Regulation of directional movement during leukocyte chemotaxis by cell polarity proteins

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24590385
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Pathological medical chemistry
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: KAMAKURA Sachiko 九州大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 助教 (80398081)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: ケモタキシス / 好中球

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Cell movement directed by a gradient of a diffusible chemoattractant is known as chemotaxis, which plays a vital role in developmental morphogenesis and immune responses. Neutrophilic leukocytes, crucial for host defense, move toward the source of chemoattractants, which are derived from invading microbes and/or produced by infected hosts, thereby arriving correctly at sites of infection for pathogen killing. Although neutrophil chemotaxis requires not only increased motility but also directional movement, molecular mechanisms for directionality control have remained largely unknown. We have shown that Inscuteable protein regulates directionality of chemotaxing neutrophils by tethering chemoattractant-elicited trimeric-Gi-protein signaling to an evolutionarily-conserved Par-polarity-protein complex.

Free Research Field

医歯薬学