REGULATION OF CELL ADHESION BY CYTOSKELETON

黏附连接和桥粒是钙粘附素介导的细胞黏附的部位，肌动蛋白细丝和10 nm细丝分别通过发达的质膜底膜与质膜紧密结合。本课题组主要研究了钙粘蛋白/钙粘蛋白样蛋白和黏附连接/桥粒底层的肌动蛋白细丝/10 nm细丝之间的分子联系，以了解这些黏附构成蛋白在细胞黏附调节和信号转导中的功能。(1)筑下正一郎成功地建立了细胞间黏附连接的分离程序。(2)武伊正志分析了钙粘附素的结构和功能。(3)石田正弘阐明了桥粒的精细结构。(4)久津明弘分析了黏附分子的动态行为。(5)筑下幸子鉴定了c-黏附分子。(6)Katsushi Owaribe成功地建立了半桥粒的分离程序。(7)北岛康夫分析了一些人类皮肤病中的黏附分子。(8)西村幸二阐明了黏附分子与细胞骨架之间的直接相互作用。(9)谷口顺一发现癌细胞中肌动蛋白的异常表达。

The adherens junction and desmosome are the sites for cadherin-mediated cell adhesion where actin filaments and 10nm filaments, respectively, are densely associated with the plasma membrane through its well-developed plasmalemmal undercoat. This group has focused on the molecular linkage between cadherins/cadherin-like proteins and actin filaments/10nm filaments in the undercoat of adherens junctions/desmosomes towards the understanding of the functions of these undercoat-constitutive proteins in the regulation and signal transduction of cadherin-based cell adhesion.(1) Shoichiro Tsukita succeeded in establishing the isolation procedure for cell-to-cell adherens junctions.(2) Masatoshi Takeich analyzed the structure and functions of cadherins.(3) Masato Shida clarified the fine structure of desmosomes.(4) Akihiro Kusumi analyzed the dynamic behavior of adhesion molecules.(5) Sachiko Tsukita identified c-yes and c-src kinases in cell-to-cell adherens junctions.(6) Katsushi Owaribe succeeded in establishing the isolation procedure for hemidesmosomes.(7) Yasuo Kitajima analyzed adhesion molecules in some human skin diseases.(8) Kouji Nishimura clarified the direct interaction between adhesion molecules and cytoskeletons in human leukocytes.(9) Shunichirou Taniguchi found the abnormal expression of actin in cancer cells.