruplex Structures Within Cells.” This led to significant progress in developing computational methods to analyze the spectroscopic data of compounds that interact with DNA—a specialty of the visiting researchers. Consequently, it is expected that the Indian team will be able to independently identify effective plant-derived compounds in the future. In the future, by sharing the know-how of cell processing technologies developed by the Japanese side, the Indian side will be able to process target cells and tissues locally and supply the analyzed data to the Japanese side, thereby enabling detailed nucleic acid research experiments and analysis.