| Project/Area Number |
24659218
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Field |
Immunology
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| Research Institution | The University of Tokyo |
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Principal Investigator |
NAGAWA Fumikiyo 東京大学, 理学(系)研究科(研究院), 講師 (10241233)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
TAKAHASHI Yoshimasa 国立感染症研究所, 免疫部, 室長 (60311403)
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| Research Collaborator |
OSHIMA Kenshuro 東京大学, 大学院新領域創成科学研究科, 特任准教授 (40537411)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2014)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥900,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000)
Fiscal Year 2012: ¥2,080,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥480,000)
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| Keywords | 獲得免疫系 / 無顎類 / 抗原受容体 / VLR / 遺伝子再編成 / 進化 |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
The jawless vertebrates (lampreys and hagfish), the most phylogenetically distant vertebrates from mammals, possess an alternative form of adaptive immune system that is mediated by antigen receptors called variable lymphocyte receptors (VLRs). A functional VLR gene, which consists almost entirely of several leucine-rich repeats (LLRs), is generated by the assembly of variable germline LRR gene segments that encode LRRs. Stepwise assembly of the gene segments occurs by replacement of the intervening non-coding DNA between the 5’ and 3’ constant regions by a process involving “copy choice”. Here, we have cloned and analyzed many partially assembled hagfish VLR genes. We found that they contained partially assembled structures at the 5’ and 3’ ends. These results suggest that a model where the assembly starts at both the 5’ and 3’ ends, and proceeds up to the middle LRRs, and the two ends are joined using a short homology between the LRR sequences.
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