Institute for Frontier Science Initiative Interdisciplinary Seminar "Amino Acid Homeostasis in Drosophila via Excretion"

Event Details

Amino acids are the basic building blocks of living organisms, and maintaining a constant amount of amino acids in the body is essential for maintaining physiological functions. The mechanism of adaptation to the nutritional environment by changing food intake and metabolic status has been widely studied. On the other hand, the role of excretion, which is the "outlet" of ingested nutrients, in amino acid homeostasis in the body has not been fully investigated. Ayano Ooi, a postdoctoral fellow at the RIKEN Center for Bioscience and Biotechnology, used Drosophila, which is easy to manipulate nutritionally and genetically, to analyze the effects of protein intake on excretory amino acid levels in her study "Amino Acid Homeostasis in Drosophila via Excretion. We established our own method for quantifying amino acids in excretion and observed a rapid and significant change in excretion in response to the protein concentration in the diet. Tissue-specific genetic manipulations revealed that the excretory organ, the tubule (Malpighian tubule), is important for amino acid homeostasis, and we further analyzed the excretory mechanism.

In this seminar, Dr. Oi will discuss the role of excretion in nutritional adaptation based on the data obtained so far. We sincerely look forward to your participation.

Contact

Professor Takayuki Kuraishi (Ext. 4423)  Microbiome Research Unit, Next Generation Medical Innovation Research Core, Institute for Frontier Science Initiative, Kanazawa University