Chiral medicine

Chirality is a feature of the substances that cannot be superimposed otherwise reflected in the mirror, like our left and right hand. Each amino acid has its mirror-imaged L- and D-form enantiomers. The text book says that only L-amino acids are exclusively present in our body. 

Recently, we have detected D-amino acids in human bodies and identified them as the key biomarkers and therapeutics for the several diseases. The disease context is spreading day by day, from the kidney diseases to the life style-related diseases, viral infections, as well as rare diseases. 

We are now implementing our research achievement to the clinics, while integrating and developing cutting-edge technologies.

• Therapeutics for the kidney diseases

  1.  One of the keys to healthy sleep and blood sugar has been found.

  2.  Keeping the Balance. Examining the role of d-serine in kidney disease and physiological function.

• Diagnosis for the kidney diseases

  1.  D-Serine is useful for the rapid and precise measurement of kidney function.

  2.  Unraveling the D-Amino Acid Mystery

  3.  A New Angle on CKD

  4.  The Importance of Chiral Metabolomics

  5.  Discovery of biomarkers for the prognosis of chronic kidney disease

• Solving the problems with viral infections

  1.  Answers in Alanine?

  2.  D-Amino acids: Signaling severity in viral infection.

• Solutions for the rare diseases

  1.  Promising new treatment strategy for deadly flu-related brain disorders.

Tomonori Kimura

Department of Nephrology, Osaka University

E-mail: t-kimura※kid.med.osaka-u.ac.jp (Reeplace ※ with ＠.）