Targeted disruption of the mouse protein phosphatase PPM1L gene leads to structural abnormalities in the brain.

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25460353
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: General medical chemistry
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Tamura Shinri 東北大学, 加齢医学研究所, 非常勤講師 (20124604)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): KOBAYASHI TAKAYASU 東北大学, 遺伝子実験センター, 准教授 (10221970)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: プロテインホスファターゼ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To explore function of protein phosphatase PPM1L in vivo, we disrupted the mouse gene by gene targeting. The mutant mice were backcrossed with two different inbred strains (C57/BL6 and CBA), but only homozygous mutant mice on CBA background survived to adulthood. The PPM1L-/- mice showed impaired fine motor coordination and balance in the beam walking assay while Y-maze test did not reveal any specific alterations in their learning memory. Histological analyses revealed that PPM1L-/- mice exhibit morphological abnormalities in the central nerve system including reduction of striatum, corpus callosum and anterior commissure. Histochemical analyses suggest that these structural abnormalities are caused by failure of elongation of axons but not by cell death of neurons. These results suggest that PPM1L may play important role during neural development.

Free Research Field

生化学