北海道大学大学院 生命科学院では、キャリアパス教育の一環として、学部3年生を対象にした学科イベント「DCは語る」（DC：Doctoral Course＝博士課程）を定期的に開催しています。博士課程修了者が自身の経験を語ることで、現役生に進路の一つとして博士課程進学を考えてもらうことが目的です。2022年6月6日は、遠友ファーマ株式会社の横井 康広（よこい やすひろ）さんが話しました。
Mr. Yokoi is a native Sapporo kid who was born and raised in Sapporo. After graduating from School of Science Biological Sciences (Polymer Functionality) in Life Science and belonged to the Advanced Bioregulation Science Laboratory (Nishimura Laboratory). I received my PhD in 2020 and currently work at Enyu Pharma Co., Ltd. (Sapporo, Hokkaido).
The joy of knowing what you don't know
When I was a student, I was researching glycoproteins associated with disease. Glycoproteins are proteins with sugar chains attached, and sugar chains are chains of sugars linked together. Carbohydrate chains cover the surfaces of cells and are essential molecules for communication between cells. Although it is effective in diagnosing and treating various diseases, it is very difficult to examine the structure of sugar chains due to their diversity. There are many things that have not been elucidated, so I felt a sense of accomplishment in trying to clarify them little by little, and my research became more enjoyable.
I want to continue my research
西村研究室を選んだのは、化学実験が魅力的だったからです。「糖鎖ってよく分からない」と感じていましたが、よく分からない化合物を扱うからこそ、新しい発見も多いのではないかという期待もありました。先輩たちが楽しそうにしていることも、研究室を選んだ理由の一つです。みなさんも、ぜひ先生や先輩からいろいろな話を聞いてみてください。研究室を選ぶ時は、研究内容だけでなく、人間関係や雰囲気なども大事にするといいです。
I enjoyed research and wanted to continue, so I entered the master's course. After that, I thought about getting a job, and started looking for a job in my first year of master's course. During my job hunting, I felt the need for a doctoral degree while talking to researchers from various companies, so I decided to pursue a doctoral course. After completing my doctoral course, I wanted to work as a researcher at a company, but at the same time, I also wanted to continue my research interests. Around that time, Enyu Pharma Co., Ltd., a university-launched venture, was established based on Professor Nishimura's research results. I decided to join the company because I felt that I would be able to independently pursue research in a free research environment.
deliver drugs to target locations
Currently, I am researching and developing a drug delivery system using nanoparticles, DDS (Drug Delivery System). Since general medicines circulate throughout the body together with the blood, only 1/1000 to 1/10,000 of the dose reaches the affected area. Side effects can also occur when the drug reaches a location other than its intended destination.
The ideal is to deliver the administered drug "when needed, in the required amount, to the required site". The technology for that is DDS. It is a mechanism that encloses a drug in nanoparticles or capsules, delivers it to the target location, and produces an effect with the minimum necessary amount. It can also reduce side effects and reduce medical costs. Glycans are the key to directing nanoparticles to their target locations. I would like to continue my research by trying various sugar chains so that the drugs can be delivered as intended.
