Pseudouridine: new biomarker for cancer diagnosis

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K14625
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Tumor diagnostics
• Research Institution: Tokyo Metropolitan University
• Principal Investigator: Taoka Masato 首都大学東京, 理工学研究科, 准教授 (60271160)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 泉 友則 山口大学, 大学院医学系研究科, 准教授 (00261694)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: RNA / 転写後修飾 / 質量分析

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Pseudouridine (5-ribosyluracil, Ψ) is the only posttranslational modification with no mass shift, thus there have been few effective analysis methods that can be applied to trace amount of authentic RNAs so far. In this research, we developed a novel analytical method for Ψ-containing RNA sequence based on mass spectrometry. By applying this method, we determined Ψ-containing sequence in yeast and human rRNA, and human nuclear small RNA. This method should allow to serve as a reliable and useful tool for the structural/functional study of a wide range of non-coding RNA as it enables direct determination of Ψ of femtomole amount of RNA.

Free Research Field

生化学