Involvement of the decreased chondroitin sulfate production in the presence of multinucleated blastomeres

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26670033
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Biological pharmacy
• Research Institution: Kobe Pharmaceutical University
• Principal Investigator: Kitagawa Hiroshi 神戸薬科大学, 薬学部, 教授 (40221915)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): SATO Ban 筑波大学, 生命環境系生物科学分野, 特任助教 (90443126)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: コンドロイチン硫酸 / 多核形成 / 加齢 / プロテオグリカン / 糖転移酵素 / 細胞外マトリックス / エストラジオール / 不妊

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Chondroitin sulfate, a long linear polysaccharide that is covalently bound to specific core proteins to form chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans, is distributed on the cell surfaces and in the extracellular matrix. To date, chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans have been reported to play important roles in physiological processes, such as cell-cell interactions, cell proliferation, differentiation, and morphogenesis. Many of the physiological roles are attributed to the chondroitin sulfate side chains. We previously reported that mutant mice completely lacking chondroitin sulfate side chains result in embryonic lethality before the 8-cell stage due to incomplete cytokinesis and that chondroitin sulfate side chains are indispensable for embryonic cell division. In this study, we showed that the decreased amount of chondroitin sulfate with age might lead to suppression of follicular maturation.

Free Research Field

生化学・分子生物学・糖鎖生物学