Assistant Professor Yuto Honda has returned from a three-month stay in Germany supported by the WRH Faculty Research Abroad Program. This is a report on the activities and results of his stay.
 

 

Awardee	Yuto Honda, Assistant Professor, Institute of Innovative Research
Destination	RWTH Aachen University
City and Country	Aachen, Germany
Name and Position of Host Researcher	Yang Shi・Group Leader
Travel Period	2023/11/01 – 2024/01/12 (73 Days)
Project Title	Development of Functional Polymer Fibers for Carbon Neutral Application

 
【Introduction】
Cancer immunotherapy is one of the methods of cancer treatment, which activates the immune system in the tumor. In order to efficiently treat cancer by the cancer immunotherapy, it is necessary to accumulate cancer antigens and agonists that activate cancer immunity within the tumor, and for this purpose, it is necessary to modify functional molecules. Therefore, from November 1, 2023 to January 12, 2024, I collaborated with Prof. Yang Shi of the Institute for Experimental Molecular Imaging at Aachen university, Germany to generate ideas and conduct related experiments. His research interests include cancer immunotherapy and biomaterials. My activities in Aachen were described below.

(1) Investigation of novel biomaterial synthesis technologies for modifying functional polymers with biomolecules.
Molecular modification of biomolecules, including proteins, is essential to create highly functionalized biomacromolecules for cancer immunotherapy. However, if the reaction conditions for molecular modification are radical, the structure of biomolecules may be changed, and it may not work well. Thus, in order to maintain the structure, the reaction conditions should be mild, and the reaction condition are limited. Therefore, we tried novel protein modification methods at the Aachen University. I started the experiment from the end of November and established highly efficient and high-yield molecular introduction conditions and purification methods compared to conventional molecular introduction methods. The activity of the synthesized molecules is currently being evaluated. This synthesis technology will not only be an important technology for advancing the joint research plan described below, but also a necessary technology for advancing the development of various polymer materials.

(2) Preliminary experiments for the joint research.
Since the beginning of 2023, I have held online meetings with Prof. Yang Shi to discuss the possibility of joint research. In particular, we have focused on research in unexplored areas where both parties’ technologies (Honda: material design, Yang: cancer immunotherapy) could be utilized, in addition to jointly applying for research funds. The framework of the idea was finalized, and detailed discussions and preliminary studies were conducted at the site. In the field, I synthesized candidate substances for new functional polymers. Although the reaction efficiency was not sufficient at first, we succeeded in synthesizing the candidate substances by discussing and trying the method described above in (1). In the future, we plan to evaluate the function of the synthesized substances and apply for research funds related to this theme.

(3) Discussion with lab members and seminar attendance
The Institute for Experimental Molecular Imaging, which I visited this time, is characterized by the fact that several laboratories hold joint meetings and share experimental facilities (Figure 1). In addition, visitor researchers visit the institute once every two weeks to give lectures. In these meetings, I have gained knowledge on various research fields. In particular, I was able to learn about diverse approaches, such as research combining machine learning and simulation with biomaterials, taking advantage of the characteristics of this multidisciplinary field. Moreover, I exchanged views and opinions with members of various laboratories (Figure 2).

 

 

Related links:
– World Research Hub (WRH) Program
– Tokyo Institute of Technology Nishiyama・Miura Lab.