2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Epigegetic reprogramming in totipotency acquisition
| Project Area | Program of totipotency: From decoding to designing |
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| Project/Area Number |
19H05756
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Review Section |
Biological Sciences
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| Research Institution | University of Yamanashi (2021-2023)
Kyushu University (2019-2020) |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2019-06-28 – 2024-03-31
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| Keywords | 全能性 / 受精卵 / ZGA / エピゲノム |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Fertilized eggs formed by the fusion of sperm and egg possesses totipotency. Zygotic genome activation (ZGA) occurring in the fertilized egg represents a unique transcriptional program, strongly suggesting the importance of significant epigenomic rewriting, termed epigenome reprogramming, for its initiation. This study aimed to gain a detailed understanding of the molecular mechanisms controlling epigenetic reprogramming and ZGA in fertilized eggs. We revealed (1) the atypical distribution of the histone variant H3.3 during totipotency, (2) the establishment of genome-wide nucleosome positioning during post-fertilization embryonic development, and (3) the occurrence of dynamic transcriptional reprogramming during the ZGA period.
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| Free Research Field |
分子生物学
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
胚性幹細胞(ES細胞)やiPS細胞の研究により、多能性がいかにして獲得されるのかという点については現在多くのことがわかっていると言える。しかし、多能性の上位にあるとも言える全能性についての理解は乏しい。これは全能性を理解するには実験材料として希少な受精卵を必要とするためである。そこで我々は、極めて微量の細胞に対しても解析可能な技術を開発することでこの問題の解決を試みた。そして、エピゲノム解析手法としてlow-input(li)ChIP-seqやliMNase-seq法を、受精卵の転写プログラムの解析手法としてLET-seq法を開発し、全能性細胞である受精卵の特徴を見出すことに成功した。
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