Omics analyses of the regulatory mechanisms of mitochondrial permeability transition

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26460069
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Biological pharmacy
• Research Institution: The University of Tokushima
• Principal Investigator: YAMAMOTO Takenori 徳島大学, 先端酵素学研究所(プロテオ), 講師 (80457324)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: ミトコンドリア / 透過性遷移 / カルシウム / 細胞死

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) complex is a highly-selective calcium channel, and this complex is believed to consist of a pore-forming subunit, MCU, and its regulatory subunits. As yeast cells lack orthologues of the mammalian proteins, the yeast expression system for the mammalian calcium uniporter subunits is useful for investigating their functions. We here established a yeast expression system for the mouse MCU and 7 other subunits. Using this expression system, we analyzed the essential MCU regulator (EMRE), which is a key subunit for Ca2+ uptake but whose functions and structure remain unclear. Deletion of acidic amino acids conserved in EMRE did not significantly affect Ca2+ uptake; thus, EMRE did not have basic properties of ion channels such as ion-selectivity filtration and ion concentration. Meanwhile, the close interaction between MCU and EMRE suggested that EMRE might be a structural factor for opening of the MCU-forming pore.

Free Research Field

生化学