Therapeutic in vivo synthetic chemistry

Abstract: 

The long-term goal of our research is to develop the working tools and methodologies that will form the foundation of “Therapeutic In Vivo Synthetic Chemistry”.The main benefit of this approach is that synthetic transformations can be directly performed at target regions within the body to generate molecules that elicit localized biological effects. This method should largely circumvent off-target binding and instability issues associated with current drug administration techniques. In these years, we have engaged this topic through two different approaches. The first is through the usage of glycosylated artificial metalloenzymes, where the primary aim is to exploit the chemoselectivity of embedded, non-natural transition metal catalysts for the synthesis/release of bioactive molecules.The second approach is rather centered on discovering chemical probes with novel and selective reactivity to biological metabolites naturally over expressed in cancer cells. Once developed, the objective is then to adapt them for synthesizing diagnostic probes or anticancer drugs. Apart of our strategies has already met with successful outcome in clinical trials and could be applied to pharmaceutical fields and hospitals. Overview and future prospect will be discussed.

Short biography:

Professor Tanaka is an accomplished chemist whose distinguished career spans academia and research institutes in Japan and abroad. After earning his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry from Kwansei Gakuin University under Professor Shigeo Katsumura, he gained early research experience at Bayer Yakuhin, Ltd. and later completed his doctoral studies in chemistry. He conducted postdoctoral research at Columbia University with Professor Koji Nakanishi and held key positions at Osaka University and RIKEN, where he currently serves as a Principal Investigator and Group Leader, with concurrent roles at several universities including the Tokyo Institute of Technology and Tokyo Medical and Dental University. Professor Tanaka’s research has been widely recognized through numerous prestigious awards, including the Horace S. Isbell Award from the American Chemical Society and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Prize. An active leader in the scientific community, he serves on editorial boards of several international journals and continues to advance the field of synthetic organic and carbohydrate chemistry through both research and mentorship.