Regulation of neurogenesis by the shift in stiffness of neural progenitor cells

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24500417
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Nerve anatomy/Neuropathology
• Research Institution: Kawasaki Medical School
• Principal Investigator: KOSODO Yoichi 川崎医科大学, 医学部, 准教授 (50425625)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: メカノトランスダクション / 神経発生 / 幹細胞 / 弾性率 / 原子間力顕微鏡

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Here, we present a systematic strategy to evaluate the shift in stiffness in a developing tissue using the mouse embryonic cerebral cortex as an experimental model. We combined atomic force microscopy measurements of tissue and cellular stiffness with immunostaining using specific markers of neural differentiation to annotate the value of stiffness by the characteristic features of tissues and cells in the developing brain. We revealed that the stiffness of the ventricular and subventricular zones increases gradually throughout the developing stage. These results indicate that tissue stiffness cannot be solely determined by the stiffness of cells that constitute the tissue. Taken together, our method profiles the stiffness of living tissue and cells with defined characteristics and can therefore be utilized to further understand the role of stiffness as a physical factor for cell fate determination in the formation of the cerebral cortex and other tissues.

Free Research Field

神経発生生物学