| Budget Amount *help |
¥5,590,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,290,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
Fiscal Year 2012: ¥2,210,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥510,000)
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Melanin helps protect human beings from harmful ultra-violet exposure, but the excess production of melanin causes skin stains and freckles, therefore regulating the amount of melanin in skin is essential for maintaining quality of life. Melanocytes are known as melanin-producing cells and activated upon UV stimulation to transfer melanosomes that contain melanin toward the neighboring keratinocytes and hair matrix cells. This research demonstrated that one of the guanine nucleotide exchange factors, named Varp, activates Rab21 to elongate melanocytic dendrites, which facilitates the transfer of melanin from melanocytes to neighboring keratinocytes.
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