Kyoto, Japan -- Sea cucumbers spend their lives prowling the ocean floor, scavenging for food and generally minding their own business. We can see snails leading similar lives, slimy but not bothering anyone.

Yet some species of tiny sea snails are a bother: they are common parasites of sea cucumbers. Extensive taxonomic research has been conducted on these host-parasite interactions in Japan, where sea cucumbers are a seafood delicacy -- for humans.

Despite these previous studies, however, local species richness still contains some unknowns. Parasites of the sea cucumber species Holothuria atra have been thoroughly investigated, but those of Holothuria leucospilota have not. This is likely because this latter species discharges Cuvierian tubules as a defense mechanism when stressed, making them difficult to dissect.

A research group led by Professor SUZUKI Hiroaki from Faculty of Science and Engineering at Chuo University, graduate students YONEYAMA Ryotaro (at the time), MORIKAWA Naoya, and USHIYAMA Ryota (at the time), Research Fellow TSUGANE Mamiko, Technical Assistant SATO Reiko (at the time), and Special Appointed Assistant Professor MARUYAMA Tomoya from Research Center for Autonomous Systems Materialogy (ASMat), Institute of Integrated Research (IIR), Institute of Science Tokyo, along with Professor TAKINOUE Masahiro from Department of Computer Science, Institute of Science Tokyo, has developed a technology for mass-producing uniform artificial cells (lipid bilayer vesicles) with artificial model nuclei using microfluidic devices with high reproducibility. They also demonstrated that protein synthesis from this model nuclei was possible.

Fluorinated compounds are used everywhere—from pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals to advanced materials in imaging techniques. One promising method for the synthesis of fluorinated compounds is using quaternary ammonium fluorides, but these fluorinating agents tend to absorb moisture (hygroscopic), which affects their reactivity. To overcome this challenge, researchers from Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan, have synthesized a new fluorinating agent (R4NF(HFIP)3) using KF salt through ion-exchange reaction—with promising applications in electrochemical fluorination. 

A five-dimensional (5D) Langevin approach developed by an international team of researchers, including members from Science Tokyo, accurately reproduces complex fission fragment distributions and kinetic energies in medium-mass mercury isotopes (¹⁸⁰Hg and ¹⁹⁰Hg). The model successfully captures the unusual “double-humped” fragment mass distribution observed in mercury-180 and offers new insights into how nuclear shell effects influence fission dynamics—even at higher excitation energies than previously thought—advancing our understanding of fission in the sub-lead region.

The research group at the ISM-MCC Frontier Materials Design Laboratory (a joint research division of Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC) and the Institute of Statistical Mathematics (ISM)) has discovered a phenomenon known as the "scaling law^*a of Sim2Real transfer learning^*b" in the integrated analysis of large-scale computational materials property databases and experimental data, in collaboration with research groups from the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS).

Phosphodiesterase 3 (PDE3) inhibitors are clinically approved drugs used for treating thrombosis, heart diseases, and asthma. Now, however, scientists have found that PDE3 inhibitors can also stimulate key signaling pathways that trigger Ca2+ influx into bone cells, promoting extracellular matrix production and bone growth. This new therapeutic potential of PDE3 inhibitors was demonstrated using both in vivo and ex vivo approaches, suggesting that existing PDE3 inhibitors could be repositioned as therapies for skeletal disorders. 

Researchers from The University of Osaka found that EGR1-expressing CD14+ monocytes and CD8+ T cells with a type II interferon signature are associated with scleroderma renal crisis and interstitial lung disease, respectively, in patients with systemic sclerosis. Understanding the specific immune cell abnormalities underlying different clinical manifestations of the disease could help predict and prevent serious complications.

Innovation Center of NanoMedicine has published a research result on the website of Journal of Controlled Release on June 5, 2025. The paper titled "Structural stability and RNase resistance of mRNA Polyplex micelles for systemic delivery" describes a method for more stable delivery of mRNA drugs, which are prone to losing their activity to degrading enzymes when mounted in micelles, to target tissues.

Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have successfully increased the production of D-lactic acid from methanol by exposing Komagataella phaffii yeast to ultraviolet irradiation.

A research team at The University of Tokyo has discovered that inhalational anesthetics activate a protein called type 1 ryanodine receptor (RyR1), which contributes to the induction of general anesthesia.

This finding shed light on a long-standing mystery: the mechanism of action of inhalational anesthetics, which has remained only partially understood for nearly 180 years. A precise understanding of how anesthetics work could pave the way for the development of more effective anesthetic agents and improved methods of administration.