A non-invasive tool for detecting pancreatic tumor-bearing murine odor by C. elegans

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K15591
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: General surgery
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: KAWAMOTO Koichi 大阪大学, 医学系研究科, 特任助教(常勤) (30432470)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 江口 英利 大阪大学, 医学系研究科, 准教授 (90542118) ; 西田 尚弘 大阪大学, 医学系研究科, 助教 (50588118) ; 今野 雅允 大阪大学, 医学系研究科, 寄附講座講師 (80618207) ; 小関 準 大阪大学, 医学系研究科, 特任助教(常勤) (20616669) ; 石井 秀始 大阪大学, 医学系研究科, 特任教授(常勤) (10280736)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): MORI Masaki 大阪大学, 大学院医学系研究科, 教授 (70190999) ; HIROTSU Takaaki 九州大学, 大学院理学研究科, 助教 (70404035) ; SUGIMOTO Masahiro 慶応義塾大学, 政策メディア研究科, 特任准教授 (30458963)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 膵癌 / 早期診断 / 綿虫 / 嗅覚レセプター / スクリーニング

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Diagnosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is associated with dismal prognosis despite current best therapies, including surgery, chemoradiation, and immunotherapy. Previous studies reported that wild-type C. Elegans displayed attractive chemotaxis towards human urine from cancer patients but avoided control urine from healthy volunteers. In this study, our research group demonstrated that C. Elegans induces chemotactic properties to the urine from pancreatic tumor-bearing mice. Furthermore, urine from c-Met knockout has minimal effect to these chemotactic properties. These results suggest that urine from tumor-bearing mice could provide a new strategy to detect and study disease-associated scents in the future.

Free Research Field

消化器外科