TOPICS 01

A World that No One Has Seen Before, Revealed by High Pressure Experiments

KITAHARA Ryo, Ph.D.
Professor, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences

FUS (Fused in Sarcoma) is the causative protein and an important target for familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Ryo Kitahara discovered two types of liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) by gradually changing the pressure applied to an aqueous solution of FUS, of which HP-LLPS (aberrant type) promotes abnormal aggregation of FUS. He found that low-molecular-weight substances such as arginine inhibit the formation of HP-LLPS and delay the process of abnormal aggregation.