Regulation of amphibian hematopoiesis: the distribution of hematopoietic stem cells in the liver, spleen, and bone marrow.

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K06729
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 44040:Morphology and anatomical structure-related
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: Kato Takashi 早稲田大学, 教育・総合科学学術院, 教授 (80350388)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 前野 貢 新潟大学, 自然科学系, 教授 (10190315)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 造血 / 血球 / 両生類 / 造血幹細胞 / 造血因子 / フローサイトメトリー / アフリカツメガエル / RNA-seq

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In the adult anuran Xenopus, the liver produces all types of blood cells, including red blood cells, white blood cells, and thrombocytes, and the spleen and bone marrow dominantly produce thrombocytes and white blood cells, respectively. This difference may be due to differences in the cell properties of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC) contained in each hematopoietic organ or the tissue environment. In this study, we first developed the purification process of HSPC candidate cells contained in the liver of clawed frogs. We obtained a cell population containing HSPC candidates contained in small amounts in the liver. The gene expression profile of this HSPC candidate cell population is different from that of other cell sub-populations. This result should enable us to proceed in detail with genes indicating stem cellularity reported in humans and mice.

Free Research Field

分子生理学，実験血液学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

ノーベル賞受賞者のクロー博士が100年前に比較生物学の重要性を提唱したように，ヒトやマウスでは隠れている仕組みは，ショウジョウバエや酵母などのモデル動物における研究から新たな生命原理を明らかにされてきた。本課題は動物の生存と恒常性の維持に関わる末梢血球数調節を扱うことから，得られた成果が基礎生物学の新知見になるだけではなく，新規創薬標的の発見を通じたヒトの疾患治療への応用に展開する可能性をもつ。