| Project/Area Number |
09680689
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Cell biology
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| Research Institution | The University of Tokyo |
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Principal Investigator |
SUZUKI Emiko Inst.Medical Science, Univ.Tokyo, Research Associate, 医科学研究所, 助手 (20173891)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1997 – 1999
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 1999)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000)
Fiscal Year 1999: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
Fiscal Year 1998: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
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| Keywords | Drosophila / retinoid / vision / vitamin A / photoreception / signal transduction / Drosophila / 複眼 / 突然変異 / レチナ-ル |
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| Research Abstract |
1. Search for a Drosophila homologue of vertebrate retinoid binding proteins by screening of cDNA library : We have hot detect a homologue of vertebrate retinoid binding proteins during the term of this project. This result was compatible with the data from the Drosophila genome project which became open for public at the end of this project.
2. Analysis of the Drosophila homologue of squid retinaldehyde binding protein in the Drosophila retina : We found a protein of 120kDa that is immunoreactive for anti-squid retinaldehyde protein, in Drosophila compound eyes and ocelli. This protein localized in the interphotoreceptor matrix and appeared to be Drosophila retinaldehyde binding protein. The possibility that the ninaD gene, whose mutation affects retinal metabolism, encodes this protein is flow under investigation.
3. Search for a Drosophila homologue of vertebrate RPE65 : RPE65 is a protein specifically expressed in the retinal pigment epithelium in vertebrates. The primary structure of this protein is extremely well conserved, and thought to be an important protein for the visual cycle. As no invertebrate homologue of RPE65 was known at the beginning of this project, we screened the Drosophila homologue of this protein. We found a protein (DRPE65) which has about 40% amino acid identity with vertebrate RPE65. The analysis of intramolecular motifs revealed that similar motifs exist not only lower invertebrates but also plants. These results suggest that the RPE65 related protein constitute a protein family involved in retinoid and carotenoid metabolism.
4. Functional analysis a phototransduction-related protein INAD : We have analyzed the function of phototransduction-related protein INAD, which is tightly related with the metabolism of visua substance. We found that the INAD protein is essential for the phototransduction by tethering several proteins involved in this process.
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