Outline Director's Room Experimental Chemotherapy Molecular Phamacology Molecular Biotherapy Genome Research Clinical Research Anticancer Drug Information Office (ADIO) Genatherapy

Although cancer treatments have gradually improved during past decades, we are still facing problems to surmount in prevention and therapy of cancers. Recent advance in molecular-based understanding of cell proliferation has provided the rationale for the molecular-targeted therapy to control cancer. The aim of this research division is to identify possible targets, to clarify the function of molecular targets, and ultimately to develop an effective molecular-targeted therapy of cancer. For this purpose, we are investigating the molecular mechanisms of tumor cell growth, anticancer drug resistance, apoptosis resistance, and tumor metastasis. In addition to research on multidurg resistance in cancer cells, the followings are major research projects. (1) Multidrug resistance and the reversing drugs (2) PDK1/Akt-mediated survival signals (3) Aggrus: a platelet aggregation-inducing factor that is associated with tumor metastasis (4) Targeting cancer stem cells for overcoming drug resistance (5) Analysis of new functions of FLIP Chief Naoya Fujita Staff Scientist Ryohei Katayama Senior Staff Technician Shigeo Sato Staff Technician Tomoko Oh-hara Associate Staff Technician Miho Takami Technician Kimiko Shirai, Sumie Koike Visiting Scientist Reo Iwasaki Visiting Ph.D. Student Akito Nakamura, Youya Nakazawa, Aya Misawa