2012 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Vitamin A homeostasis by hepatic stellate cells
| Project/Area Number |
23790269
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Field |
Environmental physiology (including Physical medicine and Nutritional physiology)
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| Research Institution | Akita University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2011 – 2012
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| Keywords | ヤツメウナギ / ビタミンA / 肝臓星細胞 / レチノイド結合タンパク質 / 細胞質レチノール結合タンパク質 / 脊椎動物 / 分子進化 |
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| Research Abstract |
Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin needed for many physiological functions including vision, reproduction, embryonic development, and epithelial maintenance. Vitamin A levels in the bloodstream are kept within a range around 2 μM in humans. The Japanese lamprey, Lethenteron japonicum, stores a high concentration of vitamin A. We have cloned a lamprey cDNA for cellular retinolbinding protein (CRBP). The cloned CRBP did not bind to retinal. The CRBP mRNA showed the highest expression within the intestine. Adult lamprey may not require CRBP binding to retinal in order to effectively absorb vitamin A from fish blood. As a result, lamprey CRBP may have lost the affinity for retinal, while retaining the affinity for retinol.
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