[JSPS Asia and Africa scientific platform program development for the medicinal chemistry based on biologically active natural products in the subtropical zone].

In 2005, the independent administrative institution the "Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences (JSPS)" initiated the "Asia and Africa Science Platform Program", which is a new project aimed to create high potential research hubs in selected fields within the Asian and African region, while fostering the next generation of leading researchers. Another goal is to establish sustainable collaborative relationships among universities and research institutes in Japan and other Asian and African countries. In this project, we consider natural sources existing in partner countries to be the most important factor in the production of medicine. We will search for target compounds and analyze their structures by screening biologically active natural products. Additionally, we will design functional molecules and create process for retrieving a large supply of target compounds based on a bioprospecting strategy. Thailand, Indonesia, and India share the vision of enhancing collaborative efforts. By conducting this researche, we will focus on academic research that is necessary for the development of the pharmaceutical and medical products industry in partner countries. There are four selected research topics as followeds: 1) Development of New Antitumor Agents based on Marine Natural Products; 2) Development of New Anticoagulants and Anti-VEGF; 3) Molecular Epidemiological Investigation of Emerging Infectious Diseases and Development of Novel Diagnosis and Therapeutic Agents; and 4) Medicinal Chemistry on Biologically Active Natural Products from the Traditional Condiments and Medicines. The exchanges might take the form of joint research seminars. The first Medicinal Chemistry Seminar of the AA Scientific Platform Program was co-organized with the 23th Annual Research Conference on Pharmaceutical Sciences, Thailand at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, on December 14-15, 2006. The 2nd JSPS seminar was co-organized with the 1st Bioactive Natural Products from Marine Organisms and Endophytic Fungi (BNPME) seminar and held in Phuket, Thailand between October 25-28, 2007. The JSPS 3rd Medicinal Chemistry Seminar of the Asia/Africa Scientific Platform Program was co-organized with The 2nd International Seminar of MPU-AACDD in Tokyo on January 14-15, 2009.