Elucidation of the susceptibility mechanism for ulcerative colitis of MIR622 and exploration of its clinical application

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K07884
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 53010:Gastroenterology-related
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Kinouchi Yoshitaka 東北大学, 高度教養教育・学生支援機構, 教授 (20250780)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 角田 洋一 東北大学, 医学系研究科, 講師 (50509205)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 潰瘍性大腸炎 / MIR622遺伝子 / GWAS / エピジェネティクス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To clarify the positioning of MIR622 as a susceptibility gene for ulcerative colitis, we conducted (1) correlation analysis by meta-analysis in East Asian races, (2) differential methylation around the MIR622 gene by alleles, (3) association between miR-622 and alleles in serum, (4) miR-622 in serum as a biomarker. As a result, we could not detect (1) as a significant correlation in the meta-analysis of East Asian races. (2) We were also unable to confirm significant differences in methylation around miR622 gene among alleles. (3) (4) Examination of miR-622 in serum showed no correlation with ulcerative colitis clinical phenotype.

Free Research Field

炎症性腸疾患

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

日本で急増している潰瘍性大腸炎は、その発症にかかわる遺伝因子が十分に解明されていない。ゲノムワイド相関解析（GWAS）により申請者らは先行研究で新たな日本人固有の潰瘍性大腸炎の疾患感受性遺伝子候補MIR622遺伝子を見出した。MIR622遺伝子がコードするmiR-622のようなMicro-RNAは、一般に標的遺伝子のmRNAを不安定化、翻訳抑制を行う。本研究ではMIR622遺伝子多型が遺伝子周囲のメチル化等に影響を与えmiR-622の発現に影響を与えると考え研究を進めたが、その仮説を裏付ける根拠は得られなかった。