Epiplakin deficiency aggravates murine caerulein-induced acute pancreatitis and favors the formation of acinar keratin granules.

ABSTRACT: Epiplakin, a member of the plakin protein family, is exclusively expressed in epithelial tissues and was shown to bind to keratins. Epiplakin-deficient (EPPK-/-) mice showed no obvious spontaneous phenotype, however, EPPK-/- keratinocytes displayed faster keratin network breakdown in response to stress. The role of epiplakin in pancreas, a tissue with abundant keratin expression, was not yet known. We analyzed epiplakin's expression in healthy and inflamed pancreatic tissue and compared wild-type and EPPK-/- mice during caerulein-induced acute pancreatitis. We found that epiplakin was expressed primarily in ductal cells of the pancreas and colocalized with apicolateral keratin bundles in murine pancreatic acinar cells. Epiplakin's diffuse subcellular localization in keratin filament-free a

SUBMITTER: Wogenstein KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4169488 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature