2000 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Role of astrocyte in the development of prion disease
Project/Area Number |
10670591
|
Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
Section | 一般 |
Research Field |
Neurology
|
Research Institution | Saga Medical School |
Principal Investigator |
KURODA Yasuo Saga Medical School, Department of Medicine, Professor, 医学部, 教授 (30117105)
|
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
SATOH Junichi Saga Medical School, Department of Medicine, Lecturer, 医学部, 講師 (30274591)
|
Project Period (FY) |
1998 – 2000
|
Keywords | prion / astrocyte / heat-shock protein / gene expression |
Research Abstract |
We have previously shown that astrocyte-derived cytokines could modify the expression of prion protein (PrP) gene in the cultured human neuronal cells. In order to clarify the influence of modified PrP metabolism on cell functions, we investigated expressions of heat-shock protein genes and Ras/Racl genes in PrP gene-knock out mice and normal control mice. We studied 7 major heat-shock protein genes but could not find differences in their expression between PrP-knock out mice and the controls However, we found the significant down-regulation of genes of RTK, Eps8 and CD44 in the PrP-knock out mice when compared to the controls. These results suggest a possibility that astrocyte-derived cytokines may cause neuronal degeneration by modifing PrP metabolism which can cause down-regulation of Ras/Racl intracellular signal system.
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