Japanese research team could identify the cause of polydactyly
[의학신문·일간보사=정우용 기자] Part of the mechanism by which humans have five fingers has been revealed.
The research team, including Nobudaka Hirokawa, a special researcher in molecular and cell biology at the University of Tokyo, Japan, paid attention to the research results that could help to elucidate the cause of congenital polydactyly, and published it on the Internet version of the American scientific journal ‘Developmental Cell’. The research paper was published on the 10th.
In living things, there are 45 kinds of proteins called ‘molecular motors’ that act as transporters of substances necessary for life activities. When the research team created an embryo of a mouse that did not sufficiently act on one of these, ‘KIF3’, it became a total of six toes, which are normally five each.
Each organ, such as fingers, is formed in the fetus because a protein called ‘Sonic Hedgehog’ (SHH) promotes differentiation. The research team investigated the action of KIF3 in detail and confirmed that KIF3 carries a protein like a switch that makes SHH act.
This mechanism is common to humans as well. In the meantime, in rat experiments, it was found that when the action of KIF3 was lowered, abnormalities in the left and right decisions of the body or schizophrenia symptoms appeared.
SHH is known to proliferate cells and to be involved in cancer exacerbation and tissue regeneration. The research team said, “We plan to use this achievement to treat a wide range of diseases, such as polydactyly and cancer.”