Functional characterization of ESRP1 and 2 in HNSCC.

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24791764
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Otorhinolaryngology
• Research Institution: University of Yamanashi
• Principal Investigator: ISHII Hiroki 山梨大学, 総合研究部, 助教 (40568250)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: ESRP1/2 / EMT / RNA splicing / Rac1b / dEF1/SIP1

Outline of Final Research Achievements

ESRP1 (epithelial splicing regulatory protein 1) and ESRP2 regulate alternative splicing events associated with EMT, and these proteins are down-regulated during EMT. We examined that expression of both ESRP1 and ESRP2 is plastic. During HNSCC carcinogenesis,both are up-regulated relative to their levels in normal epithelium but down-regulated in invasive fronts into stroma. In HNSCC cell lines, ESRP1 and ESRP2 suppress cell motility of HNSCC via distinct mechanisms: knockdown of ESRP1 affects the dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton via inducing Rac1b, whereas knockdown of ESRP2 represses cell-cell adhesion through increased expression of EMT-associated transcription factors. Down-regulation of ESRP1 and ESRP2 is thus closely associated with a motile phenotype of cancer cells

Free Research Field

頭頸部外科、腫瘍生物学