In animal tissue, there is a group of sulfated carbohydrate chains called glycosaminoglycan, which is present as proteoglycan molecules covalently binding to the core protein and plays various indispensable roles in cell proliferation/differentiation and the formation of tissue morphology. These molecules, also observed on the cell surface, play a role as receptors at the time of infection with viruses and pathogens, and undergo cancerous changes. When a certain type of sulfated carbohydrate chains (heparan sulfate) is not produced, bone cancer develops. In genetic diseases in which heparan sulfate is not produced, abnormalities in intestinal absorption occur, resulting in death immediately after birth. Bone abnormalities and marked intellectual impairment due to abnormal degradation of sulfated carbohydrate chains have long been known. On the other hand, sulfated carbohydrate chains have been suggested to be potential drugs for the treatment of various disorders such as AIDS and cancer.

At our department, basic studies on the structure, function, and the control of the biosynthesis and degradation of these carbohydrate chains are performed to clarify the causes of various disorders, develop diagnostic methods, and create new drugs using carbohydrate chains. Briefly, the following projects are underway.

　 1. Development of methods for early diagnosis using sera obtained from patients with cancer, rheumatism, arthritis,　mucopolysaccharidosis, and other genetic diseases.
　2. Structural analysis of sulfated glycosaminoglycan chains involved in axon formation in the central nervous system and study on their synthetic enzymes.
　3. Structural analysis of sulfated glycosaminoglycan chains in Alzheimerﾕs disease.<
　4. Study on the function of tumor suppressor genes called EXT genes.
　5. Study on synthetic enzymes and degradation enzymes of sulfated glycosaminoglycan chains using enzymatic methods and genetic engineering methods.
　6. Analysis of the function of sulfated glycosaminoglycan chains in knockout mice and transgenic mice.
　7. Study on the structure and function of sulfated glycosaminoglycan chains involved in vascularization.
　8. Study on structural changes in sulfated glycosaminoglycan chains in the evolution of organisms.
　9. Development of microstructure analysis methods, and structural analysis of glycosaminoglycan chains by mass spectrometry and NMR.