NEWS
POSTED
2022.04.28
DIVISION
TITLE
Professor Takahiro Sakagami (Faculty College of Science and Engineering), in collaboration with the National Institute of Genetics, has discovered a physical law governing gene movement: "a mathematical formula that describes the movement of chromosomes within a cell."
Professor Takahiro Sakagami (Department of Physical College of Science and Engineering, Department of Physical Sciences of Science and Engineering), in collaboration with the National Institute of Genetics, has discovered a physical law governing gene movement: "a mathematical formula that describes the movement of chromosomes within a cell." The research findings were published in the American scientific journal "Physical Review Letters" on April 27, 2022 (Wednesday) (Japan time).
Life phenomena involve complex, multi-stage reactions, making it seem difficult to express them with simple mathematical formulas. On the other hand, scientists have discovered that seemingly completely different natural phenomena can be described with common, simple mathematical formulas. For example, in the field of polymer physics, it has been shown that even materials made of different materials, such as rubber and nylon fibers, can have their properties described with similar mathematical formulas if they share the common characteristic of being "string-like."
A research group consisting of Professor Akira Kimura of the National Institute of Genetics, National Organization of Informatics, Ms. Aiya Yesbolatova (graduate student at the Graduate University for Advanced Studies), researcher Ritsuko Arai (currently at Fukushima Medical University), and Professor Takahiro Sakagami of Aoyama Gakuin University has succeeded in expressing the complex biological phenomenon of "chromosome behavior" within cells using mathematical formulas based on the theory of polymer physics. Notably, despite chromosomes being complex structures composed of DNA, various proteins, and RNA, their movement can be described by simple mathematical formulas similar to those used for the movement of "string-like" molecules such as rubber. This research is expected to advance our physical understanding of biological phenomena.
This research was conducted as a planned research project under the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research Area Proposal Type) "Chromatin Potential as the Basis of Gene Regulation" (FY2018-FY2022), through close collaboration between physicists and biologists that transcended their respective fields.
【诲别迟补颈濒】
? Paper title: Formulation of chromatin mobility as a function of nuclear size during C. elegans embryogenesis using polymer physics theories.
(Formulation of chromatin movement in nematode embryo development that depends on nuclear size, using polymer physics theory)
?Authors: Aiya K. Yesbolatova, Ritsuko Arai, *Takahiro Sakaue, and *Akatsuki Kimura. *Corresponding authors
(K. Aiya Yesboratova, Ritsuko Arai, Takahiro Sakagami, Akira Kimura)
?DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.178101
