2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Elucidation of the Epigenetic Mechanism of Fear Memory Control via the CGRP-Npas4 Pathway
| Project/Area Number |
21K07532
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Review Section |
Basic Section 52030:Psychiatry-related
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| Research Institution | Okayama University of Science |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
橋川 直也 岡山理科大学, 理学部, 准教授 (60434982)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
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| Keywords | CGRP / マウス / エピジェネティクス |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
We discovered that administering CGRP to mice that had experienced a traumatic event resulted in the mice not recalling the fearful memory. CGRP is one of the neurotransmitters contained in pain-transmitting nerves and exhibits vasodilatory effects. Although CGRP is also abundantly expressed in the brain, its relationship with memory was not previously clear. We analyzed the effects of CGRP administration on spatial memory, short-term memory, and fear memory in mice, and found that CGRP has the effect of alleviating fear memory. This effect of CGRP was found to be due to an increase in the expression of the transcriptional regulator Npas4. Furthermore, it was revealed that the increase in Npas4 induced by CGRP occurs through epigenetic regulatory mechanisms, which are forms of acquired gene expression control. Epigenetics is attracting attention as a drug discovery target, and the results of this study suggest that CGRP could be a potential new therapeutic target for PTSD.
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| Free Research Field |
薬理学
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
エピジェネティクスは創薬標的としての注目を集めており、本研究成果はCGRPが新たな心的外傷後ストレス(PTSD)の新たな治療ターゲットになり得ることを示唆しています。
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