Wada Laboratory aims to utilize biopolymers such as nucleic acids and proteins as next-generation intelligent nano-biofunctional materials through rational design, synthesis, and physicochemical methods to evaluate their function. For example, 1. Design and synthesis of cancer cell-selective artificial nucleic acid therapeutics that respond to the specific environment of ischemic cells such as cancer cells and cerebral infarction cells and suppress side eff ects on normal cells, 2. design and synthesis of chimeric artificial nucleic acid therapeutics that efficiently and catalytically cleave target RNA with RNaseH and demonstrate the efficacy of the concept at cell and animal levels have been conducted.
Furthermore, we have been working in a wide range of fi elds from organic chemistry to physical chemistry and biochemistry, including the design and synthesis of novel circularly polarized luminescent organic materials based on the elucidation of the photoexcited states, and the construction of supramolecular asymmetric photoreaction systems using proteins and other biopolymers as chiral reaction media for the trying to realize of a sustainable society.