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

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 actin- based cytoskeletal elements.

[1]  D. Vestweber,et al.  Cell-adhesion molecule uvomorulin is localized in the intermediate junctions of adult intestinal epithelial cells , 1985, The Journal of cell biology.

[2]  M. Takeichi,et al.  Spatial and temporal expression pattern of N-cadherin cell adhesion molecules correlated with morphogenetic processes of chicken embryos. , 1987, Developmental biology.

[3]  B. Ephrussi,et al.  Alkaline phosphatase activity in mouse teratoma. , 1973, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[4]  G. Edelman,et al.  Linear organization of the liver cell adhesion molecule L-CAM. , 1984, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[5]  M. Takeichi,et al.  Expression of N-cadherin adhesion molecules associated with early morphogenetic events in chick development , 1986, Nature.

[6]  A. Nose,et al.  A novel cadherin cell adhesion molecule: its expression patterns associated with implantation and organogenesis of mouse embryos , 1986, The Journal of cell biology.

[7]  W. Birchmeier,et al.  Dissociation of Madin-Darby canine kidney epithelial cells by the monoclonal antibody anti-arc-1: mechanistic aspects and identification of the antigen as a component related to uvomorulin , 1985, The Journal of cell biology.

[8]  B. Geiger,et al.  A-CAM: a 135-kD receptor of intercellular adherens junctions. I. Immunoelectron microscopic localization and biochemical studies , 1986, The Journal of cell biology.

[9]  A. Long,et al.  A human cell line from a pleural effusion derived from a breast carcinoma. , 1973, Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

[10]  Y. Okada,et al.  A series of hybrid cells containing different ratios of parental chromosomes formed by two steps of artificial fusion. , 1971, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[11]  A. Nose,et al.  N-linked oligosaccharides are not involved in the function of a cell-cell binding glycoprotein E-cadherin. , 1986, Cell structure and function.

[12]  M. Takeichi,et al.  A monoclonal antibody disrupting calcium-dependent cell-cell adhesion of brain tissues: possible role of its target antigen in animal pattern formation. , 1985, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[13]  J. Enami,et al.  Isolation of an Insulin‐Responsive Preadipose Cell Line and a Mammary Tumor Virus‐Producing, Dome‐Forming Epithelial Cell Line from a Mouse Mammary Tumor , 1984, Development, growth & differentiation.

[14]  B. Geiger,et al.  Molecular heterogeneity of adherens junctions , 1985, The Journal of cell biology.

[15]  R. Hynes,et al.  Plakoglobin: A protein common to different kinds of intercellular adhering junctions , 1986, Cell.

[16]  E. Wulf,et al.  Fluorescent phallotoxin, a tool for the visualization of cellular actin. , 1979, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[17]  M. Takeichi,et al.  Functional correlation between cell adhesive properties and some cell surface proteins , 1977, The Journal of cell biology.

[18]  B. Geiger,et al.  Immunoelectron microscope studies of membrane-microfilament interactions: distributions of alpha-actinin, tropomyosin, and vinculin in intestinal epithelial brush border and chicken gizzard smooth muscle cells , 1981, The Journal of cell biology.

[19]  M. Schachner,et al.  Biochemically differentiated mouse glial lines carrying a nervous system specific cell surface antigen (NS-1). , 1975, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[20]  M. Takeichi,et al.  Selective adhesion of embryonal carcinoma cells and differentiated cells by Ca2+-dependent sites. , 1981, Developmental biology.

[21]  H. Ploegh,et al.  Uvomorulin: a nonintegral membrane protein of early mouse embryo. , 1983, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[22]  G. Magrane,et al.  Biochemical markers of the progress of differentiation in cloned teratocarcinoma cell lines. , 1977, European journal of biochemistry.

[23]  D. Solter,et al.  Identification and purification of a cell surface glycoprotein mediating intercellular adhesion in embryonic and adult tissue , 1983, Cell.

[24]  A. Deitch,et al.  ACTION OF CYTOCHALASIN D ON CELLS OF ESTABLISHED LINES , 1974, The Journal of cell biology.

[25]  G. Edelman,et al.  Characterization of L-CAM, a major cell adhesion molecule from embryonic liver cells. , 1983, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[26]  B. Geiger,et al.  A-CAM: a 135-kD receptor of intercellular adherens junctions. II. Antibody-mediated modulation of junction formation , 1986, The Journal of cell biology.

[27]  G. D. Johnson,et al.  A simple method of reducing the fading of immunofluorescence during microscopy. , 1981, Journal of immunological methods.