A protein discovered by scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill appears to play a key role in determining the shape of cells and allowing them to move.
The newly identified protein, palladin, is being explored for its influence on a number of biological processes including the invasive spread of cancer, wound healing, brain development, and the implantation of the embryo in the uterus.
"I think it may be critically involved in even more biological functions," said Carol A. Otey, PhD, assistant professor of cell and molecular physiology at UNC-CH School of Medicine.
A report of the discovery, co-authored by Mana M. Parast, PhD, of the University of Virginia, will be published in the August 7 issue on the Journal of Cell Biology.
Otey named the new protein after Andrea Palladio, the influential 16th century architect. Palladin appears to be very involved in the architecture of cells, specifically via the actin cytoskeleton, a polymer protein complex that provides much of the basis for cell shape.
"Cells have a shape that is related to their function," Otey explains. "A good example of specialized cell shape is the neuron. They must be very long and skinny to allow the nervous system to function. Another example is epithelial cells [including skin cells] which bind tightly to one another to form a continuous sheet."
According to Otey's findings, palladin belongs to a small group of cytoskeletal adhesion proteins that seem to provide molecular 'glue' for maintaining cellular shape and for the attachment of cells to one another via their plasma membranes. For example, fibroblasts are spindle-shaped cells involved in connective tissue, collagen formation and are also crucial to wound healing. In these cells, palladin is very concentrated near attachment points to the plasma membrane.
On the other hand, palladin is absent, not expressed, in some undifferentiated cells; that is, in cells which haven't
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Contact: Leslie H. Lang
llang@med.unc.edu
919-843-9687
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
6-Aug-2000