新学術領域研究
「ミクロからマクロへ階層を超える秩序形成」
テクニカルセミナー
Dr. Antonio J. Giraldez
Associate Professor
Genetics Department, Yale University
Regulation of gene expression during embryonic
development in zerbafish, lessons from microRNAs
11 月 20 日（火）18:00 – 19:00
東京大学・理学部 2 号館講堂（4F）
Embryonic development in all animals begins in after fertilization through the activity of
maternally deposited mRNAs and proteins in an embryo that is transcriptionally silent. At
specific time points in development, the zygotic genome becomes active and this leads to
the translational regulation and decay of the maternal mRNAs to undergo zygotic
development. We are interested in understanding the fundamental mechanisms of gene
regulation that govern the early stages of embryonic development. One fundamental layer
of regulation is provided by microRNAs (miRNAs). These small RNAs serve as posttranscriptional regulators of gene expression in animals and plants. About 4% of the
human genes code for miRNAs that are predicted to regulate one third of the
protein-coding genes. Despite their predicted roles as widespread regulators of gene
expression their functions remain largely unknown. To investigate the role of miRNAs
during vertebrate development we have generated zebrafish embryos mutant in the
miRNA-processing enzyme (Dicer, drosha and DGCR8). We are using these mutants and
the zebrafish model system to gain insights into the mechanism of miRNA regulation, the
machinery of miRNA processing and the physiological role of miRNA regulation during
early embryonic development.
お問い合わせ：武田洋幸（東大・院理・生科、03-5841-4431）