Calcium-dependent cell-cell adhesion molecules (cadherins): subclass specificities and possible involvement of actin bundles.

Abstract

Abstract. Cadherins are a family of cell-cell adhesion molecules and are divided into subclasses with distinct adhesive specificities and tissue distribution. Here we examined the distribution of cadherins at contact sites between cells expressing the same or different cadherin subclasses. Each cadherin was concentrated at the boundary between cells expressing an identical cadherin subclass, irrespective of the cell types connected. However, such localization decreased or disappeared at the boundary between cells containing different cadherin subclasses. We also found that the localization of cadherins precisely coincided with that of actin bundles; both were detected at the apical region of cell sheets. This co-localization was retained even after cells were either treated with cytochalasin D or extracted with the detergent NP40. These results suggest that each cadherin subclass preferentially interacts with its own molecular type at intercellular boundaries, and that cadherin molecules may be associated with actinbased cytoskeletal elements.

Blockade of cadherin‐6B activity perturbs the distribution of PSD‐95 family proteins in retinal neurones

“…Detergent extraction of cells was carried out according to Hirano et al (1987). In brief, cells were incubated with 0.5% NP-40 in Hepes-buffered (pH 7.4) saline containing 1 mM Ca 2 for 30 min on ice before ®xation, and then immunostained as described above.…”

N‐cadherin transcripts in Xenopus laevis from early tailbud to tadpole

“…The binding specificity of cadherins is determined by a restricted region of the amino terminal part of the molecule (Nose et al, 1990). The cytoplasmic domain also appears to be essential for cadherin function through its capacity to interact with appropriate cytoskeletal molecules such as catenins and fodrin Ozawa et al, 1989;Hirano et al, 1987, Mc Neil1 et al, 1990. However, one cadherin has been shown to be anchored to the plasma membrane by a glycosyl-phosphatidyl inositol (Ranscht and Dours-Zimmerman, 1991) and to be nevertheless capable of mediating cell adhesion.…”

Diversity of the cadherin family: evidence for eight new cadherins in nervous tissue.

“…On the other hand, the amino acid sequence of the cytoplasmic domain is highly conserved among the cadherins, suggesting that this region serves an important shared function. Recent molecular biological experiments have shown that this domain is essential for cell adhesion activity , and it is likely that it exerts this effect through interacting with cytoskeletat proteins (Hirano et aL, 1987;Nagafuchi and Takeichi, 1989;Ozawa et al, 1989).…”