| Project/Area Number |
08044330
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for international Scientific Research
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | Joint Research |
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| Research Institution | Okazaki National Research Institutes |
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Principal Investigator |
IMOTO Keiji Okazaki National Research Institutes, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Professor, 生理学研究所, 教授 (00176512)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
SCHWARTZ Aenold University of Cincinnati, Institute of Molecular Pharmacology and Biophysics, Pr, 分子薬理研究所, 教授
SAKMANN Bert Max-Planck-Institute for Medical Research, Department of Cell Physiology, Direct, プランク医学研究所・細胞生理学部門, 部長
BEAM Kurt G Colorado State University, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Professor, 解剖・神経生物学教室, 教授
NAKAI Junichi Okazaki National Research Institutes, National Institute for Physiological Scien, 生理学研究所, 助教授 (80237198)
MORI Yasuo Okazaki National Research Institutes, National Institute for Physiological Scien, 生理学研究所, 教授 (80212265)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1996
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 1996)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,800,000)
Fiscal Year 1996: ¥2,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,800,000)
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| Keywords | Calcium signaling / Calcium channel / GTP-binding protein / Ryanodine receptor / Brain slice / Calcium imaging |
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| Research Abstract |
Intracellular calcium ion plays critical roles in neural signaling and neural plasticity. Recently, application of molecular biological techniques into neurobiology has dramatically accelerated studies on molecular mechanism of calcium metabolism in the nervous system, and led to elucidation of functions and properties of proteins which work as functional elements. On the other hand, our knowledge of higher brain functions is also rapidly increasing, especially owing to non-invasive measurement methods. However, there still remains a big gap between understanding molecules in brain and understanding higher brain functions. In order to fill the gap, we studied following subject in this project.
We studied molecular mechanism of modulation of voltage-dependent calcium channels through GTP-binding proteins, by electrophysiological-and pharmacological measurements of recombinant calcium channels expressed in cultured cells. We obtained novel observation indicating showing multiple mode of G-protein modulation. We investigated molecular interaction between voltage-dependent calcium channels and ryanodine receptors expressed in skeletal muscle cells derived from ryanodine receptor-deficient mice. We demonstrated functional non-equality between skeletal type and cardiac type of ryanodine receptors in the excitation-contraction coupling mechanism. We have been trying to clone a family of cDNAs encoding a novel type of non-voltage-dependent calcium permeable channels. So far we have obtained cDNAs of several members of this family, and now are now studying tissue distribution and functional properties. To meet the need for calcium imaging of mouse brain, we have made a setup designed for brain slice preparation and developed a software environment. The basic data of calcium metabolism of mouse neurons corresponds well to those of rat neurons, however, the small size of mouse brain makes it difficult to handle smaller structures or immature brains.
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