Study of non-apoptotic programmed cell death during embryogenesis in mice

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K14519
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Cell biology
• Research Institution: Research Institute, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Disaeses
• Principal Investigator: TSUJIMOTO YOSHIHIDE 地方独立行政法人大阪府立病院機構大阪府立成人病センター(研究所), その他部局等, 研究所長 (70132735)
• Research Collaborator: IMAGAWA Yusuke 大阪府立成人病センター研究所, 研究員 (20614770) ; MATSUOKA Yosuke 大阪府立成人病センター研究所, 非常勤研究員 (60263258)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: プログラム細胞死 / ネクローシス / アポトーシス / オートファジー / 生体イメージング / 形態形成 / 個体発生

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Programmed cell death has a crucial role in various biological events, including developmental morphogenesis. Recent evidence indicates that necrosis contributes to programmed cell death in addition to apoptosis. For imaging physiological necrosis in vivo, we developed the vital staining method using propidium iodide to identify cells with plasma membrane disruption (necrotic cells) in mouse embryos. We discover that non-apoptotic programmed death occur in various tissues and in various stages during embryogenesis. We focused on a form of necrosis at the bone surface and found the death does not occur in embryos with deficiency of the autophagy-related gene Atg9a, although it is unaffected by Atg5 knockout. We also find abnormalities of the bone surface in Atg9a knockout mice, suggesting an important role of Atg9a-dependent necrosis in bone surface formation. These findings suggest that necrosis has an active role in developmental morphogenesis.

Free Research Field

分子細胞生物学