東京医科歯科大学 統合研究機構

Education:
2015.3 Ph.D., Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University
Professional Career:
2015.4-2018.1Specially appointed assistant professor, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University
2016.11-2020.3PRESTO researcher, JST
2018.2-2020.2Assistant professor, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University
2020.3-presentJunior Associate Professor, Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, Kyoto University

The development of new drugs is expected to eradicate COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). For efficient drug development, it is necessary to conduct non-clinical studies using excellent model cells. We aimed to develop model cells that can not only reproduce the life cycle of SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) but also evaluate COVID-19 drug candidates. Because SARS-CoV-2 is easily infected and replicated in the upper part of the lung (bronchi), we generated a human bronchial organoid. Our human bronchial organoids consist of basal cells, goblet cells, crab cells, and ciliated cells. Human bronchial organoids strongly expressed ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2) and TMPRSS2 (transmembrane protease serine 2) essential for SARS-CoV-2 infection. After infection with patient-derived SARS-CoV-2, replication of the viral genome, expression of viral spike protein, and release of progeny virus were observed. Next, drug screening using human bronchial organoids was performed. We confirmed that several drugs including Camostat, Remdesivir, and Interferon-beta exert a strong antiviral effect. From the above, it was shown that our human bronchial organoids can not only reproduce the life cycle of SARS-CoV-2 but also evaluate COVID-19 drug candidates. Program [PDF]