E-cadherin is a Ca(2+)-dependent cell-cell adhesion molecule at adherens junctions (AJs) of epithelial cells. A fragment of N-cadherin lacking its extracellular region serves as a dominant negative mutant (DN) and inhibits cell-cell adhesion activity of E-cadherin, but its mode of action remains to be elucidated. Nectin is a Ca(2+)-independent immunoglobulin-like cell-cell adhesion molecule at ...

Changes in cadherin expression are instrumental both in embryonic development and disease, underlining the importance of understanding how cadherin expression is controlled. Kidney development is characterized by a mesenchymal-epithelial transition underlain by a cadherin-11 to cadherin-6 switch, the regulation mechanisms of which are presently unexplained. Using transfection and RNA-interferen...

The role of the RhoGTPase Rac1 in stabilizing mature endothelial adherens junctions (AJs) is not well understood. In this paper, using a photoactivatable probe to control Rac1 activity at AJs, we addressed the relationship between Rac1 and the dynamics of vascular endothelial cadherin (VE-cadherin). We demonstrated that Rac1 activation reduced the rate of VE-cadherin dissociation, leading to in...

PURPOSE Our recent reports indicated that the molecular changes of pterygia are similar to tumor cells. We believe that pterygia may have a similar mechanism in oncogenesis. Many studies have revealed that E-cadherin associated protein expression decreases in many tumors and pterygia. E-cadherin may be a marker for both tumor metastasis and prognosis. However, no studies have examined the reaso...

Although cadherin-mediated intercellular contacts can be integral to the maintenance of functionally competent hepatocytes in vitro, the ability to engineer hepatocellular differentiated function via acellular E-cadherin has yet to be thoroughly explored. To investigate the potential of substrate-presented, acellular E-cadherin to modulate hepatocellular self-assembly and functional fate, rat h...

p120-catenin stabilizes epithelial cadherin (E-cadherin) in SW48 cells, but the mechanism has not been established. Here, we show that p120 acts at the cell surface to control cadherin turnover, thereby regulating cadherin levels. p120 knockdown by siRNA expression resulted in dose-dependent elimination of epithelial, placental, neuronal, and vascular endothelial cadherins, and complete loss of...

During epithelial tumor progression, the loss of E-cadherin expression and inappropriate expression of mesenchymal cadherins coincide with increased invasiveness. Reexpression experiments have established E-cadherin as an invasion suppressor. However, the mechanism by which E-cadherin suppresses invasiveness and the role of mesenchymal cadherins are poorly understood. We show that both p120 cat...

The epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) of endometrial cells contributes to the development cancer, endometriosis, and adenomyosis. We have recently reported that 12-O-Tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA), a protein kinase C activator, induces EMT in HHUA cultured on collagen type I gels. showed an obvious morphological change from spheroids scattered spindle during TPA-induced EMT. In thi...

PURPOSE The expression of E-cadherin correlates with the development, progression, and metastasis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Slug, a member of the snail family of transcriptional factors, is a newly identified suppressive transcriptional factor of E-cadherin. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the clinical significance of E-cadherin and Slug expression in ESCC. ...

Alteration of binding sites for Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins in insect midgut is the major mechanism of high-level resistance to Bt toxins in insects. The midgut cadherin is known to be a major binding protein for Bt Cry1A toxins and linkage of Bt-resistance to cadherin gene mutations has been identified in lepidopterans. The resistance to Bt toxin Cry1Ac evolved in greenhouse populations...