2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Chemical dissection of mitochondrial function and inflammasome activation

Research Project

Project/Area Number	25893288
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Pharmacology in pharmacy
Research Institution	Institute of Physical and Chemical Research
Principal Investigator	KITAMI Toshimori 独立行政法人理化学研究所, 統合生命医科学研究センター, 上級研究員 (70708594)
Project Period (FY)	2013-08-30 – 2014-03-31
Keywords	ミトコンドリア / 化合物 / 代謝
Research Abstract	Recent studies have highlighted the role of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species in innate immune response (in particular of NLRP3 inflammasome activation). Identifying clinically used drugs that have impact on mitochondrial reactive oxygen species in innate immune cells (such as macrophage) will be useful for understanding the role of mitochondria in inflammation as well as identifying new drug toxicity and therapeutic use. We took advantage of our previous mitochondrial chemical screening compendium and identified a unique compound that induced strong inflammatory response. We are currently pursuing the mechanism of action of this drug to understand the relationship between mitochondria and inflammation.