Molecular mechanism of the stiffness change of catch connective tissue

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23570092
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Animal physiology/Animal behavior
• Research Institution: Tokyo Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: TAMORI Masaki 東京工業大学, 生命理工学研究科, 助教 (50236767)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): YAMADA Akira 独立行政法人情報通信研究機構, 未来ICT研究所, 主任研究員 (80359075)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-28 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 生理学 / 動物

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The holothurian body wall dermis is a catch connective tissue which changes its stiffness in response to stimulation. Substances which soften the dermis by working directly on its extracellular matrix had been unkown. We purified a softening protein from the dermis of a sea cucumber Stichopus chloronotus whose dermis dramatically softens in response to strong mechanical stimulation. We named this protein softenin. The apparent molecular mass of softenin is 20 kDa. Softenin softened the fresh dermis which contained living cells. The protein also softed the dermis whose cells had been disrupted. This result suggests that softenin softens the dermis by working directly on the extracellular matrix of the catch connective tissue.

Free Research Field

動物生理学