Integrated analysis of genomics and proteomics reveals that CKIP-1 is a novel macrophage migration regulator

Casein kinase-2 interacting protein-1 (CKIP-1) has been identified to play an important role in cell morphology, differentiation and apoptosis. However, the role of CKIP-1 in other cellular processes is still unknown. Here we investigated transcriptome profiles of WT and CKIP-1-deficient mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), and found that innate immunity and cell migration related pathways were significantly correlated with CKIP-1 expression. As macrophage is a key cell type in innate immunity, we then used murine macrophage RAW264.7 cells to discover CKIP-1 interacting proteins by immunoprecipitation/mass spectrometry (IP/MS). Analysis of these proteins revealed migration related pathways were enriched. Further experiments indicated that knockdown of CKIP-1 in RAW264.7 cells resulted in impaired cell migration. Our study suggests that CKIP-1 is a novel regulator of macrophage migration.