EAPSI:Understanding the Genetic and Protein Dynamics Involved in the Seasonally Breeding Japanese Macaque

EAPSI：了解季节性繁殖的日本猕猴的遗传和蛋白质动态

• 批准号: 1613869
• 负责人: Cody Ruiz
• 金额: $ 0.54万
• 依托单位: Ruiz Cody A
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-06-15 至 2017-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1613869&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAPSI; Understanding; Genetic; Protein; Dynamics

Research that works to enhance the understanding of the genes, proteins, and processes involved in primate reproduction is important for shaping both evolutionary and biomedical knowledge. This award supports research to examine the Japanese macaque as a primate model for gamete production, with emphasis on the genetic and protein dynamics involved in its seasonal-breeding ability. Male Japanese macaques shut down reproductive functions in the birthing season and resume function in the breeding season, challenging previous thinking that gamete production was highly conserved across mammals. Recent research has shown differences in genetic and molecular dynamics between rodent and primate models. This emphasizes the need to develop primate models, which are more closely related to humans, in order to make more accurate extrapolations to human reproductive biology. This project will be conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Hirohisa Hirai, a noted molecular biologist and primatologist, at the Primate Research Institute (PRI) in Inuyama, Japan, home to extensive collections of preserved Japanese macaque tissue which will be invaluable to this research.Previous research has focused on the hormonal and cellular pathways involved in the suppression of testicular function in Japanese macaques, but the underlying genetic and molecular mechanisms remain elusive. The project will focus on three potential mechanisms: i) the quiescence of sperm proliferation, ii) apoptosis in the testes, and iii) stage-specific cessation of sperm production. Testis tissue collected from males in both the breeding and birthing seasons will be analyzed for spermatogenesis genes, germ cell markers, and epigenetic states using RT-PCR. Then, the researcher will use HE-staining and immunofluorescence microscopy to gain a clear spatiotemporal understanding about the dynamics of primate reproduction. This award under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).

致力于增强对灵长类动物生殖过程中所涉及的基因、蛋白质和过程的理解的研究对于形成进化和生物医学知识都很重要。 该奖项支持研究日本猕猴作为配子生产的灵长类动物模型，重点是其季节性繁殖能力所涉及的遗传和蛋白质动态。 雄性日本猕猴在出生季节关闭生殖功能，在繁殖季节恢复功能，挑战了以前认为配子产生在哺乳动物中高度保守的想法。最近的研究表明，啮齿动物和灵长类动物模型之间的遗传和分子动力学差异。 这强调了开发与人类关系更密切的灵长类动物模型的必要性，以便对人类生殖生物学做出更准确的推断。 该项目将在日本犬山灵长类动物研究所（PRI）著名的分子生物学家和灵长类动物学家Hirohisa Hirai博士的指导下进行，该研究所拥有大量保存的日本猕猴组织，这些组织对本研究非常宝贵。以前的研究集中在日本猕猴睾丸功能抑制中涉及的激素和细胞途径，但潜在的遗传和分子机制仍然难以捉摸。 该项目将集中在三个潜在的机制：i）精子增殖的静止，ii）睾丸中的细胞凋亡，iii）精子生产的阶段特异性停止。 将使用RT-PCR分析在繁殖和出生季节从雄性收集的睾丸组织的精子发生基因、生殖细胞标志物和表观遗传状态。 然后，研究人员将使用HE染色和免疫荧光显微镜来获得对灵长类动物生殖动态的清晰时空理解。 东亚和太平洋夏季研究所计划下的该奖项支持美国研究生的夏季研究，由NSF和日本科学促进协会（JSPS）共同资助。