Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences
Tohoku University

Infectious diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, and parasites have become a global problem in societies where the movement of people across national borders has increased, as exemplified by COVID-19. Innate immunity is an important defense system when these pathogens invade the body. Innate immunity can be broadly classified into two categories: processing of pathogens by antimicrobial peptides and phagocytosis by phagocytes, which have been studied extensively by researchers of infectious diseases.

In the course of his research on structural biochemistry, Dr. Kanemura showed that PDI, a redox enzyme that exists in various organisms and regulates protein conformation, suppresses infection by SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. The mechanism is inactivation by structural collapse resulting from disulfide bond cleavage in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which is required for infection, and is distinct from conventional biological defense systems. Disulfide bonds, which are important for structural stability, are possessed by a variety of pathogens, and PDI may selectively catalyze the inactivation of these pathogens. Therefore, to apply these findings to the development of a new defense system against infectious diseases, we will conduct interdisciplinary research with Dr. Murakoshi (Infectious Diseases), who has been working with various pathogens with different properties. This research is expected to create new innovations in drug discovery research for infectious diseases, which cannot be achieved by research in a single field.

In this study, we will first conduct experiments using monkey rotavirus (strain SA11), which is a virus that infects the intestinal tract and can be demonstrated in animal experiments. Subsequently, the research will be expanded to other viruses such as a parasite (Cryptosporidium) that also infects the intestinal tract and another virus (influenza virus) that infects the lungs. Dr. Murakoshi is familiar with all of these pathogens and will work closely with Dr. Kanemura to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the inhibitory effects of redox enzymes on these pathogens.