Cell and Developmental Biology: Structure-function analyses of cell adhesion molecules, mechanism of signal transduction triggered by cell adhesion, and the relationship of cell-cell binding during development of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum .

Project 1: Unconventional protein targeting mechanism involved in the transport of the soluble cell adhesion molecule DdCAD-1 for membrane presentation and secretion by contractile vacuoles.

Project 2: Involvement of cell adhesion molecules in complex social behavior of Dictyostelium during morphogenesis, such as the "green beard" and "anti-green beard" behavior of cadA , tgrB1 , and tgrC1 genes.

Project 3: Mechanisms involved in the heterophilic interactions between TgrB1 and TgrC1 and their dynamic assembly process. Identification and characterization of their cytoplasmic binding proteins in order to elucidate downstream signaling events that regulate cell fate determination.

1.Qi, J., Wang, J., Romanyuk, O., and Siu, C.-H. (2006) Involvement of Src family kinases in N-cadherin phosphorylation and ß-catenin dissociation during transendothelial migration of melanoma cells. Mol. Biol. Cell. 17:1261-1272.

2. Lin, Z., Sriskanthadevan, S., Huang, H., Siu, C.-H., and Yang, D. (2006) Solution structures of the adhesion molecule DdCAD-1 reveal new insights into Ca2+-dependent cell-cell adhesion. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 13:1016-1022.

3. Sriskanthadevan S., Lee, T., Lin, Z., Yang, D., and Siu, C.-H. (2009) Cell adhesion molecule DdCAD-1 is imported into contractile vacuoles by membrane invagination in a Ca 2+ - and conformation-dependent manner. J. Biol. Chem . 284:36377-36386.

4. Siu, C.-H, Sriskanthadevan, S., Wang, J., Hou, L., Chen, G., Xu, X., Thomson, A., and Yang, C. (2011) Regulation of spatiotemporal expression of cell-cell adhesion molecules during development of Dictyostelium discoideum. Development, Growth and Differentiation 53:518-527.

5. Sriskanthadevan , S. Zhu, Y., Manoharan, K., Yang, C., and Siu, C.-H. (2011) The cell adhesion molecule DdCAD-1 regulates morphogenesis through differential spatiotemporal expression in Dictyostelium discoideum. Development 138:2487-2497.

Publications on PubMed.