Calgranulin B is known to be involved in
tumor development, but the underlying molecular mechanism is not clear. To gain insight into possible roles of
calgranulin B, we screened for
calgranulin B-interacting molecules in the SNU-484
gastric cancer and the SNU-81
colon cancer cells.
Calgranulin B-interacting partners were identified by yeast two-hybrid and functional information was obtained by computational analysis. Most of the
calgranulin B-interacting partners were involved in metabolic and cellular processes, and found to have molecular function of binding and catalytic activities. Interestingly, 46 molecules in the network of the
calgranulin B-interacting
proteins are known to be associated with
cancer and FKBP2 was found to interact with
calgranulin B in both SNU-484 and SNU-81 cells.
Polyubiquitin-C encoded by UBC, which exhibited an interaction with
calgranulin B, has been associated with various molecules of the extracellular space and plasma membrane identified in our screening, including
Na-K-Cl cotransporter 1 and
dystonin in SNU-484 cells, and
ATPase subunit beta-1 in SNU-81 cells. Our data provide novel insight into the roles of
calgranulin B of
gastrointestinal cancer cells, and offer new clues suggesting
calgranulin B acts as an effector molecule through which the cell can communicate with the tumor microenvironment via
polyubiquitin-C.