About the Authors

Shinobu Nishitani

Affiliation Exploratory Research Laboratories, Research Center, Ajinomoto Pharmaceuticals, Co, Ltd, Kanagawa, Japan

Mayumi Horie

Affiliation Exploratory Research Laboratories, Research Center, Ajinomoto Pharmaceuticals, Co, Ltd, Kanagawa, Japan

Sonoko Ishizaki

sonoko_ishizaki@ajinomoto.com

Affiliation Exploratory Research Laboratories, Research Center, Ajinomoto Pharmaceuticals, Co, Ltd, Kanagawa, Japan

Hirohisa Yano

Affiliation Department of Pathology, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Japan

Competing Interests

This research belongs to Ajinomoto Pharmaceutical Company. The authors declare that they have applied for a patent related to BCAA used in this study (Patent name: Agent for enhancing the antitumor activity of chemotherapeutic drug, Patent application No: WO2012/111790). SN, MH and SI are employed by Ajinomoto Pharmaceuticals, Co, Ltd. This study is conducted on animal models and has no direct implications on human subjects. However, the work of this study will be translated to human subjects in future studies and hence this publication may add some benefit to Ajinomoto Pharmaceuticals, Co, Ltd. There are no further patents, products in development to declare. Compounding ratio of BCAA used in this study is same as a compounding ratio of BCAA granules which are sold by Ajinomoto Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. in Japan by the name of LIVACT ® Granules. However, the company doesn’t draw a direct commercial benefit from this study as it is not conducted in human subjects. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: SN HY. Performed the experiments: SN MH. Analyzed the data: SN SI. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: HY. Wrote the manuscript: SN SI.