Realizing a healthy, active, aged society and creating a sustainable society

New Research Results

Coating vascular endothelium with amphiphilic polymers to suppress immune reactions

Researchers at AIST in collaboration with iCoat Medical AB and Uppsala University in Sweden have developed a technology to suppress ischemia-reperfusion injury occurring after kidney transplantation by coating the kidney vascular endothelium with amphiphilic polymers.
Since kidney transplantation is the only treatment enabling patients with severe kidney disease to avoid dialysis, it is crucial to make long-term engraftment of the transplanted kidney in the patient's body. We require suppressing the immune response that causes organ damage during transplantation. Here we used a coating technology based on PEG lipids—an amphiphilic polymer composed of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and phospholipids. In pig studies, we applied the coating technology to the surface of vascular endothelium within the kidney and demonstrated suppression of ischemia-reperfusion injury, which is one of the immune reactions occurring after kidney transplantation.
Details of these findings will be published in the American Journal of Transplantation on September 24, 2025.
Furthermore, during the course of this technical development, including the pig kidney transplantation experiments, we clarified the optimal coating conditions applicable to clinical kidney transplantation. To date, no drug has been found that can effectively suppress ischemia-reperfusion injury, which significantly reduces the graft engraftment rate in human kidney transplantation. The outcome has largely depended on the experience and technique of the transplant surgeons. The developed coating technology is expected to contribute to improving the graft survival rate of human kidney transplants, and clinical trials utilizing this technology are currently underway.

Transplantation studies using coating technology with amphiphilic polymer (PEG lipid) for the vascular endothelium in pig kidneys

A New Era in Fish Intestinal Health

Researchers at AIST and Shiga Prefectural Fisheries Experiment Station have discovered butyric acid-producing bacteria from fish intestines for the first time in the world.
In recent years, the aquaculture industry has experienced rapid global growth, with land-based aquaculture also becoming active domestically. However, the industry faces various challenges, including the depletion of fish meal, a key feed ingredient, and the occurrence of fish diseases. As a result, research has been conducted on technologies to address these issues through "gut health" in fish, such as disease suppression and growth promotion. Recent findings have shown the beneficial effects of butyrate-producing bacteria on human intestinal health, leading to research on the use of mammalian-derived butyrate-producing bacteria in aquaculture. However, the optimal temperature for mammalian-derived butyrate-producing bacteria differs significantly from the growth temperature of fish, posing challenges in terms of colonization. The discovery of butyrate-producing bacteria in rainbow trout intestines opens the door to new intestinal health technologies for fish using "fish-specific butyrate-producing bacteria." In the future, these bacteria could be utilized as probiotics to improve aquaculture technologies for rainbow trout and other fish, such as trout salmon produced through offshore aquaculture, contributing to reducing economic losses from fish diseases and promoting the use of alternative feed ingredients.

Discovery of a new genus and species of butyric acid-producing bacteria from the intestine of rainbow trout

Open Innovation Laboratory

Since FY 2016, as a part of the “Open Innovation Arena concept” promoted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), AIST has created the concept of “open innovation laboratories” (OILs), collaborative research bases located on university campuses, and has been engaged in their provision. We are planning to establish more than ten OILs by FY 2020.

AIST will merge the basic research carried out at universities, etc. with AISTʼs goal-oriented basic research and applied technology development, and will promote bridging research and evelopment and industry by the establishment of OILs.