Scientists at Kumamoto University have made a major breakthrough in regenerative medicine by successfully creating functional ureter tissue—organoids resembling the urinary tract—from pluripotent stem cells. The achievement brings researchers one step closer to developing transplantable kidneys capable of producing and expelling urine.

Short bowel syndrome (SBS) is a severe condition marked by malabsorption of nutrients and dependence on intravenous nutrition. In a recent study, researchers from Japan explored how glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) analog therapy transforms the intestinal environment at the cellular level. Using single-cell analysis and microbiome profiling, they revealed that GLP-2 analog treatment promotes gut remodeling, enhances nutrient absorption, reduces inflammation, and reshapes the microbiome—offering key insights for improving SBS therapy.

Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder that often goes untreated owing to limited access to specialist care. To address this, researchers tested a guided internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy program for women with bulimia that could be delivered online. They found that online therapy reduced binge eating and purge behaviors and achieved improved remission rates compared to usual care, offering a promising way to make effective treatment more accessible for people with limited clinic access.

Tuning magnetic properties in quasicrystals is limited by fixed elemental ratios set by stoichiometry. Now, researchers from Japan developed a “double hetero-valent elemental substitution” method, where atoms are replaced with others of different valency but similar size. Applying this to a Ga-based approximant crystal, they substituted gallium and platinum with gold, transforming the material’s magnetic state from spin-glass to ferromagnetic. The approach allows precise magnetic control, paving the way for advanced magnetocaloric materials.

Peptidyl-arginine deiminase 2 (PAD2) enzyme converts arginine amino acid residues in histone proteins into citrulline groups and promotes tumor cell proliferation in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, report researchers from Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan. Administration of PAD inhibitors reduced PRUNE1 expression and suppressed tumor cell proliferation in both pancreatic cancer cell lines and mouse models. The study thus lays the foundation for future anticancer therapies targeting PAD2 enzymatic activity.

Kyoto, Japan -- The Japanese mud shrimp, Upogebia major, constructs burrows that can reach two meters deep into the sandy shores of East Asia and Eastern Russia. The size and Y-shape of these double entrance burrows make them appealing to other small dwelling species, resulting in a symbiotic relationship that effectively makes them roommates.

Recently, a collaborative team of researchers from Kyoto University and Kochi University confirmed that the Japanese mud shrimp has a new roommate: Betaeus levifrons, a rare species of alpheid shrimp that until now has only been found in the Russian Far East.

When surveying burrows of the Japanese mud shrimp along the Pacific coast of Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost main island, the researchers collected five specimens of B levifrons, all of which were found in U major burrows. This suggests that B levifrons is an obligate symbiont of U major, meaning it depends on U major for shelter.

Kyoto, Japan -- Periodical cicadas have one of the strangest life cycles in the animal kingdom. The 17-year cicadas spend 99.5% of their lives underground in an undeveloped nymph state, which is the longest strictly regulated juvenile period among insects.

Then in the spring of their 17th year, they simultaneously emerge and the males scream above ground for their four to six week-long adult life. Exactly how these insects are able to control when they mature and emerge has remained a mystery.

The long life cycle of periodical cicadas makes rearing nymphs for study extremely difficult. Recently, however, a collaborative team of researchers from both Japan and the United States, including a team from Kyoto University, was motivated to tackle this conundrum.