| Budget Amount *help |
¥46,930,000 (Direct Cost: ¥36,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥10,830,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥10,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥8,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥2,400,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥10,140,000 (Direct Cost: ¥7,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥2,340,000)
Fiscal Year 2012: ¥26,390,000 (Direct Cost: ¥20,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥6,090,000)
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
There exist many macroscopic structures with sizes greater than 500 nm in the plasma membrane, which perform various important functions. In this study, we were interested in two macroscopic structures, the focal adhesion and the synapse. We examined and compared their fine structures and the regulation mechanisms for the formation-disintegration of their constituent molecules, using world-leading single-molecule imaging-tracking for live cells developed by us previously. Our results indicate that these structures are not single entities of massive protein assemblies as previously assumed, but largely consist of the fluid membrane dotted by protein islands of sizes less than 100 nm in diameter, which we call archipelago architectures. The channels (fluid membrane part) between the islands were found to be compartmentalized by the actin membrane skeleton, like the bulk region of the plasma membrane.
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