| Budget Amount *help |
¥5,460,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,260,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
Fiscal Year 2012: ¥2,080,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥480,000)
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Insect cuticle is a matrix mainly composed of chitin fiber and chitin binding proteins. The cuticle is sclerotized through oxidation reactions of catechol amines. Catechol amines are oxidized to quinones, and then isomerized to quinone methides. Both quinones and quinone methides are highly reactive to mediate cross-linkages of cuticular components. For detection of the isomerase activity, the conversion of N-acetyl-dopamine quinone (NADA quinone) to NADA quinone methide was monitored. From the pupal cuticles of the silkworm, Bombyx mori, an active fraction was extracted. Through column chromatographies, a fraction with isomerase activity was obtained, but the characters are different from those of enzymes that were reported previously in other species.
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