2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

A search of novel molecular mechanisms regulating neural progenitor cell proliferation in the cerebral cortex

Research Project

Project/Area Number	24659031
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Biological pharmacy
Research Institution	Kyoto University
Principal Investigator	KATOH Hironori 京都大学, 生命科学研究科, 准教授 (50303847)
Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha)	YAMAUCHI Junji 独立行政法人国立成育医療研究センター, 室長 (20335483)
Project Period (FY)	2012-04-01 – 2014-03-31
Keywords	細胞・組織 / シグナル伝達 / 脳・神経 / 発生
Research Abstract	In the developing cerebral cortex, the regulation of neural progenitor cell proliferation is one of most important element for the determination of the total number of neurons and the formation of the functional cerebral cortex. In this research, we focused on the regulatory factors for the activities of Rho family G proteins, which function as molecular switches of signal transductions. We analyzed expression periods and patterns of regulatory factors during the development of the cerebral cortex, and obtained results indicating the possibility that srGAP3 is involved in the migration of neurons in the cerebral cortex during early developmental stages.