Construction of epithelial cell barriers through epithelial cell-dendritic cell crosstalk and its application to periodontal disease.

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K16935
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 57010:Oral biological science-related
• Research Institution: Iwate Medical University
• Principal Investigator: Ikezaki Shojiro 岩手医科大学, 歯学部, 講師 (00849276)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 付着上皮 / セマフォリン / 上皮細胞 / 免疫細胞

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Periodontal disease is an inflammatory disease of periodontal tissues caused by periodontal pathogens, and junctional epithelium is involved in the defense mechanism. In this study, we focused on the mechanism of maintenance of the intercellular adhesion apparatus of junctional epithelium and investigated the effect of semaphorin (Sema). First, we established a mouse junctional epithelial cell line, mHAT-JE01, and confirmed that gene expression of occludin and Sema4A increased when co-cultured with mouse dendritic cells. Furthermore, we created junctional epithelial sheets and measured transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER), and found that the TEER value decreased in Rho kinase inhibition experiments. These results suggest that the junctional epithelium may autocrine-activate Sema4A to maintain the epithelial barrier.

Free Research Field

口腔組織・発生学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

付着上皮は歯肉において、外部環境からの異物侵入の障壁となる重要な構造である。この研究課題内で樹立した付着上皮細胞株は、細胞培養による歯周炎・付着上皮研究が発展するのに役立つと考えられる。また、実験結果から、免疫細胞である樹状細胞の新たな役割として付着上皮のバリア向上への関与が考えられた。現在の歯周病予防は、細菌要因・環境要因に重点を置いたものであるが、上皮細胞・免疫細胞にフォーカスした新たなアプローチの開発につながる研究である。