| Project/Area Number |
16370097
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
|
| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
|---|
| Section | 一般 |
|---|
| Research Field |
Developmental biology
|
|---|
| Research Institution | National Institute of Genetics |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
FUJISAWA Toshitaka National Institute of Genetics, Department of Developmental Genetics, Asscociate Professor, 個体遺伝研究系, 助教授 (60000262)
|
|---|
| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
SHIMIZU Hiroshi National Institute of Genetics, Assistant Professor, 助手 (60178986)
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2006
|
| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2006)
|
| Budget Amount *help |
¥15,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥15,700,000)
Fiscal Year 2006: ¥3,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,800,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥3,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,800,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥8,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥8,100,000)
|
|---|
| Keywords | Hydra / Nervous System / Compartmentalization / Neuropeptides / Phenotypic conversion / Transgenic Hydra / ヒドラEST / ヒドラペプチドプロジェクト / ヒドラESTプロジェクト / 新規神経ペプチド / ヒドラ神経系のコンパートメント |
|---|
| Research Abstract |
The nervous system of Cnidaria has been considered as a very simple and diffuse nerve net. However, recent accumulation of nerve markers in Hydra is changing the view. Namely, the nervous system of Hydra consists of many distinct subpopulations and some of them forms compartments along the body axis, which are divided with a sharp boundary between them. We have shown that a compartment of a neuron subtype is maintained by both new differentiation from the nerve cell precursors and phenotypic conversion of pre-existing neurons to another type. We also suggested that the compartments are generated according to positional information which is possibly lead by the Wnt signaling from the head organizer at the tip of the hypostome. We have first produced transgenic Hydra in which GFP is drived by the 5' upstream regulatory region of neuropeptide genes. The neuron compartments detected by GFP shifted their regions along the axis as positional information was altered by inhibitors of GSK3β, a downstream factor of the Wnt signal.
In this project, we also attempted to identify new neuropeptides in Hydra. In systematic identification of signaling peptides in Hydra (the Hydra Peptide Project), we found two novel neuropeptides that were encoded by a single gene. They have FRamide at the C-terminus and seem to be specific to cnidarians. No related genes or peptides were found in the databases. These peptides have opposite functions in terms of the body size.
|
