１. Analyses of polyamine effects on the translation regulation
　Although several regulations of gene expression during the translation involving polyamines are reported, the molecular mechanisms of those remain unclear. I am analyzing these molecular mechanisms using a human cell-free translation system and revealed that polyamines have the potential to shift the reading frame in the +1 direction in any sequence. The probability of this promiscuous +1 frameshifting by polyamines has an inverse correlation with the efficiency of translation. Further analysis of detailed molecular mechanism is currently underway. Moreover, the analysis of molecular mechanism of RAN translation is also an ongoing project.

２. Analysis of polyamine effects on RNA structure by using RNA aptamer
　RNA aptamers are functional RNAs with strong affinity for target molecules and are used as detection and analysis tools for target molecules and target binding sequences/motifs. I have previously obtained aptamers that bind to spermine. Analysis of this aptamer revealed that RNA can take a more compact conformation by binding to polyamines. I am currently analyzing the relationship between polyamine-induced RNA conformational changes and translational regulation.