Identification of the CDKA-target factors that regulate cellular changes during stem cell formation

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K07119
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Plant molecular biology/Plant physiology
• Research Institution: National Institute for Basic Biology
• Principal Investigator: Ishikawa Masaki 基礎生物学研究所, 生物進化研究部門, 助教 (00586894)
• Research Collaborator: Hasebe Mitsuyasu ; Murata Takashi ; Fujita Tomomichi
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: ヒメツリガネゴケ / 幹細胞 / 細胞周期 / CDKA / 細胞運命転換

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In the moss Physcomitrella patens, when a leaf is excised from a gametophore and cultivated for a few days on culture medium without phytohormone supplementation, leaf cells facing the cut change into cells that are not distinguishable from chloronema apical cells. During this process, a cell cycle regulator, cyclin-dependent kinase A (CDKA), functions in coordination between cell cycle reactivation and acquisition of new cell-type characteristics. To understand roles of CDKA in the stem cell formation, we performed interactome and phosphoproteomic analyses to identify CDKA-target proteins. As a result, we identified a factor involved in the histone modifications, suggesting that CDKA regulates epigenetic modifications to induce cellular changes. In addition, we developed a sensor to detect the CDKA protein kinase activity at tissue levels.

Free Research Field

植物分子生物学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

細胞周期制御因子であるCDKAが、ヒストン修飾変化を制御している可能性が示唆され、CDKAが細胞周期と細胞運命転換の両方を同時に制御する分子機構の一端が見えてきた。このことは、多細胞体制の形成と維持における細胞増殖と細胞分化の相関関係を規定する分子基盤の統合的な理解に繋がることが期待される。またCDKAのキナーゼ活性をモニターするセンサーの開発は、他のプロテインキナーゼや酵素活性をモニターするバイオセンサーへの開発に繋がることが期待される。