2003 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Functional analysis of fatty acid binding proteins in the brain
| Project/Area Number |
14580720
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Nerve anatomy/Neuropathology
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| Research Institution | Tohoku University |
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Principal Investigator |
OWADA Yuji Tohoku University, Graduate School of Medicine, Associate Professor, 大学院・医学系研究科, 助教授 (20292211)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KONDOH Hisatake Tohoku University, Graduate School of Medicine, Professor, 大学院・医学系研究科, 教授 (20004723)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2002 – 2003
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| Keywords | fatty acid binding protein / TEWL / radial glia / astrocyte / thymic epithelial cell / IL12 / PALS |
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| Research Abstract |
It was shown that fatty acids, especially docosahexiaenoic acid and arachidonic acid, are important in the verious brain functions, including learning and memory functions. Brain type-fatty acid binding protein (B--FABP) belongs to a family of intracellular lipid binding proteins. B-FABP exhibits a higher binding affinity to docosahexaenoic acid (DNA) whose effect on learning and memory function has been documented, and it is localized in the ventricular germinal cells in embryonic brain and astroglia in adult brain of rodents. The present study generated mice harboring a null mutation in the B-FABP gene and the phenotype analysis of the gene-knockout mice exhibited the impaired learning, and memory function. and the decreased content of DNA in their brain without detection of any histological changes in the brain. Furthermore, the response of NMDA receptor-mediated current to DNA in isolated hippocampal neurons from the B-FABP mutant mice was significantly decreased in comparison with that of wild mice. These data indicate that B-FABP in the glia is intimately involved in the well-known effect of DHA on learning and memory.
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