The research results of Professor Tsukasa Okiomeda of the Department of Biochemical Sciences, and his collaborators, who have identified inhibitors of the ubiquitin ligase RFFL, were published in the online edition of Biochemical Pharmacology on August 4th.
　The research of Prof. Okiyoneda and his team discovered a small molecule compound α-Tocopherol succinate that inhibits the interaction of the ubiquitin ligase RFFL with the CFTR mutant associated with cystic fibrosis. α-Tocopherol succinate, which was identified as an RFFL inhibitor in this study, is an analog of vitamin E. This research also revealed the mechanism of action of α-Tocopherol succinate, explaining its unique biological activities which are different from other vitamin E analogs. The results of this research are expected to lead to the development of treatments for cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease with high frequency in Europe and the United States. This research was conducted in collaboration with RIKEN, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Hokkaido University, and the University of Tokushima.