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Nishiyama-Miura Lab
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The lab designs polymers to create nanomedicines that work inside the body.
AboutAbout the lab
Transforming medicine through polymer design.
The Nishiyama-Miura Lab studies the development of drugs that act precisely as intended inside the body, built on precisely synthesized polymers.
On the polymers, the lab builds in functions for carrying a drug, attaching to target cells, and changing shape in response to the environment inside cells.
The lab aims to put into practical use cancer therapies that are highly effective with few side effects, as well as next-generation biopharmaceuticals such as antibodies and nucleic acids.
The lab has facilities for everything from polymer synthesis to evaluation using cultured cells and laboratory animals.
Key terms
- Nanomedicine
- A drug designed as particles on the nanometer scale. It is easier to deliver to the intended site.
- Precisely synthesized polymer
- A polymer made by precisely controlling how its molecules are connected. Functions can be placed at the intended positions.
- Contrast agent
- A drug given during an examination to make the inside of the body easier to see with MRI and other imaging methods.
NewsLab news
Cancer therapy research published in J. Mater. Chem. B
A student received the Outstanding Presentation Award at the bachelor's thesis research presentation
Nanoparticle structural analysis research published in J. Control. Release
Master's and doctoral students received the Outstanding Presentation Award at an in-course midterm presentation
A master's student received the Outstanding Master's Thesis Presentation Award at the in-course master's thesis presentation
ResearchResearch themes
Under the slogan "Realizing nanomachines that bring innovation to medicine through polymer design!", the lab conducts research on developing new drugs with precisely synthesized polymers as a platform, known as "polymer-based drug discovery." On the polymers, it builds in functions for loading a drug, binding to target cells, and changing shape in response to the environment inside cells, assembling nanomedicines that work with high sophistication in the body.
*Illustrative imageMRI Contrast Agents Made by Self-Folding
Using the phenomenon in which a single polymer chain folds spontaneously in water, the lab created particles smaller than 10 nanometers. In collaboration with institutions including the National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, the lab developed them as a contrast agent that enables high-precision MRI diagnosis of cancer and neutron capture therapy for cancer at the same time.
*Illustrative imageLipid Nanoparticles Coated with Polybetaine
Nucleic acids such as mRNA and siRNA are fragile, so they are delivered inside nanocapsules. The lab is studying how to deliver nucleic acids to cancer by coating lipid nanoparticles with a polymer betaine whose charge changes in response to the weakly acidic environment inside tumors.
*Illustrative imageNanocarriers Using Polyphenols
The lab focused on the property of polyphenols, found in tea and wine, of binding to biological tissue. It built a system in which simply mixing, in water, polymers carrying tannic acid and boronic acid forms nanoparticles that encapsulate proteins.
*Illustrative imageSlime Chemistry and Cancer Therapy
Applying the chemical reaction that makes slime from the main ingredient of liquid glue and borax, the lab attached a boron compound used in neutron capture therapy to a polymer. This keeps boron inside cancer cells for a long time, and in mouse tumors it achieved a therapeutic effect close to a complete cure.
MembersFaculty
Members of the Nishiyama-Miura Lab include faculty members, researchers, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, non-degree research students, and secretaries.As of 2026
- ProfessorNobuhiro NishiyamaPublications ↗
- Associate ProfessorYutaka Miura
- Assistant ProfessorKyohei MugurumaPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorYuto HondaPublications ↗
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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: “TEM image of gold nanoparticles and nanorods” Fionán / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- MRI Contrast Agents Made by Self-Folding: “DTI-sagittal-fibers” Thomas Schultz / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Lipid Nanoparticles Coated with Polybetaine: “Indikator-Blaukraut” Supermartl / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Nanocarriers Using Polyphenols: “White cup with green tea in it” Douglas P Perkins / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Slime Chemistry and Cancer Therapy: “Tetraborate-xtal-3D-balls” Ben Mills / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (松浦研究室): “Phosphatidylcholine liposomes at phase-contrast microscopy” ArkhipovSergey / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (山吉研究室): “DNA double helix horizontal” Jerome Walker / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (秦研究室): “Rotary evaporator 2” Adimora chidinma / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (川井研究室): “Fluorescent minerals hg” Hannes Grobe/AWI / CC BY-SA 2.5 (cropped)
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