Cell signaling fine-tuning that supports animal tissue development and homeostasis

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25293072
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: General medical chemistry
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: Tohru Ishitani 九州大学, 生体防御医学研究所, 准教授 (40448428)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: シグナルファインチューニング / 臓器構築

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Animal tissues contain a variety of specialized cells and exert complex and accurate functions. Construction and maintenance of animal tissues are regulated by cell signaling pathways, such as Wnt and Shh signaling pathways. Interestingly, the number of cell signaling pathways is very few. Simple ON/OFF regulation of these few signaling pathways must be NOT sufficient to achieve the highly complex processes during tissue construction and maintenance. We believe that the spatial-temporal regulation of signaling pathways (Signal Fine-tuning) varies the roles of signaling pathways and contributes to tissue construction and maintenance. In this study, we focused on nemo-like kinase (NLK), which is a fine-tuner of Wnt signaling. We first revealed the molecular basis by which dysregulation of NLK causes malignant brain tumor. We also developed the small molecules that specifically inhibit NLK activity. We also discovered new molecules that fine-tune the activity of Wnt and Shh signaling.

Free Research Field

シグナル伝達