Photoactivatable oncolytic adenovirus for optogenetic cancer therapy.

Virotherapy using oncolytic adenovirus is an effective anticancer strategy. However, the tumor selectivity of oncolytic adenoviruses is not enough high. To develop oncolytic adenovirus with a low risk of off-tumor toxicity, we constructed a photoactivatable oncolytic adenovirus (paOAd).

Enrichment of high-functioning human iPS cell-derived hepatocyte-like cells for pharmaceutical research.

Human iPS cell-derived hepatocyte-like cells are expected to be utilized in pharmaceutical research. However, the purity of high-functioning hepatocyte-like cells is not high enough. In particular, the purity of cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4), which is a representative hepatic drug-metabolizing enzyme, positive cells is still quite low (approximately 20%).

Highly efficient biallelic genome editing of human ES/iPS cells using a CRISPR/Cas9 or TALEN system.

Genome editing research of human ES/iPS cells has been accelerated by clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALEN) technologies. However, the efficiency of biallelic genetic engineering in transcriptionally inactive genes is still low, unlike that in transcriptionally active genes. To enhance the biallelic homologous recombination efficiency in human ES/iPS cells, we performed screenings of accessorial genes and compounds.