| Project/Area Number |
13558098
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 展開研究 |
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| Research Field |
Laboratory animal science
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| Research Institution | KUMAMOTO UNIVERSITY |
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Principal Investigator |
YAMAMURA Kenichi KUMAMOTO UNIVERSITY, INSITUTE OF MOLECULAR EMBRYOLOGY AND GENETICS, PROFESSOR, 発生医学研究センター, 教授 (90115197)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
URANO Toru KUMAMOTO UNIVERSITY, CENTER FOR ANIMAL RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, PROFESSOR, 動物資源開発研究センター, 教授 (90101899)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2001 – 2002
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2002)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥11,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥11,500,000)
Fiscal Year 2002: ¥4,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,400,000)
Fiscal Year 2001: ¥7,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥7,100,000)
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| Keywords | RNAi / GENE TRAP / マウス肝炎ウイルス / 遺伝子トラップ / 遺伝子置換 / Cre-loxP |
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| Research Abstract |
The post-transriptional gene silencing in animals and plants is called RNA interference (RNAi). RNAi is a process in that double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) induces a sequence-dependent degradation of a cognate mRNA. The natural roles of RNAi might induce defense against viral infection and regulation of the expression of cellular genes. Genetic and biological studies revealed that RNAi is a very complex process that involves many different proteins with mostly unidentified functions. It was reported recendy that 21-nucleotide (nt) synthetic small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and siRNA that were transcribed by U6 or H1 promoter specifically suppressed the expression of endogenous genes in several lines of mammalian cells. These 21-nt siRNA duplexes were able to evade the INF defense system and these findings suggested that RNAi or an RNAi-related system might exist in mammals.
Mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) infection is an important viral infection in contemporary laboratory colonies. Recently, transgenic and knockout mice are frequently exchanged between investigators leading to the high incidence of contamination of MHV across the countries. At present, we do not have effective methods to prevent infection, nor do we have any treatment. One way to prevent infection is to produce a MHV-resistant mouse. For this purpose, we tried to develop an RNAi gene trap method. We previouly succeeded to develop an exchangeable gene trap method. Using this method, we can carry out a large scale mutagenesis in mice. If we can produce a gene trap mouse which is resistant to MHV at the same time, it will be quite helpful to distribute these mice. However, the method we developed is not still effective to prevent RNA gene expression. Further studies will be required to accomplish the initial purpose.
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