Mechanical characteristics of endothelial primary cilium and understanding of its mechanosensing mechanism

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18H03508
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 90110:Biomedical engineering-related
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: Ohashi Toshiro 北海道大学, 工学研究院, 教授 (30270812)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 血管内皮細胞 / Primary Cilium / 力学特性 / メカノセンシング機構

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study is to measure mechanical properties of endothelial primary cilia with the diameter of ca. 200 nm and the length of several micron existing on the cell surface and to identify them as a mechanosensor. We fabricated an in-house micro-tensile tester to measure mechanical properties of primary cilia and successfully obtained their Young's modulus. In addition, when calcium experiments were performed on the isolated primary cilia by tensile stimulation, an increase in calcium expression was observed in the primary cilia, indicating that calcium channels existing on the surface of primary cilia could activate the entry of calcium ion.

Free Research Field

バイオメカニクス

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

アテローム性動脈硬化症の好発部位は血管の曲がり部や分岐部に多く、複雑な流れ場によるせん断応力が血管内皮細胞の形態・機能を変化させ病変の発生に結びついていくと考えられている。このことから内皮細胞の力学応答機構の解明は、アテローム性動脈硬化症病態原因の解明や治療法の開発における基礎研究として学術的意義および社会的意義がある。特に、Primary ciliumは直径200nm程度，長さ数μm程度の非常に小さいファイバ状の構造体であり、このような微小構造体の力学特性を計測すること自体に学術的なインパクトがある。