Basic research on construction of universal egg

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K19332
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Veterinary medical science, Animal science, and related fields
• Research Institution: Kindai University
• Principal Investigator: kato yoko 近畿大学, 農学部, 教授 (40278742)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-06-30 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 卵子 / 初期化 / ユニバーサル卵子

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The final goal of this study is to construct a universal egg cytoplasm. The ability to create an artificial egg cytoplasm that initializes somatic cell nuclei across species greatly contributes to breeding, increasing production of excellent livestock and reproduction, replication of rare animal species that require interspecific nuclear transfer. In this study, we were able to control mitochondrial abundance in oocyte and somatic cells in multiple animal species. In addition, we were able to construct an efficient nuclear transfer experimental system.

Free Research Field

動物発生工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

卵子の初期化能力の増強は、ヒト生殖補助医療分野にも貢献する。卵細胞質が持つ体細胞核の初期化機構と全能性誘導機構は、エピジェネティクス修正の関与が大きな鍵となっていることは明らかであるが、全体像についてはほとんど解明されていない。そのため、本研究を実施する過程において卵細胞質が持つ初期化機構の全体像を知る一端になると考えられる。