Identification and functional analysis of a mast cell lysophosphatidylserine receptor.

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K15113
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Biological pharmacy
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Aoki Junken 東北大学, 薬学研究科, 教授 (20250219)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: マスト細胞 / 脱顆粒 / リゾホスファチジルセリン

Outline of Final Research Achievements

It has been suggested that a receptor for lysophosphatidylserine (LysoPS), a kind of lysophospholipid mediators, is present on mast cells. Mast cells are immune cells involved in the development of allergy. Several preceding studies have shown that LysoPS strongly up-regulated the antigen-IgE-induced degranulation of mast cells. However, the molecular identification as well as the biochemical characterization of the mast cell LysoPS remained to be done. The present research aimed to identify this LysoPS receptor. In this study, we found that mast cells from fawn-hooded rat, a kind of rat strains, did not degranulate in response to LysoPS. Since mast cells derived from the fawn-hooded rat degranulated in response to a calcium ionophore as was observed in mast cells from Wister strain rats, it is strongly suggested that the fawn-hooded rats are deficient in the LysoPS receptor. A new strategy to identify LysoPS receptor by genetic analysis was proposed.

Free Research Field

脂質生物学