The role of BACE2 palmitoylation on melanosome maturation

• Project/Area Number: 15K21148
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Dermatology; Ophthalmology
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: Niki Yoko 神戸大学, バイオシグナル総合研究センター, バイオシグナル研究員 (60633617)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2016)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,510,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥810,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥1,950,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥450,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000)
• Keywords: メラノソーム / パルミトイル化 / BACE2

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Melanosome (MS) is a pigment cell specific cellular organelle. In this study I aimed to understand the effect of palmitoylation on the formation of PMEL17 and MS maturation. BACE2 which is the processing enzyme of PMEL17 was palmitoylated in pigment cells. However, the inhibition of palmitoylation did not affect the expression level of BACE2, but increased the expression level of PMEL17 protein. The results showed that PMEL17 was palmitoylated. From the above results, it was suggested that palmitoylation of PMEL17 may be involved rather than BACE 2, which was originally expected for PMEL17 and MS maturation.