Molecular mechanisms linking lipid metabolism and thermoregulation

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25293012
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Biological pharmacy
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: Umeda Masato 京都大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (10185069)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): HARA Yuji 京都大学, 大学院工学研究科, 准教授 (60362456) ; NAGAO Kohjiro 京都大学, 大学院工学研究科, 助教 (40587325) ; JUNI Naoto 京都大学, 大学院工学研究科, 研究員 (90572199)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 脂質 / 細胞膜 / 温度 / 細胞・組織 / 昆虫

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Temperature is a universal and pervasive physical characteristic, which affects the physiology, behavior and evolution of organisms. Animals have thermoregulatory systems to adapt their physiological functions, such as energy utilization, growth, reproduction and locomotion, in response to the wide range of changes in ambient temperature. We have shown that thermoregulatory behavior of Drosophila melanogaster is highly dependent on the level of energy metabolism and identified that Δ-9 fatty acid desaturase (DESAT1), whose expression is highly dependent on environmental temperature, plays a pivotal role in controlling thermoregulatory behavior as well as lipid metabolism of Drosophila.
In this study, we elucidated the molecular mechanisms that regulate the expression of DESAT1 and identified the DESAT1-associated proteins. We also examined the effect of DESAT1 on mitochondrial function and the temperature-dependent control of body size.

Free Research Field

生化学