αT-Catenin: a novel tissue-specific β-catenin-binding protein mediating strong cell-cell adhesion

2001 ◽  
Vol 114 (17) ◽  
pp. 3177-3188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Janssens ◽  
Steven Goossens ◽  
Katrien Staes ◽  
Barbara Gilbert ◽  
Jolanda van Hengel ◽  
...  

Cadherins are major cell-cell adhesion proteins whose cytoplasmic domains bind to catenin proteins. Strong intercellular adhesion depends on linkage of the cadherin/catenin complex to the actin cytoskeleton via α-catenin. To date, it is not clear how different cell types achieve the variable strength of cell-cell adhesion clearly needed in a multicellular organism. Here, we report the cloning and molecular characterization of αT(testis)-catenin, a novel human cDNA encoding a protein with homology to both human αE(epithelial)-catenin and αN(neural)-catenin. Although originally discovered in testis, αT-catenin is expressed in other tissues, the highest levels being observed in heart. Immunohistochemical analysis showed human αT-catenin localization at intercalated discs of cardiomyocytes and in peritubular myoid cells of testis. In cells transfected with αT-catenin cDNA, interaction with β-catenin was demonstrated by co-immunoprecipitation. Transfection of α-catenin-deficient colon carcinoma cells recruited E-cadherin and β-catenin to cell-cell contacts and functional cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion was restored in this way. Moreover, compaction of these cells was at least as prominent as in the case of cells expressing endogenous αE-catenin. We propose that αT-catenin is necessary for the formation of stretch-resistant cell-cell adhesion complexes, in particular, muscle cells.

Author(s):  
Sarannya Edamana ◽  
Frédéric H. Login ◽  
Soichiro Yamada ◽  
Tae-Hwan Kwon ◽  
Lene N. Nejsum

Aquaporin (AQP) water channels facilitate passive transport of water across cellular membranes following an osmotic gradient. AQPs are expressed in a multitude of epithelia, endothelia, and other cell types where they play important roles in physiology, especially in the regulation of body water homeostasis, skin hydration, and fat metabolism. AQP dysregulation is associated with many pathophysiological conditions, including nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, chronic kidney disease, and congestive heart failure. Moreover, AQPs have emerged as major players in a multitude of cancers where high expression correlates with metastasis and poor prognosis. Besides water transport, AQPs have been shown to be involved in cellular signaling, cell migration, cell proliferation, and in regulation of junctional proteins involved in cell-cell adhesion; all cellular processes which are dysregulated in cancer. This Mini-Review focuses on AQPs as regulators of junctional proteins involved in cell-cell adhesion.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brent M. Bijonowski

Cell–cell adhesions are fundamental in regulating multicellular behavior and lie at the center of many biological processes from embryoid development to cancer development. Therefore, controlling cell–cell adhesions is fundamental to gaining insight into these phenomena and gaining tools that would help in the bioartificial construction of tissues. For addressing biological questions as well as bottom-up tissue engineering the challenge is to have multiple cell types self-assemble in parallel and organize in a desired pattern from a mixture of different cell types. Ideally, different cell types should be triggered to self-assemble with different stimuli without interfering with the other and different types of cells should sort out in a multicellular mixture into separate clusters. In this chapter, we will summarize the developments in photoregulation cell–cell adhesions using non-neuronal optogenetics. Among the concepts, we will cover is the control of homophylic and heterophilic cell–cell adhesions, the independent control of two different types with blue or red light and the self-sorting of cells into distinct structures and the importance of cell–cell adhesion dynamics. These tools will give an overview of how the spatiotemporal regulation of cell–cell adhesion gives insight into their role and how tissues can be assembled from cells as the basic building block.


2002 ◽  
Vol 115 (16) ◽  
pp. 3331-3340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Perego ◽  
Cristina Vanoni ◽  
Silvia Massari ◽  
Andrea Raimondi ◽  
Sandra Pola ◽  
...  

As little is known about the role of cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion in astrocytes and its alteration in migrating and invasive glioblastomas, we investigated its molecular composition and organisation in primary cultured astrocytes and the T98G and U373MG glioblastoma cell lines. Biochemical and morphological analysis indicated that all three cell types express all of the structural components of the adhesion system, including the LIN-7 PDZ protein,a novel component involved in the organisation of the junctional domain in epithelia and neurons. However, only the astrocytes and T98G cells generated and maintained mature adhesive junctional domains to which LIN-7 was recruited. Alterations in the junctional domain of U373MG cells were associated with higher motility in a poly-L-lysine migration assay. When the T98G cells were cultured on Matrigel matrix, they acquired invasive properties but, despite unchanged cadherin adhesion system protein levels, the invasive T98G cell-cell contacts failed to accumulate LIN-7 and failed to mature. These results identify the LIN-7 PDZ protein as a marker of cell adhesion maturity and cell invasion and indicate that instability and disorganisation of cadherin-mediated junctions rather than reduced expression of cadherin-catenin system components are required to promote migration and invasiveness in glioblastoma cell lines.


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.


RSC Advances ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. 5704-5710 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. S. Kehr ◽  
H.-J. Galla ◽  
K. Riehemann ◽  
H. Fuchs

Enantioselective functionalization of fluorescent dye loaded periodic mesoporous organosilicas withd(l)-mannose and the preparation of their self-assembled monolayers are described. Stereoselective interactions of these monolayers with different cell types are demonstrated.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 462-468
Author(s):  
Xuan Zhou ◽  
Xin Zhou ◽  
Yichen Du ◽  
Xiaohua Shi ◽  
Pan You ◽  
...  

Regulating cell-substrate adhesion is of fundamental importance in biomaterial design and development. While an increasing number of approaches are being developed to quantify cell adhesion strength, only a fraction of these techniques provide measurements that are simple and sensitive at the living cell population level. In our previous study, the expression of adhesion-associated proteins in fibroblasts was found to change on ion-implanted silicone rubber; however, the actual effects of the modified surfaces on cellular mechanical properties remain to be probed. Here, we proposed a convenient method to compare the cell adhesion strength on various surfaces, for multiple adhesion periods and with different cell types. This method requires only common laboratory equipment. In addition, we introduced a new parameter, ECS50, which is appropriate for screening optimum centrifugal conditions when the cell affinity of the surface as a control is initially unknown. This parameter is helpful for further exploration of cell affinity on all the biomaterials of interest. The results demonstrate that this centrifugation assay is simple, efficient and adaptable in investigating the overall adhesion strength of living cells under various conditions, and therefore, it is a valid way to develop adhesion-controlled biointerface materials in the future.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 904-913
Author(s):  
Bing Yan ◽  
Ruining Liang ◽  
Meng Ji ◽  
Qi-Qige Wuyun ◽  
Weijun Guan ◽  
...  

Of all the significant researches that have taken place in isolation, culture and characterization of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), the field of kidney-derived mesenchymal stem cells (KMSCs) in Tibetan mastiff is still a blank. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to isolate, culture and characterize the Tibetan mastiff KMSCs. The KMSCs were successfully isolated from one-day year old Tibetan mastiff kidney, cultured for 16 passages and distinguished by two methods: immunofluorescence staining and RT-PCR. The Tibetan mastiff KMSCs expressed specific surface marker genes (VIM, CD44, FN1, CD90, CD109, CD73, FN1) and kidney marker gene PAX2. The proliferation ability of Tibetan mastiff KMSCs was measured through cell count and clonality. Furthermore, cells differentiated into different cell types (hepatocellular cells, osteogenic cells, adipogenic cells and chondrogenic cells) under special induced medium, and the marker genes of induced cells were identified with Immunofluorescence staining and RT-PCR. All of these results indicated that the Tibetan mastiff KMSCs were obtained successfully, which possessed certain characteristics of multipotent stem cells. Therefore, MSCs in Tibetan mastiff kidney hold potential for clinical applications for regenerative therapy and their further studies are waiting to be required to investigate their functions.


1983 ◽  
Vol 97 (3) ◽  
pp. 944-948 ◽  
Author(s):  
S I Ogou ◽  
C Yoshida-Noro ◽  
M Takeichi

The molecules involved in Ca2+-dependent cell-cell adhesion systems (CDS) in mouse hepatocytes were characterized and compared with those in teratocarcinoma cells. Fab fragments of antibody raised against liver tissues (anti-liver) inhibited Ca2+-dependent aggregation of both liver and teratocarcinoma cells. A monoclonal antibody raised against teratocarcinoma CDS (ECCD-1) also inhibited the Ca2+-dependent aggregation of these two cell types equally. These antibodies induced disruption of cell-cell adhesion in monolayers of hepatocytes. Thus, CDS in these two cell types are not immunologically distinctive. Immunochemical analyses with these antibodies showed that CDS in both hepatocytes and teratocarcinoma cells involved at least two classes of cell surface proteins with molecular weights of 124,000 and 104,000. ECCD-1 selectively bound to hepatocytes but not to fibroblastic cells in liver cell cultures. Thus, the molecular constitution of CDS in hepatocytes and teratocarcinoma stem cells is identical. As ECCD-1 reacts with other classes of embryonic and fetal cells, the molecules identified here could have a major role in cell-cell adhesion in various tissues at any developmental stage of animals.


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