Regulatory mechanism of ciliary functions by calaxin

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25291069
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Morphology/Structure
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: Inaba Kazuo 筑波大学, 生命環境系, 教授 (80221779)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): SHIBA Kogiku 筑波大学, 生命環境系, 助教 (70533561) ; YAGUCHI Shunsuke 筑波大学, 生命環境系, 准教授 (00505331) ; TANOKURA Masaru 東京大学, 農学生命科学研究科, 教授 (60136786)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: カラクシン / 鞭毛 / 繊毛 / 精子 / ダイニン / 微小管 / 生殖 / 繊毛病

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this research project, we aimed to clarify the structure and function of the dynein calcium sensor calaxin. First, X-ray crystallography revealed that EF2/EF4 are structural and EF3 is a regulatory EF-hand. Overall calaxin structure was suggested to change by a Ca2+ from closed to open state, of which state change was largely accelerated by binding of dynein. By using sea urchin embryos, we concluded that calaxin determines basal body orientation by regulating ciliary bending. Calaxin-deficient mice possesse apparently normal axonemal structures. However, they represent typical ciliopathy phenotypes, in particular hydrocephalus and situs inversus.

Free Research Field

分子細胞生物学