2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Development of anticancer drugs based on the knowledge of the roles of Ftsj1-mediated tRNA modification
| Project/Area Number |
16K18989
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Field |
General physiology
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| Research Institution | Okayama University (2017)
Kumamoto University (2016) |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
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| Keywords | tRNA修飾酵素 / 癌幹細胞 |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
To elucidate the roles of translational machinery in cancer biology, I focused on tRNA-modification enzyme FTSJ1, and investigated how FTSJ1 determined the cancer cell fate. FTSJ1 is required to sustain the cancer stem cell-related traits: when FTSJ1 is down-regulated, the cancer cells lost the self-renewal capacity and tumor-forming capacity. As a functional target of FTSJ1, I identified Cyr61 and CTGF, both of which are essential to control cancer stem cell. These results indicate the possibilities of the development of FTSJ1 inhibitor as a groundbreaking anti-cancer drug.
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| Free Research Field |
がん幹細胞、翻訳制御機構
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
本研究成果は、がん生物学において近年勃興しつつある「転写と翻訳の乖離」の問題解決の一端を担うものと考える。とりわけ、「転写と翻訳の乖離」に起因する「がん組織の不均一性」に関しては、がんを難治たらしめる「幹細胞性」の獲得・維持と密接に関係しているため、本研究で明らかになった事項を外挿すれば、「がん幹細胞を標的とする抗がん剤の開発」といった、全く新しい切り口からの制癌戦略の構築が可能となる。このことは、本研究成果が学術的に意義深いものだけでなく、がん治療法の開発といった社会的意義にも大きく影響を与えるものであると確信する。
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