The role of autophagy in starvation response immediately after birth

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K10182
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Embryonic/Neonatal medicine
• Research Institution: Oita University
• Principal Investigator: Sekiguchi Kazuhito 大分大学, 医学部, 助教 (40437926)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 宮原 弘明 愛知医科大学, 付置研究所, 講師 (00457615) ; 花田 俊勝 大分大学, 医学部, 教授 (10363350)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: オートファジー / 飢餓 / 新生児 / 肝臓

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Newborn babies face severe starvation before birth, when the placenta's nutritional supply is suddenly cut off. We focused on the liver and analyzed the serum nutrition-related metabolites in liver-specific autophagy-deficient mice during postnatal starvation.
Although liver autophagy deficiency during the postnatal starvation period is not essential for life support during the postnatal starvation period, it was revealed that neonatal liver autophagy causes changes in serum metabolite composition.

Free Research Field

小児科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

哺乳類においてすべからく訪れる新生児飢餓期において、肝臓オートファジーはエネルギー維持に重要な役割を担うことが示唆された。今後、低栄養が新生児に与える諸病態とオートファジーの関連が明らかになれば、新生児の栄養管理の改善、新たな治療法開発の一助となることが期待される。