Physiological roles of liver de novo serine biosynthesis in adaptation to protein starvation

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26660116
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Food science
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: FURUYA Shigeki 九州大学, 農学研究院, 教授 (00222274)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: セリン / Phgdh / リン酸化経路 / 肝臓 / 小腸 / KOマウス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The aim of this study is to reveal the physiological role for de novo serine synthase in the liver in response to protein starvation. The enzymes Phgdh, Psat1 and Psph constituting the phosphorylated pathway responsible for de novo serine synthesis is shown to be induced substantially in the liver under a protein-starved nutritional condition. However, its physiological significance remains unexplored. In this study, using a liver-specific Phgdh KO mice, we examined effect of protein-free diet on metabolic homeostasis of amino acids including serine, gene/protein expression, and organ interaction, especially liver-intestine interaction.

Free Research Field

分子栄養学