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The Rare Disease Bank of Japan: establishment, current status and future challenges

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Abstract

Research on rare diseases cannot be performed without appropriate samples from patients with such diseases. Due to the limited number of such patients, securing biosamples of sufficient quality for extensive research is a challenge and represents an important barrier to the advancement of research on rare diseases. To tackle this problem, the Rare Disease Bank (RDB) was established in 2009 at the National Institute of Biomedical Innovation (NIBIO; currently, the National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition in Japan). Since then, the RDB has focused on three objectives: (1) emphasizing the importance of collecting biosamples from patients with rare diseases, together with appropriate clinical information, from various medical facilities nationwide; (2) maintaining strict high-quality sample management standards; and (3) sharing biosamples with research scientists across Japan for the advancement of research on rare diseases. As of August 2017, the bank has collected 4147 biosamples from patients with rare diseases, including DNA, serum, plasma, and cell samples from various university hospitals and other medical institutions across the country, and provided various research institutions with 13,686 biosample aliquots from 2850 cases. In addition, the management committee has successfully established a bank system that provides high-quality biosamples together with the results of human leukocyte antigen analysis. It is anticipated that the RDB, through the collection and sharing of biosamples with the medical research community, will enhance the understanding, prevention, and treatment of rare diseases in Japan and the world at large.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Ms. Akiko Hinomura for supporting to ethics and MTA. The authors also thank to the cooperation of patients, doctors, and medical coordinators. We would like to thank Editage (http://www.editage.jp) for English language editing. This work was funded by a grant from MHLW on Rare/Intractable Disease Project (Grant #243).

Funding

This study was funded by MHLW (JP) on Rare/Intractable Disease Project (Grant #243).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Ichiro Takahashi

    Present address: Tsukuba Primate Research Center, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, 1-1 Hachimandai, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaragi, 305-0843, Japan

  2. Yosuke Kameoka

    Present address: A-CLIP Institute, Inohana 1-8-15, Chuoku, Chiba, Chiba, 260-0856, Japan

  3. Toru Masui

    Present address: National Center for Medical Genetics, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-8582, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Rare Disease Biospecimen, Center for Rare Disease Research, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, 7-6-8, Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki, Osaka, 567-0085, Japan

    Mayako Tada, Makoto Hirata, Ryuichi Sakate, Ichiro Takahashi, Yosuke Kameoka, Toru Masui & Akifumi Matsuyama

  2. Laboratory of Animal Models for Human Diseases, Center for Rare Disease Research, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, 7-6-8, Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki, Osaka, 567-0085, Japan

    Mitsuho Sasaki

  3. Laboratory of Cell Cultures, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, 7-6-8, Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki, Osaka, 567-0085, Japan

    Arihiro Kohara

Authors
  1. Mayako Tada
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  2. Makoto Hirata
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  4. Ryuichi Sakate
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  6. Ichiro Takahashi
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  9. Akifumi Matsuyama
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Akifumi Matsuyama.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Tada, M., Hirata, M., Sasaki, M. et al. The Rare Disease Bank of Japan: establishment, current status and future challenges. Human Cell 31, 183–188 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13577-018-0204-3

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