Basic research for development of new type of drugs based on the mechanism of transcriptional regulation

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Transcriptional regulation is carried out by the combination of various specific interactions such as DNA-protein and protein-protein interactions. Since transcription is the main reaction in regulating gene expression, the destruction of its regulatory mechanism may cause diseases. The research of this area is regarded as an appropriate target for new drug development. Our research includes the following.1) Isolation of new type of transcription factors for drug developmentIn order to isolate new co-factors participating in DNA-protein and protein-protein interactions in transcriptional regulation, the two-hybrid screening system has been applied with the known factors as the probe. As a result, various factors have been isolated including candidate factors for sarcoma gene products and nuclear factors participating in autoimmune diseases. This methodology has been shown to be effective in the isolation of target factors for developing drugs.2) Construction of a system for screening in drug developmentAs interactions between transcription factors can be detected by using two-hybrid screening system, the system is also thought to be adequate for the isolation of drugs which show inhibition activities on interactions. Other screening systems for drug development are under development, utilizing assays of transcriptional activity and the interactions between DNA and transcription factors.