Demonstration of the vertebrate CMP-sialic acid synthetase as a novel regulatory protein of neural cell apoptosis

• Project/Area Number: 21K15040
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 43030:Functional biochemistry-related
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: 呉 迪 名古屋大学, 生物機能開発利用研究センター, 助教 (10817547)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Project Status: Granted (Fiscal Year 2021)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,680,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,080,000); Fiscal Year 2022: ¥2,210,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥510,000); Fiscal Year 2021: ¥2,470,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥570,000)
• Keywords: Sia-glycoconjugates / medaka fish / neurogenesis

Outline of Research at the Start

CMP-sialic acid synthetase (CSS) is a key enzyme for the expression of Sia-Glycolconjugates on the cell surface. Our previous results suggest that CSS plays a critical role in neurogenesis, not only as a sialylation-involved enzyme but also as an apoptosis-related protein. To clarify how CSS regulates the neural cell apoptosis: (1) To identify protein X by the proximity labeling technique; (2) To characterize the interaction between protein X and CSS at the molecular level; (3) To clarify the significance of the protein X-CSS interaction at the animal level using medaka model.