Study on the mechanisms regulating fate specification of pigment cell subtypes

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23570077
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Morphology/Structure
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: HASHIMOTO Hisashi 名古屋大学, 生物機能開発利用研究センター, 助教 (30359757)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): KINOSHITA Masato 京都大学, 大学院農学研究科, 助教 (60263125) ; KAMEI Yasuhiro 基礎生物学研究所, 生物機能解析センター, 特任准教授 (70372563)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-28 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 細胞運命決定

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The neural crest-derived pigment cells are comprised of four different cell types in medaka. All of these pigment cells develop from the intermediate stem cells chromatoblasts. Fate specification in chromatoblasts is a suitable model to study the mechanisms of fate choice within a multipotent stem cell.
In this study, we conducted a developmental and genetic approach using medaka sox5 mutant, characterized by excessive formation of leucophores (white pigment cell) and absence of xanthophores (yellow pigment cell) as well as pax7a mutant, exhibiting defective formation of leucophores and xanthophores.
Our study suggests that the fate to xanthophores and leucophores requires pax7a within chromatoblasts and that the common progenitors of xanthophore and leucophore positive for pax7a are specified to xanthophores when expressing sox5 and to leucophores when not expressing sox5.

Free Research Field

発生遺伝学