Fri. Mar 27, 2020 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM [Room E] Room E (1F)

Organizers: Yosuke Demizu (NIHS), Yuko Otani (Univ Tokyo, Grad Sch Pharm Sci), Makoto Oba (Nagasaki Univ Grad Sch BioMed Sci)

Foldamer is an artificial oligomeric molecule with a regular secondary or tertiary structure consisting a low molecular unit. To date, a variety of foldamers has been developed, and is expected as new functional materials because of its unique structural properties. Foldamer was vigorously studied mainly in the field of macromolecular chemistry and engineering, whereas, in the field of pharmaceutical sciences, it has not been well known. However, foldamers can be attractive molecules even in this field because they can be chemically synthesized like low-molecular-weight compounds, and these molecules can have multipoint molecular recognition, which is difficult for low-molecular-weight compounds. Foldamers can have potential not only as tools for chemical biology study but also as drug candidates that target protein-protein interactions. (Review: Valeur, E. et al. J. Med. Chem. 2016, 59, 9599.).
In this symposium, we would like to discuss recent advances of foldamer research: the design of the monomer molecules constituting the foldamer, and the sequence, the conformation, and the functions of the foldamers. We would also talk about the application to foldamers in drug discovery, which are expected to become the modality of the next-generation medium-sized molecular drugs.