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Miyata Lab
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The lab studies nanosized materials that deliver drugs to targeted sites in the body.
AboutAbout the lab
Contributing to human health with materials that work inside the body
The Miyata Lab studies nanometer-sized materials that function inside the body (nanobiomaterials).
Using materials whose size and surface properties are tuned, the lab controls where drugs are carried within the body.
In particular, the lab focuses on mechanisms for delivering nucleic acid therapeutics, which are made of nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA, to targeted cells.
Building on polymer materials and combining them with inorganic materials, the lab develops new nanomedicines.
Key terms
- Nanomedicine
- A drug loaded onto extremely small particles on the nanometer scale, with its distribution in the body designed
- Nucleic acid therapeutics
- A drug made of nucleic acids, the same type of molecule as DNA and RNA. It is easily degraded in the body and hard for cells to take up
- Polyion complex
- A complex formed when a positively charged polymer and negatively charged molecules such as nucleic acids attract each other
NewsLab news
A doctoral student received the Outstanding Presentation Award at the Annual Meeting of the Japan Society of Drug Delivery System
Professor Miyata received the Japan Society of Drug Delivery System Award
A doctoral student received the Outstanding Student Presentation Encouragement Award at the Symposium on Biomedical Polymers
A doctoral student received the Kawahara Award from the Japanese Society of Nucleic Acid Medicines
Press release on the results of joint research on dynamic nanomedicine
ResearchResearch themes
The lab designs nanobiomaterials that function inside the body and studies how to control where, and how much of, a drug is delivered. With a particular focus on nucleic acid therapeutics, it develops new nanomedicines by combining polymer materials with inorganic materials.
*Illustrative imageuPIC: An Ultra-Small Nanomedicine
uPIC is a very small nanomedicine (a polyion complex) formed when Y-shaped polymers bind to nucleic acid therapeutics. It is designed to pass through the narrow gaps in cancer tissue and reach cancer cells.
*Illustrative imageIn Vivo Genome Editing with the "NanoEditor"
Instead of viruses, the lab uses artificial polypeptides to deliver into cells the mRNA that encodes Cas, the Cas component of the genome editing tool CRISPR-Cas. The lab has confirmed that genome editing occurs in the mouse brain.
*Illustrative imagePicSil: Protecting Nucleic Acids with Silica
These nanoparticles protect mRNA, which is easily degraded, by sealing it in a layer of silica, an inorganic material. The lab is working on delivering mRNA to macrophages, a type of immune cell.
*Illustrative imageNanoRuler: Investigating the Effect of Size
The NanoRuler is a polymer-based "ruler" whose size can be precisely tuned. The lab uses it to investigate how the size of a nanomedicine changes how readily it accumulates in muscle and in brain tumors.
MembersFaculty
The Miyata Lab consists of faculty members, project researchers, academic specialists, technical assistants, collaborative researchers, international research fellows, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorMiyata KanjiroPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorNaoki YamadaPublications ↗
- Project Assistant ProfessorChun Yin LAUPublications ↗
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Nanoparticles in Brain Metastases ( )” NIH Image Gallery from Bethesda, Maryland, USA / Public domain (cropped)
- uPIC: An Ultra-Small Nanomedicine: “QD Polymer Micelle” Aweckel / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- In Vivo Genome Editing with the "NanoEditor": “Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9-DNA-RNA complex PDB 4OO8” Deposition authors: Nishimasu, H., Ishitani, R., Nureki, O.; Visualization author: Synpath / CC0 (cropped)
- PicSil: Protecting Nucleic Acids with Silica: “Maghemite silica nanoparticle cluster” Marko Petek / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- NanoRuler: Investigating the Effect of Size: “Tumor initiation” Anna Engler / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Cabral Lab): “SEM Lymphocyte” Unknown photographer/artist
（擬似カラー加工：DO11.10） / Public domain (cropped) - Related lab (Katashima-Chung Lab): “Superabsorber Hydrogel KSG 2917 pK” Petra Klawikowski / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Ejima Lab): “Water droplets in a lotus leaf” Aathavan jaffna / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Takehara Lab): “Cleanroom - photolithography lab ( )” UCL Mathematical & Physical Sciences from London, UK / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
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