| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥900,000)
Fiscal Year 2012: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000)
Fiscal Year 2011: ¥2,860,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥660,000)
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| Research Abstract |
The objective of this study is to demonstrate the hypothesis that insects do not contain usual sialic acids (Sia) that are commonly found in vertebrates, but “insect-type Sia”, which is unique to insects. Using Drosophilla melanogaster (fluit fly), Tribolium castaneum (red flour beetle), several moth species, purification and analyses of structure, occurrence, and metabolic pathways of the insect -type Sia were performed. We could identify the insect-type Sia that was present in all the insects tested in this study. For metabolic aspects, all insects do not contain metabolic enzymes known for the common Sia, and even in such insects that were shown to contain the metabolic enzymes, the enzymes seemed to lose their activities. It would be an urgent subject, however, to see if the insect enzymes can utilize the insect-type Sia in near future. Taken together, our hypothesis that insects contain the insect-type Sia, but not the common Sia has been successfully verified.
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