| Budget Amount *help |
¥4,010,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥510,000)
Fiscal Year 2007: ¥2,210,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥510,000)
Fiscal Year 2006: ¥1,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Cell division is a fundamental phenomenon of life, thus the elucidation of molecular mechanism of cell division is one of the most important issues in biology. In addition, it is also important for the application to medicine and pharmacy. This research was focused on the mechanism of cytokinesis, the latter stage of cell division, especially that of animal-type cells. The group of head investigator of this resaerch has investigated the mechanism of animal-type cytokinesis, using amoeboid cells of Dictyostelium that show cytokinesis very similar to that of higher animal cells, and successfully identified several proteins involved in cytokinesis of this organism, such as IQGAP-like protein GAPA and D411-2p. The purpose of this study was to clarify the physiological and biochemical functions, and physical and genetic interactions, of these identified proteins, focusing especially on the relationship of the proteins to cytoskeleton, during not only cytokinesis but also the processes invol
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ving cell motility. This research actually concentrated to a protein, D411-2p, because interesting results concerning this protein had been collected since earlier stages of this research. Following results were obtained : 1) Using the knockout strain, it was suggested that D411-2p is involved in two endocytic processes, phagocytosis and macropinocytosis, that involve reorganization of actin cytoskeleton, like cytokinesis. 2) Using GFP-fused protein, it was suggested that D411-2p localizes to phagocytic cups and crowns, actin-rich projections that are formed during phagocytosis and macropinocytosis, respectively. 3) Using the knockout strain, it was suggested that D411-2p is involved in migration (cAMP chemotaxis), a process also involving actin cytoskeleton. 4) Interaction between D411-2p and actin cytoskeleton were biochemically detected. 5) Using the fragments of recombinant protein, the regions of D411-2p required for biochemical interaction to actin cytoskeleton, and for genetic complementation, were both determined. Less
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