Leading-Edge Applications of Mass Spectrometry in Drug Discovery and Diagnosis

Professor Taka-Aki Sato, Director of the R&D Center for Precision Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Japan

Driven by the development of high-end mass spectrometers, proteome & metabolome analysis are currently expanding to single-cell imaging and characterization of heterogeneity in post-translational modification. The main topics of this seminar include: (1) visualization of molecular abundance in biological specimens by mass spectrometry imaging (MSI); (2) high-sensitivity detection of diagnostic markers by Immuno-Beads MS technology; and (3) a brief introduction to the development of next-generation mass spectrometry system for contribution in drug discovery and diagnosis field.

Nonhuman Primates Resource for Medical Science in Tsukuba Primate Research Center, Japan

Professor Yasuhiro Yasutomi, Director of Tsukuba Primate Research Center (TPRC), National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition (NIBIOHN) and Department of Immunoregulation, Graduate School of Medicine, Mie University, Japan

Nonhuman primates (NHP) are critical resources for biomedical research. Cynomolgus monkeys are one of the key nonhuman primate models that share nearly all characteristics with humans.　 Tsukuba Primate Research Center (TPRC) in National Institutes of Biomedical innovation, Health and Nutrition (NIBIOHN) Japan has a large-scale breeding colony of experimental monkeys (approximately 1,6000 monkeys), which play a significant role in the development of pharmaceutical products and medical technologies. The center is the forefront facility in Japan that both supplies laboratory-bred monkeys, mainly cynomolgus monkeys, and performs medical research. Cynomolgus monkeys have been maintained in indoor facilities as closed colony monkeys in TPRC since 1978. In addition to quality control, supply, research resource development, and basic technology development involving the experimental monkeys, evaluation of state-of-the-art medical technology, evaluation of the efficacy of new drugs and safety assessments are also performed using the monkeys. TPRC proactively to develop model animals for these diseases by artificial manipulation such as infectious disease. Moreover, some spontaneous diseases have been found during such health examinations, and the familial progress of diseases such as macular degeneration, dilated cardiomyopathy, endometriosis, senile plaque formation, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes has been confirmed. Since cynomolgus monkeys have a long life span and can be used for longevity studies such as those focused on Alzheimer disease using aged animals that are more than 20 years old, which correspond to ≥60 years of age in humans. I will introduce TPRC for new proposal of NHP study in medical science field.