Life science projects in Japan

Former name: Genome, post genome projects in Japan


Toxicogenomics Project
Project Name Toxicogenomics Project
Start Year 2002
End Year 2006
Implementing Period 2002-2006, Completed
Budget Amount 2.795 billion yen plus 2.583 billion yen as joint research funds from companies
Major Researchers Chief Researcher: Yasuo Ohno (National Institute of Biomedical Innovation)
Major Research Institute: National Institute of Biomedical Innovation
Summary Identification of major disease-related proteins
Major Features of Project National Institute of Health Sciences and 17 pharmaceutical companies.
- In order to complete the safety prediction system to be used in the early stages of drug development to address hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity, which are the adverse reactions frequently reported for human drugs, the temporal gene expression analysis and the measurement using conventional toxicity marker were conducted on target tissues exposed to chemical substances (drugs) in vivo or in vitro.
- An integrated database containing compound, biochemistry/pathology and gene expression information was created.
Description of Project Excerpts from the Toxicogenomics Informatics Project (TGP2) website( http://wwwtgp.nibio.go.jp/ , Japanese):
The National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, the National Institute of Health Sciences and fifteen pharmaceutical companies had engaged in the "Toxicogenomics Project (TGP)" for five years between FY2002 and FY2006 to contribute to development of safer drugs. The project was designed to find out which compounds (drugs) would affect which genes to cause adverse effect(s), paving the way for new drugs with fewer adverse effects.

Achievements of the TGP included creation of a large-scale and high-quality database containing toxicity information and gene expression information of 150 compounds (drugs) on exposed individual rats and hepatocytes in rat and human and subsequent analysis of such information, and creation of a toxicity prediction system named TG-GATEs: Toxicogenomics Project-Genomics Assisted Toxicity Evaluation system. These achievements enabled efficient evaluation and prediction of toxicity of drug candidate compounds in the early stages of drug discovery research, which had been difficult to achieve with the conventional safety tests. As a result, drug safety research made a giant step forward in the direction of toxicological risk assessment based on mechanisms of action.
Public Release Status 730 million records of data including toxicity and gene expression data induced by 150 compounds were obtained. Currently, in principle the data are released to consortium members only, but as an exception some data are also publicly released. The entire data is scheduled to be publicly released in 2010 (from "Aims of Toxicogenomics Project." Rinsho Iyaku Vol.21, No.3, (242-249) 2005. ( http://www.meteo-intergate.com/journal/jsearch.php?jo=an9cltmd&ye=2005&vo=21&issue=3 , Japanese)
Classification of Database Public Release Status Partially publicly released,Shared within consortium
Public Database -
Data Download Site -
Website Toxicogenomics Informatics Project (TGP2) website ( http://wwwtgp.nibio.go.jp/ , Japanese)
Implementing Ministry/Agency Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare(MHLW)
Reports - Toxicogenomics Project Achievements page ( http://wwwtgp.nibio.go.jp/seika.html , Japanese)
Evaluation Reports -
Other Literatures List of Submitted Papers

- "New Developments in Nutrigenomics, Series 6, Safety Evaluation of Food by Toxicogenomics." Shokuhin to Kaihatsu VOL.42 NO.12.
- "Elucidating the Mechanisms of Action of Environmental Chemicals: New Developments in Toxicogenomics - Comparison of 2,3,7,8-TCDD and 2,3,7,8-TCDF by Percellome Project." Saibo Kogaku VOL.26 NO.12.
- "Toxicogenomics: Overview of Researches on Chemical Substances Associated with Noncovalent DNA Interaction and Their Potential Applications." Mutat Res. VOL.623 NO.1-2.
- Construction of Safety Prediction System for Drug Development by Toxicogenomics Technology and Related Basic Research. FY2002-2006 Comprehensive Research Report.
- Construction of Safety Prediction System for Drug Development by Toxicogenomics Technology and Related Basic Research. FY2006 Summary Research Report and Allocated Research Report.
- "Construction of Safety Prediction System for Drug Development by Toxicogenomics Technology and Related Basic Research: Research on Toxicity That Targets Homeostatic Function". Construction of Safety Prediction System for Drug Development by Toxicogenomics Technology and Related Basic Research. FY2005 Summary Research Report and Allocated Research Report.
- "Construction of Safety Prediction System for Drug Development by Toxicogenomics Technology and Related Basic Research: Research on Analysis of Genetic Changes in Precancerous Lesions and Tumors in Colon". Construction of Safety Prediction System for Drug Development by Toxicogenomics Technology and Related Basic Research. FY2005 Summary Research Report and Allocated Research Report.
- "Construction of Safety Prediction System for Drug Development by Toxicogenomics Technology and Related Basic Research: Research on Regulation of Genes Expressed in Kidney by Chemical Substances and Functional Regulation of These Genes". Construction of Safety Prediction System for Drug Development by Toxicogenomics Technology and Related Basic Research. FY2005 Summary Research Report and Allocated Research Report.
- "Construction of Safety Prediction System for Drug Development by Toxicogenomics Technology and Related Basic Research: Research on Developmental Mechanism and Gene Expression Profile of Drug-Induced Liver Lesion in Rat". Construction of Safety Prediction System for Drug Development by Toxicogenomics Technology and Related Basic Research. FY2005 Summary Research Report and Allocated Research Report.
- Construction of Safety Prediction System for Drug Development by Toxicogenomics Technology and Related Basic Research. FY2004 Summary Research Report and Allocated Research Report.
- "Toxicogenomics Project (3): IT Strategy for Toxicogenomics and Construction of TG-GATEs." Drug Metab Pharmacokinet. VOL.22 NO.3.
- Development of Gene Network Analysis Method for Toxicogenomics. FY2006 Summary Research Report.
- Development of Gene Network Analysis Method for Toxicogenomics. FY2005 Summary Research Report.
- "Toxicogenomics Project (2): Research Strategy." Drug Metab Pharmacokinet. VOL.22 NO.2.
- "Toxicogenomics Project (1)." Drug Metab Pharmacokinet. VOL.22 NO.1.
- "Toxicogenomics Project." Proceedings of the National Institute of Health Sciences 130th Anniversary Lecture (2004).
- "New Initiative in Toxicotranscriptomics in Percellome Project." Saibo Kogaku VOL.26 NO.1.
- "Toxicogenomics for More Precise Analysis of Toxicity." Shukan Igaku no Ayumi VOL.218 NO.12.
- "Pharmacoinformatics Breaking through the Wall into New Territory: Toxicogenomics - Drug Discovery Technology To Predict Adverse Effects." Yakkyoku VOL.57 NO.6.
- "Effects of Difference in Vehicle on Gene Expression during Analysis of Rat Liver in Control Data in Toxicogenomics Project Database." Life Sci. VOL.78 NO.24.
- "Prospects for New Drugs 2006, Part 1, Drug Discovery and Drug Nurturing - New Line of Drug Discovery: Progress and Potential of Drug Discovery." Iyaku Journal VOL.42 S-1.
- "Biological Response to Environment - Toxicogenomics, Standardization of Technology in Toxicogenomics: Percellome." Igaku no Ayumi VOL.213 NO.4.
- "Aims of Toxicogenomics Project." Rinsho Iyaku Vol.21 No.3.
- "Pharmacogenomics - From Basic to Clinical: Toxicogenomics Research Efforts in Japan for Drug Development." Gekkan Yakuji VOL.46 NO.6.
- "Genomics for Drug Discovery, Proteomics for Drug Discovery and Informatics for Drug Discovery IV, Application to Drug Discovery: Toxicogenomics." Seitai no Kagaku VOL.54 NO.5
- "Medicine in the Age of Post-Genomic Sequence: For New Drug Discovery - Toxicogenomics." Gendai Iryo VOL.35 NO.7.
- "Toxicogenomics and Drug Discovery." The Japanese Environmental Mutagen Society Conference Program and Summaries VOL.31.
- "Diseases of Mind and Related Fields: Toxicogenomics - Future Prospects." Pharmacia VOL.38 NO.8.