Biomaterials for Inflammation-Relating Disease Treatment

　Autoimmune diseases are caused when the immune system, which recognizes and eliminates foreign substances such as bacteria and viruses, mistakenly recognizes normal cells and tissues as foreign substances and attacks them. Inflammation is involved in the onset and exacerbation of autoimmune diseases. Inflammatory cytokines produced by inflammatory cells such as macrophages further worsen the pathology of autoimmune diseases. Current treatments include steroid-based small molecule drugs, immunosuppressants, and antibody drugs against inflammatory cytokines. However, when these drugs are distributed throughout the body, they not only suppress inflammation at the site of inflammation, but also at normal tissues, leading to susceptibility to infection with pathogens. Furthermore, these treatments are only "symptomatic treatments" that suppress the inflammation that has occurred, and do not aim to completely cure the disease itself.

　Our laboratory is developing biomaterials based on new ideas that selectively deliver anti-inflammatory materials to inflammatory cells and inflamed tissues that trigger inflammation.