The University of Tokyo · Materials Science
Professor Yasutaka Anraku's research lab specializes in the design and fabrication of advanced supramolecular nanocarriers for targeted drug delivery, particularly across the blood-brain barrier. The lab focuses on developing stimuli-responsive, self-assembled nanosystems—such as polyion complex vesicles (nano-PICsomes) and polymeric nanomicelles—that enable efficient brain delivery of therapeutic agents like antibodies and bioactive molecules. By leveraging biological recognition mechanisms, such as glucose transporter-1 (GLUT1) targeting, the lab achieves enhanced brain accumulation and therapeutic efficacy in neurological disorders. Their work emphasizes the precise control of supramolecular self-assembly to create monodisperse, functional nanocarriers with tunable size, stability, and responsiveness.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Recently, nanocarriers that transport bioactive substances to a target site in the body have attracted considerable attention and undergone rapid progression in terms of the state of the art. However, few nanocarriers can enter the brain via a systemic route through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to efficiently reach neurons. Here we prepare a self-assembled supramolecular nanocarrier with a surface featuring properly configured glucose. The BBB crossing and brain accumulation of this nanocarrier
Fabrication of monodispersed, submicrometer-sized vesicles (nanosomes) that form through self-assembly possessing a thin and permeable membrane remains a significant challenge. Conventional fabrication of nanosomes through self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules often requires cumbersome processes using organic solvents combined with physical procedures (e.g., sonication, thermal treatment, and membrane filtration) to obtain unilamellar structures with a controlled size distribution. Herein, we r
Delivering therapeutic antibodies into the brain across the blood-brain barrier at a therapeutic level is a promising while challenging approach in the treatment of neurological disorders. Here, we present a polymeric nanomicelle (PM) system capable of delivering therapeutically effective levels of 3D6 antibody fragments (3D6-Fab) into the brain parenchyma for inhibiting Aβ aggregation. PM assembly was achieved by charge-converting 3D6-Fab through pH-sensitive citraconylation to allow complexati
Understanding the dynamic behavior of molecular self-assemblies with higher-dimensional structures remains a key challenge to obtaining well-controlled and monodispersed structures. Nonetheless, there exist few systems capable of realizing the mechanism of supramolecular polymerization at higher dimensions. Herein, we report the unique self-assembling behavior of polyion complexes (PICs) consisting of poly(ethylene glycol)-polyelectrolyte block copolymer as an example of two-dimensional supramol
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