FBS Colloquia No.283Laboratory of Stem Cell Pathology
| Seminar or Lecture |
1. MORC3, a novel MIWI2 association partner, is an epigenetic regulator of piRNA-dependent transposon silencing Kanako Kita [Assistant Professor, FBS Stem cell pathology] 2. Establishment and applications of a dopa-decarboxylase (Ddc) fluorescent reporter mouse model Kit-Yeng Sheng [Postdoc researcher, FBS Stem cell pathology, Department of Neurology] |
|---|---|
| Date and Time | 28 Oct. 2021 (Thu), 12:15～13:00 |
| Place | Online (Zoom) | An email will be sent with the meeting URL, ID, and password to all FBS members. |
| Language | 1: Japanese 2: English |
| Contact |
Shinpei Yamaguchi |
1. MORC3, a novel MIWI2 association partner, is an epigenetic regulator of piRNA-dependent transposon silencing
Small RNAs have critical roles for gene regulations and these abnormalities often lead to developmental arrest and/or diseases. Among small RNAs, we have focused on germ cell specific small RNA, named piRNA (PIWI-interacting RNA). piRNA functions as “genomic guardian” by repressing retrotransposon are essential for germ cell developments. Mouse piRNA binding protein, MILI (Mouse PIWI like) and MIWI2 (Mouse PIWI2) have critical roles for piRNA biogenesis and its function, respectively. We have shown that majority of piRNAs are derived from retrotransposons and contribute to retrotransposon silencing via DNA methylation. In this seminar, we introduce recent findings in our lab about “The role of MORC3 newly identified as MIWI2 binding partner in embryonic male germ cells”.
2. Establishment and applications of a dopa-decarboxylase (Ddc) fluorescent reporter mouse model
The brain is an essential organ of the body as it controls and coordinates our actions and reactions. However, its heterogeneity in cell population has made it a complex organ to study. The lack of a suitable approach in homogenous neural cell population isolation remains a challenge in studies such as epigenetics and gene expression. In this study, we addressed this issue by applying the novel knock-in mouse and demonstrated its potential with the two studies of genomic imprinting and synucleinopathy.
We established a dopa-decarboxylase (Ddc) fluorescence reporter mouse to detect and purify specific neural populations. For the genomic imprinting study, we confirmed that Ddc is a region-specific mono-allelic expression gene in the brain. In Parkinson’s disease study, we reported the first transcriptome of alpha-Synuclein accumulated dopaminergic neurons by improved FACS-based neural isolation protocol. The lipid-metabolic pathways followed by unfolded protein response pathways are activated during the alpha-synuclein accumulation. Notably, the expression of fatty acid binding protein 1 (FABP1) was increased in both mouse models and Parkinson’s disease patients. Our finding would help to understand the molecular mechanism and drug development of Parkinson’s disease.
