Role of CDK inhibitors in self-renewal regulation of spermatogonial stem cell

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26293064
• 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: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: Shinohara Mito 京都大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 助教 (10372591)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 幹細胞 / 細胞周期 / 生殖

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this project, we investigated the involvement of p57 gene, one of the Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (CDKIs), in the regulation of self-renewal and maintenance of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs). The results showed that the expression of p57 gene was upregulated in SSCs by FGF2 and GDNF, the self-renewal factors of SSCs. Using cultured SSC cell lines, which were derived from conditional knockout mice of p57 gene, we identified that self-renewal activity of SSCs was reduced in vitro by p57 gene deficiency. To elucidate the signaling pathway, which mediates the effect of p57 gene, we screened for molecules by microarray analysis, whose expression levels were affected by p57 gene deficiency. Involvements of some of these molecules were confirmed by overexpression or knockdown in cultured SSC cell line.

Free Research Field

生殖医学