Investigation of a mechanism to form an asymmetric gene expression pattern by a reconstitutive approach

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26891027
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Molecular biology
• Research Institution: Institute of Physical and Chemical Research
• Principal Investigator: Sekine Ryoji 国立研究開発法人理化学研究所, 生命システム研究センター, 基礎科学特別研究員 (70730232)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-08-29 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 合成製生物学 / 発生生物学 / Nodal

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In animal development, spatial patterns of gene expression determine how body parts, such as limbs, form their shapes at correct positions. Asymmetric gene expression pattern formation by Nodal-Lefty signaling is one of the most important processes in early developmental stages. However, no one has shown the pattern formation in live cells yet. In this study, we are trying to answer whether an asymmetric pattern can be realized in cultured cells only by the Nodal-Lefty signaling system, and what is the most important component to control the pattern.
We engineered a synthetic Nodal-Lefty signaling system in cultured cells (HEK293 cells), and found that they automatically formed small high/low Nodal expression regions. Furthermore, we realized larger regions by the enhancement of the Nodal propagation. We also found how to enhance the inhibition activity of Lefty2 which would improve the pattern.

Free Research Field

合成生物学