Cadherin-mediated adhesion initiates cell reorganization into tissues, but the mechanisms and dynamics of such adhesion are poorly understood. Using time-lapse imaging and photobleach recovery analyses of a fully functional E-cadherin/GFP fusion protein, we define three sequential stages in cell-cell adhesion and provide evidence for mechanisms involving E-cadherin and the actin cytoskeleton in...

The cadherin family of transmembrane glycoproteins plays a critical role in cell-to-cell adhesion and cadherin dysregulation is strongly associated with cancer metastasis and progression. In this study, we report a novel interaction between protein kinase D1 [PKD1; formerly known as protein kinase C mu (PKCmu)] and E-cadherin. PKD1 is a serine/threonine-specific kinase known to play a role in m...

RNA activation has been reported to be induced by small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) that act on the promoters of several genes containing E-cadherin. In this study, we present an alternative mechanism of E-cadherin activation in human PC-3 cells by siRNAs previously reported to possess perfect-complementary sequences to E-cadherin promoter. We found that activation of E-cadherin can be also induc...

E-cadherin, an intercellular adhesion molecule, has been shown to be have like an invasion suppressor gene in vitro. This may explain the inverse relation between expression of E-cadherin and tumor grade that was found in certain cancers. We therefore examined E-cadherin expres sion in bladder cancer samples from patients with known clinical followup. Forty-nine snap-frozen specimens (24 superf...

Src family kinases (SFKs) signal in response to E-cadherin to support cadherin adhesion and the integrity of cell-cell contacts (McLachlan, R. W., Kraemer, A., Helwani, F. M., Kovacs, E. M., and Yap, A. S. (2007) Mol. Biol. Cell 18, 3214-3223). We now identify the actin-regulatory protein, cortactin, as a target of E-cadherin-activated SFK signaling. Tyr-phosphorylated cortactin was found at ce...

The cadherin-catenin complex is important for mediating homotypic, calcium-dependent cell-cell interactions in diverse tissue types. Although proteins of this complex have been identified, little is known about their interactions. Using a genetic assay in yeast and an in vitro protein-binding assay, we demonstrate that beta-catenin is the linker protein between E-cadherin and alpha-catenin and ...

We aimed to investigate the association of the expression levels of five epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related proteins (Snail, Twist, E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and Vimentin) with tumorigenesis, pathologic parameters and prognosis in tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) patients by immunohistochemistry of tissue microarray. The expression levels of Snail, E-cadherin, N-cadherin and Vim...

E-cadherin, an intercellular adhesion molecule, has been shown to be have like an invasion suppressor gene in vitro. This may explain the inverse relation between expression of E-cadherin and tumor grade that was found in certain cancers. We therefore examined E-cadherin expres sion in bladder cancer samples from patients with known clinical followup. Forty-nine snap-frozen specimens (24 superf...

PURPOSE Although cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) inhibits the formation of junctions containing N-cadherin, the effect of Cdk5 on junctions containing E-cadherin is less clear. The present study investigates the functional significance of Cdk5 in forming and maintaining cell-cell stability in corneal epithelial cells. METHODS A Cdk5-deficient human corneal limbal epithelial cell line was gen...

Depletion of Ca(2+) ions from epithelial cell cultures has been shown to result in the rapid destruction of intercellular junctions. To understand the mechanism of this effect we have examined how removal of calcium ions from the culture medium of A-431 epithelial cells affects complexes incorporating the cell-cell adhesive receptors, E-cadherin, desmoglein or desmocollin. Sedimentation and bio...