Mechanism of fungal cell wall beta-1,6 glucan synthesis

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K05764
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 38020:Applied microbiology-related
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: NODA Yoichi 東京大学, 大学院農学生命科学研究科(農学部), 特任准教授 (90282699)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 細胞壁 / 真菌 / 酵母

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To reveal the mechanism of fungal cell wall b-1,6-glucan synthesis in S. cerevisiae, We analyzed the behavior of Kre6, which is thought to play an important role in the b-1,6-glucan synthesis. Co-immunoprecipitaton experiments showed that Kre6 may interacts with other proteins involved in the b-1,6-glucan synthesis. We also found that the Kre6 protein is phosphorylated and the phosphorylation decreased in the cell in which the function of proteins that have roles in b-1,6-glucan synthesis is impaired. In the course of these studies, we found the b-1,6-glucanase activity in the yeast cell lysate. We revealed that his activity was derived from activities of the two proteins, one of which was Exg1 and the other was protein whose function was previously unknown. This proteins was produced as a GST-fusion protein in E. coli. The enzymatic parameters of the fusion protein were measured.

Free Research Field

農芸化学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

真菌の細胞壁の非常に重要な成分であるβ-1,6-グルカンの合成経路に関して得られた本研究の成果は，真菌の生物学の理解という点において，学術的な意義があると考えられる．また真菌による感染症は，特に他の疾患や薬剤の服用により免疫機能の落ちた状態では未だ大きな脅威である．近年では新たにCandida aurisにより感染拡大も危惧されている．細胞壁β-1,6-グルカンの合成経路は，抗真菌剤の標的候補として期待されており，本研究の成果は医学的，社会的にも意義があると考えられる．