Endocrine mechanisms regulating the growth and development of imaginal disks.

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15H04610
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Insect science
• Research Institution: Aichi Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: Mizoguchi Akira 愛知学院大学, 教養部, 教授 (60183109)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 八木 克将 名古屋大学, 理学研究科, 助教 (10372525) ; 塩見 邦博 信州大学, 学術研究院繊維学系, 准教授 (70324241)
• Research Collaborator: Fujinaga Daiki 東京大学, 新領域創成科学研究科, 大学院生
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 昆虫 / 成虫原基 / エクジステロイド / IGF様ぺプチド / 細胞内シグナル伝達 / 成長 / カイコガ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

A large quantity of an insulin-like growth faster (IGF)-like peptide is secreted after pupation in Bombyx mori. Hypothesizing that the growth and development of adult tissues are regulated by the combined effects of this peptide (BIGFLP) and 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), we investigated the growth-promoting effects of these hormones on the male genital disks of B. mori cultured in vitro and further analyzed the cell signaling pathways mediating hormone actions. We revealed that 20E induces the elongation of genital disks, that both hormones stimulate protein synthesis in an additive manner, and that BIGFLP and 20E exert their effects through the insulin/IGF signaling pathway and MAPK pathway, respectively. These results show that the growth and development of the genital disk are coordinately regulated by both BIGFLP and 20E. The analyses using a BIGFLP-deficient mutant produced by CRSPR-Cas9 system showed that BIGFLP plays a critical role in the growth control of ovaries.

Free Research Field

昆虫内分泌学