Analysis of the mechanism for epithelial development in kidney by the novel cell polarity protein Morg1

Research Project

Project/Area Number	26860193
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	General medical chemistry
Research Institution	Kyushu University
Principal Investigator	HAYASE JUNYA 九州大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 研究員 (40621686)
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: ¥1,950,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥450,000) Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,950,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥450,000)
Keywords	Morg1
Outline of Final Research Achievements	Cell polarization is crucial for development in multicellular organisms including cell fate determination, differentiation, and functions of specific cells, including epithelial cells, that underlie tissue morphogenesis. The plasma membrane of epithelial cells is asymmetrically organized into apical and basolateral domains. The apical membrane, facing the outside, is separated for the basolateral one, which faces neighboring cells and extracellular matrices. Formation of apico-basal polarity is required for both epithelial morphogenesis and function. Recently, we identified Morg1 as a novel epithelial cell polarity protein. However, roles of Morg1 in vivo have remained largely unknown. In this study, we have shown that Morg1 is essential for early embryonic development in mice.