Creation of cell response control method by electric charge -Cure viral infection and cancer with charged hydrogel

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K19878
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 90:Biomedical engineering and related fields
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: Tanaka Shinya 北海道大学, 医学研究院, 教授 (70261287)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-07-09 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: ハイドロゲル / ウイルス感染 / がん幹細胞

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Infectious diseases and cancer are two major diseases, and their control is an urgent issue. We recently found that hydrogels induce rapid genomic changes in human cells (Nat. Biomed. Eng, 5, 914-925, 2021). In this research, this technology has been significantly developed, and the genomic state of cells was controlled by changing the charge (charge state) around cells using hydrogels. We found a charge condition that promoted viral proliferation and a charge condition that maximized the expression of cancer stem cell markers. This reveals the importance of specific pericellular charges in virus propagation and cancer stem cell creation.

Free Research Field

実験病理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究成果により、ウイルス増殖及びがん幹細胞の創出において、細胞周囲の特定のチャージ（荷電状態）が重要であることが明らかとなった。これらをコントロールすることで、ウイルス感染防御及びがん幹細胞標的治療法開発に繋がると期待される。 最終的には、再生医療、未来医療を学術的に支える新学問領域「マテリアルゲノミクス」の確立に繋がるものであり、社会的・学問的意義が大きい。