| FBA7 | |
| Project ID |  FBA7 [Protein] |
| Project Theme | Structural studies of the cell-cell junctional proteins |
| Project Theme (short) | Cell-cell junction proteins |
| Principal Investigator | Toshiaki Sakisaka |
| Affiliation | Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe University |
| Backgrounds | - Organs and tissues are composed of an ensemble of cells bound together with cell junction - Two types cell junctions, adherens junction and tight junction, consist of cell adhesion molecules and other various protein complexes - Impaired cell junction has been suggested as a cause of several diseases including cancers |
| Highlights | - The structures of extracellular domains of cell adhesion molecule nectins have been determined - We have been able to visualize the reconstituted adhesion structure using nectins - The maintenance mechanism of tight junction amounts has been revealed |
| Outline | Organs and tissues are composed of an ensemble of cells bound together with cell junction which consists of cell adhesion molecules and other various protein complexes. Cell junctions are especially abundant in epithelial tissues where adherens junction and tight junction provide contact between neighboring cells. Major cell adhesion molecules are cadherins and nectins for adherence junction and claudins for tight junction, respectively. In addition to cell adhesion function, cell junction is implicated in cell movement, cell proliferation and cell death. Therefore, impaired cell junction has been suggested as a cause of several diseases. In this project, we analyze structures of cell-cell junctional proteins, protein complexes, and membrane domains with NMR, X-ray crystallography, and cryo-electron microscopy. Emphasis is on cell junctions of epithelial cells, endothelial cells and nerve cells. |
| Review | Dev. Growth Differ. Annu. Rev. Cell Dev. Biol. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. Curr. Top. Dev. Biol. Proc. Jpn. Acad., Ser. B, Phys. Biol. Sci. Int Rev Cell Mol Biol |
| CSML File | FBA7.csml |