| Project/Area Number |
18K15141
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Review Section |
Basic Section 49040:Parasitology-related
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| Research Institution | National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology |
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Principal Investigator |
Takagi Yuko 国立研究開発法人産業技術総合研究所, 生命工学領域, 研究員 (50783669)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2018-04-01 – 2023-03-31
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2022)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥4,290,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥990,000)
Fiscal Year 2020: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000)
Fiscal Year 2019: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
Fiscal Year 2018: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000)
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| Keywords | 感染症 / 原虫 / 創薬標的 / ゲノム編集 / 微生物 / 培養 / 遺伝子 / 遺伝子組換え |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
In order to search for drug targets against Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasitic protozoan that causes Chagas disease, it is important to identify target genes that are essential for the growth of the parasite. However, in the infection stage of T. cruzi, the presence of host cells acts as a barrier and prevents direct introduction of nucleic acids into the intracellular parasite, making it difficult to determine the essentiality of target genes in this stage, which is vital for the drug discovery research.
By incorporating an On/Off system that triggers genome editing at any given time, and by allowing intracellular proliferation stage of parasite to be cultured outside the host for a certain period of time, we made it possible to confirm the gene knockout phenotype in all stages of the parasite life cycle.
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
長らく偏性細胞内寄生体だと信じられてきた宿主内増殖ステージの原虫を、一定期間とはいえ宿主外で培養することは全く新規の手法であり、これを可能にした学術的な意義は大きい。また、その宿主外培養期間中に核酸導入や薬物耐性試験を行うことを可能にしたことにより、創薬研究で一番重要な感染ステージの原虫において標的遺伝子の必須性確認や化合物アッセイができるようになった社会的意義は大きい。
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