2011 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Spontaneous single dorsal-ventral axis formation in the early Xenopus embryo

Research Project

Project/Area Number	22770230
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Developmental biology
Research Institution	The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research
Principal Investigator	INOMATA Hidehiko 独立行政法人理化学研究所, 器官発生研究グループ, 研究員 (60372166)
Project Period (FY)	2010 – 2011
Keywords	アフリカツメガエル / 背腹軸 / モルフォゲン勾配 / Chordin / Szl / 定量
Research Abstract	During early Xenopus development, the dorsal-ventral axis is formed according to Chordin protein gradient secreted from the organizer. We tried to quantify production rate, diffusion coefficient and degradation rate of Chordin protein in vivo, which regulate the shape of protein gradient. In the present study, we found that the Chordin protein was rapidly degraded in the extracellular space and it formed a positive-feedback loop.