2017 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
人工RNAを活用した高効率・汎用的な細胞リプログラミング技術の確立
| Project/Area Number |
17F17390
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| Research Institution | Kyoto University |
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Principal Investigator |
齊藤 博英 京都大学, iPS細胞研究所, 教授 (20423014)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KUANG YI 京都大学, iPS細胞研究所, 外国人特別研究員
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| Project Period (FY) |
2017-11-10 – 2020-03-31
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| Keywords | RNA methylation |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
In the last seven months, we have performed several experiments regarding the effect of base modification to the thermodynamic properties of RNAs. We found that isomerization and methylation of uridine largely alter the thermodynamic properties of short and long RNAs. We found that methylation of uridine can enhance the thermo-stability between U-A pairing. On the other hand, isomerization of uridine can also enhance the thermo-stability between U-A paring, but only under the present of strong ionic strength. Also there is an indication the uridine isomer allows ambiguous binding to other bases. Moreover, we found the methylation of adenine strongly hinders U-A paring. Because uridine and adenine modification in stem cells are significantly higher in stem cells than in differentiated cells, these findings points novel directions for the design of RNA methylation sensing switches.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
Although we didn’t perform the exact experiments as we proposed last year, we have found a better alternative direction for designing RNA methylation sensing switches. We believe the discovery we made so far, by itself, is of considerable significance to the understanding of the nature of iPS cells. We are confident that our following research, rooted from our new findings in the last fiscal year, will exhibit great novelty and impact.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
Based on our new findings, we have proceeded to the next phase of the experiment. We are to design mRNA switches that can distinguish iPS cell from differentiated cells base on the differential RNA methylation/isomerization stages.
We have attended several international conferences/symposium on the topic of quantitative biology or bioengineering in this year. We have obtained valuable first-hand information from various researchers that we believe can facilitate our current research.
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