scholarly journals Neuroglian-mediated cell adhesion induces assembly of the membrane skeleton at cell contact sites.

1996 ◽  
Vol 133 (3) ◽  
pp. 647-655 ◽  
Author(s):  
R R Dubreuil ◽  
G MacVicar ◽  
S Dissanayake ◽  
C Liu ◽  
D Homer ◽  
...  

The protein ankyrin links integral membrane proteins to the spectrin-based membrane skeleton. Ankyrin is often concentrated within restricted membrane domains of polarized epithelia and neurons, but the mechanisms responsible for membrane targeting and its segregation within a continuous lipid bilayer remain unexplained. We provide evidence that neuroglian, a cell adhesion molecule related to L1 and neurofascin, can transmit positional information directly to ankyrin and thereby polarize its distribution in Drosophila S2 tissue culture cells. Ankyrin was not normally associated with the plasma membrane of these cells. Upon expression of an inducible neuroglian minigene, however, cells aggregated into large clusters and ankyrin became concentrated at sites of cell-cell contact. Spectrin was also recruited to sites of cell contact in response to neuroglian expression. The accumulation of ankyrin at cell contacts required the presence of the cytoplasmic domain of neuroglian since a glycosyl phosphatidylinositol-linked form of neuroglian failed to recruit ankyrin to sites of cell-cell contact. Double-labeling experiments revealed that, whereas ankyrin was strictly associated with sites of cell-cell contact, neuroglian was more broadly distributed over the cell surface. A direct interaction between neuroglian and ankyrin was demonstrated using yeast two-hybrid analysis. Thus, neuroglian appears to be activated by extracellular adhesion so that ankyrin and the membrane skeleton selectively associate with sites of cell contact and not with other regions of the plasma membrane.

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 467-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Gauvin ◽  
Lorna E. Young ◽  
Henry N. Higgs

FMNL3 is a vertebrate-specific formin protein previously shown to play a role in angiogenesis and cell migration. Here we define the cellular localization of endogenous FMNL3, the dynamics of GFP-tagged FMNL3 during cell migration, and the effects of FMNL3 suppression in mammalian culture cells. The majority of FMNL3 localizes in a punctate pattern, with >95% of these puncta being indistinguishable from the plasma membrane by fluorescence microscopy. A small number of dynamic cytoplasmic FMNL3 patches also exist, which enrich near cell–cell contact sites and fuse with the plasma membrane at these sites. These cytoplasmic puncta appear to be part of larger membranes of endocytic origin. On the plasma membrane, FMNL3 enriches particularly in filopodia and membrane ruffles and at nascent cell–cell adhesions. FMNL3-containing filopodia occur both at the cell–substratum interface and at cell–cell contacts, with the latter being 10-fold more stable. FMNL3 suppression by siRNA has two major effects: decrease in filopodia and compromised cell–cell adhesion in cells migrating as a sheet. Overall our results suggest that FMNL3 functions in assembly of actin-based protrusions that are specialized for cell–cell adhesion.


2005 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 2168-2180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Causeret ◽  
Nicolas Taulet ◽  
Franck Comunale ◽  
Cyril Favard ◽  
Cécile Gauthier-Rouvière

Cadherins are homophilic cell-cell adhesion molecules implicated in cell growth, differentiation, and organization into tissues during embryonic development. They accumulate at cell-cell contact sites and act as adhesion-activated signaling receptors. Here, we show that the dynamic assembly of N-cadherin at cell-cell contacts involves lipid rafts. In C2C12 myoblasts, immunofluorescence and biochemical experiments demonstrate that N-cadherin present at cell-cell contacts is colocalized with lipid rafts. Disruption of lipid rafts leads to the inhibition of cell-cell adhesion and disorganization of N-cadherin–dependent cell-cell contacts without modifying the association of N-cadherin with catenins and its availability at the plasma membrane. Fluorescent recovery after photobleaching experiments demonstrate that at the dorsal plasma membrane, lipid rafts are not directly involved in the diffusional mobility of N-cadherin. In contrast, at cell-cell junctions N-cadherin association with lipid rafts allows its stabilization enabling the formation of a functional adhesive complex. We show that lipid rafts, as homophilic interaction and F-actin association, stabilize cadherin-dependent adhesive complexes. Homophilic interactions and F-actin association of N-cadherin are both required for its association to lipid rafts. We thus identify lipid rafts as new regulators of cadherin-mediated cell adhesion.


1990 ◽  
Vol 110 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
W J Nelson ◽  
E M Shore ◽  
A Z Wang ◽  
R W Hammerton

Cell-cell contact is an important determinant in the formation of functionally distinct plasma membrane domains during the development of epithelial cell polarity. In cultures of Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) epithelial cells, cell-cell contact induces the assembly and accumulation of the Na+,K+-ATPase and elements of the membrane-cytoskeleton (ankyrin and fodrin) at the regions of cell-cell contact. Epithelial cell-cell contact appears to be regulated by the cell adhesion molecule uvomorulin (E-cadherin) which also becomes localized at the lateral plasma membrane of polarized cells. We have sought to determine whether the colocalization of these proteins reflects direct molecular interactions which may play roles in coordinating cell-cell contact and the assembly of the basal-lateral domain of the plasma membrane. Recently, we identified a complex of proteins containing the Na+,K+-ATPase, ankyrin, and fodrin in extracts of whole MDCK cells (Nelson, W.J., and R. W. Hammerton. 1989. J. Cell Biol. 108:893-902). We have now examined cell extracts for protein complexes containing the cell adhesion molecule uvomorulin. Proteins were solubilized from whole MDCK cells and fractionated in sucrose gradients. The sedimentation profile of solubilized uvomorulin is well separated from the majority of cell surface proteins, suggesting that uvomorulin occurs in a protein complex. A distinct portion of uvomorulin (30%) cosediments with ankyrin and fodrin (approximately 10.5S). Further fractionation of cosedimenting proteins in nondenaturing polyacrylamide gels reveals a discrete band of proteins that binds antibodies specific for uvomorulin, Na+,K+-ATPase, ankyrin, and fodrin. Significantly, ankyrin and fodrin, but not Na+K+-ATPase, coimmunoprecipitate in a complex with uvomorulin using uvomorulin antibodies. This result indicates that separate complexes exist containing ankyrin and fodrin with either uvomorulin or Na+,K+-ATPase. These results are discussed in the context of the possible roles of uvomorulin-induced cell-cell contact in the assembly of the membrane-cytoskeleton and associated membrane proteins (e.g., Na+,K+-ATPase) at the contact zone and in the development of cell polarity.


1997 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 1933-1942 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald R. Dubreuil ◽  
Pratumtip Boontrakulpoontawee Maddux ◽  
Tanya A. Grushko ◽  
Gary R. Macvicar

Spectrin isoforms are often segregated within specialized plasma membrane subdomains where they are thought to contribute to the development of cell surface polarity. It was previously shown that ankyrin and β spectrin are recruited to sites of cell–cell contact in Drosophila S2 cells expressing the homophilic adhesion molecule neuroglian. Here, we show that neuroglian has no apparent effect on a second spectrin isoform (αβH), which is constitutively associated with the plasma membrane in S2 cells. Another membrane marker, the Na,K-ATPase, codistributes with ankyrin and αβ spectrin at sites of neuroglian-mediated contact. The distributions of these markers in epithelial cells in vivo are consistent with the order of events observed in S2 cells. Neuroglian, ankyrin, αβ spectrin, and the Na,K-ATPase colocalize at the lateral domain of salivary gland cells. In contrast, αβHspectrin is sorted to the apical domain of salivary gland and somatic follicle cells. Thus, the two spectrin isoforms respond independently to positional cues at the cell surface: in one case an apically sorted receptor and in the other case a locally activated cell–cell adhesion molecule. The results support a model in which the membrane skeleton behaves as a transducer of positional information within cells.


1995 ◽  
Vol 131 (2) ◽  
pp. 465-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
J P Doyle ◽  
J G Stempak ◽  
P Cowin ◽  
D R Colman ◽  
D D'Urso

Protein zero (P(o)) is the immunoglobulin gene superfamily glycoprotein that mediates the self-adhesion of the Schwann cell plasma membrane that yields compact myelin. HeLa is a poorly differentiated carcinoma cell line that has lost characteristic morphological features of the cervical epithelium from which it originated. Normally, HeLa cells are not self-adherent. However, when P(o) is artificially expressed in this line, cells rapidly aggregate, and P(o) concentrates specifically at cell-cell contact sites. Rows of desmosomes are generated at these interfaces, the plasma membrane localization of cingulin and ZO-1, proteins that have been shown to be associated with tight junctions, is substantially increased, and cytokeratins coalesce into a cohesive intracellular network. Immunofluorescence patterns for the adherens junction proteins N-cadherin, alpha-catenin, and vinculin, and the desmosomal polypeptides desmoplakin, desmocollin, and desmoglein, are also markedly enhanced at the cell surface. Our data demonstrate that obligatory cell-cell adhesion, which in this case is initially brought about by the homophilic association of P(o) molecules across the intercellular cleft, triggers pronounced augmentation of the normally sluggish or sub-basal cell adhesion program in HeLa cells, culminating in suppression of the transformed state and reversion of the monolayer to an epithelioid phenotype. Furthermore, this response is apparently accompanied by an increase in mRNA and protein levels for desmoplakin and N-cadherin which are normally associated with epithelial junctions. Our conclusions are supported by analyses of ten proteins we examined immunochemically (P(o), cingulin, ZO-1, desmoplakin, desmoglein, desmocollin, N-cadherin, alpha-catenin, vinculin, and cytokeratin-18), and by quantitative polymerase chain reactions to measure relative amounts of desmoplakin and N-cadherin mRNAs. P(o) has no known signaling properties; the dramatic phenotypic changes we observed are highly likely to have developed in direct response to P(o)-induced cell adhesion. More generally, the ability of this "foreign" membrane adhesion protein to stimulate desmosome and adherens junction formation by augmenting well-studied cadherin-based adhesion mechanisms raises the possibility that perhaps any bona fide cell adhesion molecule, when functionally expressed, can engage common intracellular pathways and trigger reversion of a carcinoma to an epithelial-like phenotype.


2004 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 5503-5515 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Jaya Kausalya ◽  
Dominic C.Y. Phua ◽  
Walter Hunziker

ARVCF, an armadillo-repeat protein of the p120ctnfamily, associates with classical cadherins and is present in adherens junctions, but its function is poorly understood. Here, we show that ARVCF interacts via a C-terminal PDZ-binding motif with zonula occludens (ZO)-1 and ZO-2. ARVCF and ZO-1 partially colocalize in the vicinity of the apical adhesion complex in polarized epithelial Madin-Darby canine kidney cells. ARVCF, ZO-1, and E-cadherin form a complex and are recruited to sites of initial cell-cell contact in sparse cell cultures. E-cadherin binding and plasma membrane localization of ARVCF require the PDZ-binding motif. Disruption of cell-cell adhesion releases ARVCF from the plasma membrane and an increased fraction of the protein localizes to the nucleus. Nuclear localization of ARVCF also requires the PDZ-binding motif and can be mediated by the PDZ domains of ZO-2. Thus, the interaction of ARVCF with distinct PDZ-domain proteins determines its subcellular localization. Interactions with ZO-1 and ZO-2, in particular, may mediate recruitment of ARVCF to the plasma membrane and the nucleus, respectively, possibly in response to cell-cell adhesion cues.


1988 ◽  
Vol 107 (6) ◽  
pp. 2389-2399 ◽  
Author(s):  
J D Siliciano ◽  
D A Goodenough

Using the monoclonal antibody R26.4, we have previously identified a approximately 225-kD peripheral membrane protein, named ZO-1, that is uniquely associated with the tight junction (zonula occludens) in a variety of epithelia including the Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) epithelial cell line (Stevenson, B. R., J. D. Siliciano, M. S. Mooseker, and D. A. Goodenough. 1986. J. Cell Biol. 103:755-766). In this study we have analyzed the effects of cell-cell contact and extracellular calcium on the localization and the solubility of ZO-1. In confluent monolayers under normal calcium conditions, ZO-1 immunoreactivity is found exclusively at the plasma membrane in the region of the junctional complex. If MDCK cells are maintained in spinner culture under low calcium conditions, ZO-1 is diffusely organized within the cytoplasm. After the plating of suspension cells at high cell density in medium with normal calcium concentrations, ZO-1 becomes localized to the plasma membrane at sites of cell-cell contact within 5 h in a process that is independent of de novo protein synthesis. However, if suspension cells are plated at high density in low calcium medium or if suspension cells are plated at low cell density in normal calcium growth medium, ZO-1 remains diffusely organized. ZO-1 localization also becomes diffuse in monolayers that have been established in normal calcium medium and then subsequently switched into low calcium medium. These results suggest that both extracellular calcium and cell-cell contact are necessary for normal localization of ZO-1 to the plasma membrane. An analysis of the solubility properties of ZO-1 from suspension cells and monolayers revealed that high salt, nonionic detergent, and a buffer containing chelators were somewhat more effective at solubilizing ZO-1 from suspension cells than from monolayers.


2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (29) ◽  
pp. E5835-E5844 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlin Collins ◽  
Aleksandra K. Denisin ◽  
Beth L. Pruitt ◽  
W. James Nelson

Mechanical cues are sensed and transduced by cell adhesion complexes to regulate diverse cell behaviors. Extracellular matrix (ECM) rigidity sensing by integrin adhesions has been well studied, but rigidity sensing by cadherins during cell adhesion is largely unexplored. Using mechanically tunable polyacrylamide (PA) gels functionalized with the extracellular domain of E-cadherin (Ecad-Fc), we showed that E-cadherin–dependent epithelial cell adhesion was sensitive to changes in PA gel elastic modulus that produced striking differences in cell morphology, actin organization, and membrane dynamics. Traction force microscopy (TFM) revealed that cells produced the greatest tractions at the cell periphery, where distinct types of actin-based membrane protrusions formed. Cells responded to substrate rigidity by reorganizing the distribution and size of high-traction-stress regions at the cell periphery. Differences in adhesion and protrusion dynamics were mediated by balancing the activities of specific signaling molecules. Cell adhesion to a 30-kPa Ecad-Fc PA gel required Cdc42- and formin-dependent filopodia formation, whereas adhesion to a 60-kPa Ecad-Fc PA gel induced Arp2/3-dependent lamellipodial protrusions. A quantitative 3D cell–cell adhesion assay and live cell imaging of cell–cell contact formation revealed that inhibition of Cdc42, formin, and Arp2/3 activities blocked the initiation, but not the maintenance of established cell–cell adhesions. These results indicate that the same signaling molecules activated by E-cadherin rigidity sensing on PA gels contribute to actin organization and membrane dynamics during cell–cell adhesion. We hypothesize that a transition in the stiffness of E-cadherin homotypic interactions regulates actin and membrane dynamics during initial stages of cell–cell adhesion.


1996 ◽  
Vol 109 (5) ◽  
pp. 1009-1016
Author(s):  
S. Funamoto ◽  
H. Ochiai

The gp64 protein of Polysphondylium pallidum has been shown to mediate EDTA-stable cell-cell adhesion. To explore the functional role of gp64, we made an antisense RNA expression construct designed to prevent the gene expression of gp64; the construct was introduced into P. pallidum cells and the transformants were characterised. The antisense RNA-expressing clone L3mc2 which had just been harvested at the growth phase tended to re-form in aggregates smaller in size than did the parental cells in either the presence or absence of 10 mM EDTA. In contrast, 6.5-hour starved L3mc2 cells remained considerably dissociated from each other after 5 minutes gyrating, although aggregation gradually increased by 50% during a further 55 minutes gyrating in the presence of 10 mM EDTA. Correspondingly, L3mc2 lacked specifically the cell-cell adhesion protein, gp64. We therefore conclude that the gp64 protein is involved in forming the EDTA-resistant cell-cell contact. In spite of the absence of gp64, L3mc2 exhibited normal developmental processes, a fact which demonstrates that another cell-cell adhesion system exists in the development of Polysphondylium. This is the first report in which an antisense RNA technique was successfully applied to Polysphondylium.


1996 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.M. Hertig ◽  
S. Butz ◽  
S. Koch ◽  
M. Eppenberger-Eberhardt ◽  
R. Kemler ◽  
...  

The spatio-temporal appearance and distribution of proteins forming the intercalated disc were investigated in adult rat cardiomyocytes (ARC). The ‘redifferentiation model’ of ARC involves extensive remodelling of the plasma membrane and of the myofibrillar apparatus. It represents a valuable system to elucidate the formation of cell-cell contact between cardiomyocytes and to assess the mechanisms by which different proteins involved in the cell-cell adhesion process are sorted in a precise manner to the sites of function. Appearance of N-cadherin, the catenins and connexin43 within newly formed adherens and gap junctions was studied. Here first evidence is provided for a formation of two distinct and separable N-cadherin/catenin complexes in cardiomyocytes. Both complexes are composed of N-cadherin and alpha-catenin which bind to either beta-catenin or plakoglobin in a mutually exclusive manner. The two N-cadherin/catenin complexes are assumed to be functionally involved in the formation of cell-cell contacts in ARC; however, the differential appearance and localization of the two types of complexes may also point to a specific role during ARC differentiation. The newly synthesized beta-catenin containing complex is more abundant during the first stages in culture after ARC isolation, while the newly synthesized plakoglobin containing complex progressively accumulates during the morphological changes of ARC. ARC formed a tissue-like pattern in culture whereby the new cell-cell contacts could be dissolved through Ca2+ depletion. Presence of cAMP and replenishment of Ca2+ content in the culture medium not only allowed reformation of cell-cell contacts but also affected the relative protein ratio between the two N-cadherin/catenin complexes, increasing the relative amount of newly synthesized beta-catenin over plakoglobin at a particular stage of ARC differentiation. The clustered N-cadherin/catenin complexes at the plasma membrane appear to be a prerequisite for the following gap junction formation; a temporal sequence of the appearance of adherens junction proteins and of gap junctions forming connexin-43 is suggested.


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