Natural Communication: In vivo epidermal migration requires focal adhesion targeting of ACF7

Recently, Professor Liang Hong and Yang Feng study group from Guangxi Normal University and Professor Wu Xiaoyang study group at the University of Chicago cooperated together to published a study entitled "In vivo epidermal migration requires focal adhesion targeting of ACF7" in the journal Natural Communication. The research paper clarifies an important molecular mechanism which regulates coordination of cell adhesion and cytoskeleton in the process of directional cellular movement, having important value for tissue repair, regeneration and tumor migration. The research involved in the use of many kinds of recombinant mouse proteins and recombinant rat proteins.

Cell migration is an essential life activity of cells and plays an important role in embryonic development, the formation of the nervous system, immune, tumor metastasis and wound healing process. There exists a class of proteins in mammals, which is a protein only in multicellular organisms and is widely expressed. They are special that they can be directly combined with the cytoskeleton and be cross-linked two cell skeletons. In mammals, ACF7 protein deficiencies will significantly inhibit cell migration and wound healing. ACF7 protein plays a key role in wound healing and skin migrations, which is related to its role in focal adhesion plaques. Focal adhesion turnover would allow cell retraction, which is essential for cell migration process. Mammalian protein ACF7 promotes the cross-linking of microtubule and actin and mediates microtubule to focal adhesion growth, thus contributing to the degradation of focal adhesion. However, how ACF7 facilitate this process is still unclear.

To solve these problems, the researchers resolved the crystal structure of the amino-terminal domain of ACF7. Structural analysis showed that the combination of ACF7 and microfilament is subject to Src / FAK kinase complex. Src / FAK kinases can phosphorylate a key tyrosine residue (Y-259) in ACF7 calponin homology (CH) domain. Use the epidermis as a model, the researchers further confirmed that ACF7 phosphorylation plays an integral role in focal adhesion dynamics and in vivo epidermal migration. This study describes an important signaling process in cell migration process, providing important information for understanding the molecular regulation of cell migration as well as its role in the processes of physiology and disease. The work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Flarebio provides recombinant proteins of good quality, such as recombinant Cdh6.