Role of glycosylation in the molecular basis of totipotency in mammals

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K14698
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Functional biochemistry
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: TSUKADA Yuichi 九州大学, 稲盛フロンティア研究センター, 教授 (90444801)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 全能性 / 糖鎖修飾

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Totipotency is the ability of an isolated cell to produce a fertile, adult individuals. It has been considered that only isolated blastomeres of preimplantation embryos possess totipotency among various types of cells in the body of mammals. However, the molecular basis of totipotency is unclear. In this study, we successfully identified a glycosylation that is specific for 4-cell stage mouse preimplantation embryos and revealed that an identified glycosylation plays important roles in mouse preimplantation development.

Free Research Field

生命科学