Functions of sulfotransferases and their signal transductions

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In this research project, we focused on the evaluation of physiological relevance of two kinds of orphan sulfotransferases (SULTs) such as SULT4A1 and SULT7A1 whose biochemical/physiological functions are unknown. RT-PCR and in situ hybridization analyses using zebrafish embryos revealed that SULT4A1 was specifically expressed in whole brain and spinal cord. These results indicate that SULT4A1 plays important roles in the early development of a nervous system of zebrafish embryos. On the other hand, detail characterization of mouse SULT7A1 demonstrated that SULT7A1 exhibited the specific sulfating activity toward cyclopentenone prostaglandins including PGA2 and 15-deoxy-delta-12,14-PGJ2 (15d-PGJ2), which were endogenous metabolites of PGE2 and PGD2, respectively, but not PGE2 and PGD2.These studies would encourage us to investigate additional biochemical characterization of these orphan SULTs in the pursuit of yet-to-be-defined function.