| Project/Area Number |
09278104
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas (A)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Institution | Institute of Gerontology, Nippon Medical School |
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Principal Investigator |
OHTA Shigeo Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Instutue of Gerontology, Nippon Medical School, Professor, 老人病研究所, 教授 (00125832)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KOBAYASHI Satoru Institute of Biological Sciences, Gene Experiment Center, University of Tsukuba, Associate Professor, 生物化学系, 講師 (90225508)
MUTO Akira Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science, Hirosaki University, Professor, 農学生命科学部, 教授 (80034635)
WATANABE Kimitsuna Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo, Professor, 大学院・新領域創成科学研究科, 教授 (00134502)
WATANABE Yoshimori Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, Associate Professor, 大学院・理学系研究科, 助教授 (20212326)
OKADA Norihiro Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Professor, 大学院・生命理工研究科, 教授 (60132982)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1997 – 2000
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| Keywords | mitochondrial disease / post-translational modification / germ-line cells / meiosis / tmRNA / tRNA / 高次機能 / RNA |
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| Research Abstract |
In our group, we have focused interest on the following subjects ; (1)The molecular mechanism on the role of RNA molecules involved in diseases. (2)The molecular mechanism on the roles of RNA molecules involved in development and differentiation. (3)Functional analysis of RNA molecules with a unknown function.
Ohta and Watanabe K. purified several mutant mitochondrial tRNA molecules and determined their structure, where the mutant tRNAs are responsible for mitochondrial diseases. We found that some mutant tRNAs lack modification of nucleotides at the third letter of anticodon and that the modification defect reduced the interaction of tRNA and mRNA, leading the unusual protein synthesis as the cause of the diseases.
Kobayashi found that mitochondrial rRNAs are required for development of cells responsible for the germ-line, and that the rRNA molecules remove out of mitochondria and turn into components of polysome in the cytosole.
Watanabe Y. revealed function of an essential RNA molecule, Mei RNA, for meiosis. Mei RNA binds to a component, which is essential for meiosis, to retain it in the nucleus.
Muto identified the structure of tmRNA which plays dual function of tRNA and mRNA.
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