Mechanism of apical-basal polarity formation in epithelial cells

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15KT0086
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 特設分野
• Research Field: Constructive Systems Biology
• Research Institution: The University of Tokushima
• Principal Investigator: YONEMURA Shigenobu 徳島大学, 大学院医歯薬学研究部(医学系), 教授 (60192811)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 柴田 達夫 国立研究開発法人理化学研究所, 生命システム研究センター, チームリーダー (10359888)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-07-10 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 上皮細胞 / 上皮極性 / 細胞間接着 / 定量生物学 / 細胞外基質 / 網羅的スクリーニング / RNAi

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Epithelial cell sheets form compartments that discriminate outer and inner environments and the apical-basal polarity of the epithelial cell is essential for the function. The mechanism of the formation and maintenance of the polarity, however, has not been fully understood. We made a basis for constructing a model that explains how the polarity is formed by quantitative measurements of protein amount along the cell cortex under normal or experimental conditions. Models containing the role of cell-cell and cell-substrate adhesions are under consideration. We also tried to identify important genes for polarity formation from genom-wide screening. After development of effective methods for measurement and analysis, we performed RNAi screening using more than 15,000 human genes. The results contained not only genes already reported but also new genes which involvement appears to be intriguing.

Free Research Field

細胞生物学