Budget Amount *help |
¥4,030,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥930,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥2,990,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥690,000)
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Outline of Final Research Achievements |
To study the function of EPPK, we developed EPPK knock-down (KD) and EPPK-overexpressing HeLa cells and analyzed cellular phenotypes and motility. Cellular motility of EPPK-KD cells was significantly elevated, but that of EPPK-overexpressing cells was obviously depressed. Many spike-like projections were observed on EPPK-KD cells, with fewer such structures on overexpressing cells. By contrast, in EPPK-KD cells, expression of E-cadherin was unchanged but vimentin fibers were thinner and sparser than in controls, and they were more concentrated at the peri-nucleus, as observed in migrating keratinocytes at wound edges in EPPK-/- mice. In Matrigel 3-D cultures, EPPK co-localized on the outer surface of cell clusters with zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), a marker of tight junctions. Our results suggest that EPPK is associated with the machinery for cellular motility and contributes to tissue architecture via the rearrangement of intermediate filaments.
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