These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Vinculin is associated with the E-cadherin adhesion complex.
    Author: Hazan RB, Kang L, Roe S, Borgen PI, Rimm DL.
    Journal: J Biol Chem; 1997 Dec 19; 272(51):32448-53. PubMed ID: 9405455.
    Abstract:
    Cadherins mediate calcium-dependent cell-cell adhesion, and this activity is regulated by cytoplasmic interactions between cadherins, catenins, and the actin-based cytoskeleton. alpha-Catenin plays a critical role in the transmembrane anchorage of cadherins, and deletion of alpha-catenin has been shown to inactivate cadherin-mediated adhesion, resulting in a nonadhesive phenotype. Here we show that serum starvation increases E-cadherin expression and induces E-cadherin-dependent adhesion in the MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cell line. This adhesion occurred despite a lack of alpha-catenin expression, which was caused by mutations in the alpha-catenin gene. Coprecipitation analysis suggests that this adhesion may be mediated by cytoplasmic connections from cadherins to the cytoskeleton involving vinculin. A high level of vinculin associated with E-cadherin immunoprecipitates was observed in MDA-MB-468 cells. In contrast, vinculin was not detected in E-cadherin complexes in the A431 and MCF-7 epithelial carcinoma cell lines, which express alpha-catenin. However, in reciprocal immunoprecipitations using anti-vinculin antibodies, E-cadherin associated strongly with vinculin in MDA-MB-468 cells and, to a lesser extent, in A431 and MCF-7 cells. These results suggest that both alpha-catenin and vinculin may be present in the adhesion complex. To test the hypothesis that vinculin associates with E-cadherin complexes via beta-catenin, excess recombinant beta-catenin or alpha-catenin fusion protein was added to MDA-MB-468 cell lysates. Both specifically inhibited the coprecipitation of E-cadherin with vinculin, suggesting competition for the same binding site. These results suggest that vinculin plays a role in the establishment or regulation of the cadherin-based cell adhesion complex by direct interaction with beta-catenin.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]