Basic and Applied Studies on Regulation of Gene Expression by Small DNAs

Research Project

Project/Area Number	26650004
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	Molecular biology
Research Institution	University of Tsukuba
Principal Investigator	BABA Tadashi 筑波大学, 生命環境系, 教授 (40165056)
Project Period (FY)	2014-04-01 – 2016-03-31
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2015)
Budget Amount *help	¥3,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥900,000) Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥270,000) Fiscal Year 2014: ¥2,730,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥630,000)
Keywords	低分子核酸 / ＤＮＡ・ｍＲＮＡハイブリッド / 遺伝子サイレンシング / ｍＲＮＡ分解 / 翻訳抑制 / 転写後調節
Outline of Final Research Achievements	The purpose of this study is to explore whether a small DNA is present in somatic cells, and functions in gene silencing. Total cellular RNA was prepared from various mouse tissues, including the testis and liver, annealed to oligo(dT), and treated with commercial RNase H. The protein-coding region of mRNA encoding actin, in addition to the mRNA poly(A) tail, was digested by RNase H in a dose-dependent manner. The susceptibility of actin and acrosin mRNAs to the RNase H treatment was greater than those of TRF2, TFIIAgamma, and ACT mRNAs. Although small DNA with an approximate size of 10 nucleotides was found in liver total RNA, we have been unable to determine the sequence of the DNA yet.