Multiomics analysis of neurological diseases using neural progenitor cells directly derived from urinary cells

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K21570
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 52:General internal medicine and related fields
• Research Institution: Hamamatsu University School of Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Saitsu Hirotomo 浜松医科大学, 医学部, 教授 (40402838)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-07-30 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 尿細胞 / RNA-seq / マルチオミクス解析

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study focuses on human urine-derived cells (hUDCs). The expression profiles of hUDCs and skin fibroblasts, which is the gold standard for current multiomics analysis, are very similar. It was clarified that hUDCs are clinically accessible tissues that can be obtained non-invasively, have succeeded in establishing iPS cells from hUDCs, and can be expanded to further functional analysis.

Free Research Field

分子遺伝学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

hUDCsは、皮膚線維芽細胞の代替細胞として非侵襲的に取得可能である点が優れており、今後採取方法に更なる改良を加えることで、マルチオミクス解析を用いた遺伝子解析研究におけるパラダイムシフトを起こすことが期待される。実際にhUDCsを用いたRNA-seq解析で原因未同定であった家族例の原因同定に成功しており、疾患原因が不明で苦しむ患者の助けになる臨床的意義の高い研究成果である。