ROLE OF THE ERP29 IN MIGRATION, APOPTOSIS AND PROLIFERATION IN BONE MARROW STEM CELLS

Abstract

Endoplasmic Reticulum protein-29 (ERp29) is a novel endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperone protein that plays an important role in the unfolding and guide of secretory proteins. In this thesis, the roles of ERp29 in regulating cell migration, apoptosis and proliferation were investigated. After knockdown of ERp29, wound healing ability of BMSCs was remarkably down-regulated. And the quantitative analysis further confirmed the reduction of cell migration. Meanwhile, the expression of Par3 and Par6, the Par polarity complex protein, was largely reduced in both mRNA and protein levels in ERp29-silencing BMSCs, indicating that ERp29 might directly mediate the Par6-Cdc42-Par3 pathway therefore regulate the cell migration. Evidence also showed that cell apoptosis was highly increased after ERp29 silencing, which suggested that ERp29 might play an important role in regulation of cell apoptosis in BMSCs. In addition, cell proliferation assay demonstrated the reduction of cell proliferation after ERp29 knockdown, however without statistical significance.