Exploration of coenzyme-biding RNA to find novel functions of vitamins

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K12347
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Eating habits
• Research Institution: Fukuoka Women's University
• Principal Investigator: Hamada Shun 福岡女子大学, 国際文理学部, 教授 (60282349)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 濱田 香世子 福岡女子大学, 国際文理学部, 学術研究員 (20448814)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: リボザイム / ビタミン / 補酵素 / RNA

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Most of hydrophilic vitamins function as coenzymes and play central roles in the catalytic reaction of enzymes. Several ribonucleic acids also function as catalysts, ribozymes. To find ribozymes collaborated with vitamins would lead to revealing unknown functions of vitamins. In the present project, we used flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and cyanocobalamin as baits to identify vitamin-binding ribozymes. Total RNA prepared from the whole mouse body were incubated with FAD- or cyanocobalamin-immobilized beads. After removing unbound RNA by washing, the binding RNA was eluted and amplified. The amplified RNA was　again incubated with the vitamin-immobilized beads, the binding RNA was eluted and amplified. This process was repeated four to five times. The final amplified RNA was examined whether it binds to the vitamins, or the sequences of the corresponding cDNA clones were determined. However, we could not find the vitamin-binding RNA in the present study.

Free Research Field

神経栄養学