E-cadherin expression during the acidic FGF-induced dispersion of a rat bladder carcinoma cell line.
Cell dissociation and acquisition of cell motility are major events in morphogenesis, wound repair, and cancer invasion and metastasis. We have used the NBT-II bladder carcinoma cell line as a model system to study the mechanisms of these events. Upon exposure to acidic fibroblast growth factor (aFGF), NBT-II cells undergo morphological changes that resemble those described in epithelial-mesenchymal transitions, i.e., dissociation of some or all polygonal epithelial cells and their transformation into motile, fibroblastic-like cells. The disruption of intercellular contacts, which accompanies cell dissociation and acquisition of motility, is correlated with a redistribution of E-cadherin, a Ca(2+)-dependent cell adhesion molecule, over the entire cell surface and within the cytoplasm. However, these modifications are not accompanied by a reduction of the intercellular adhesiveness or a loss of E-cadherin expression. Moreover, the formation of intercellular contacts between fibroblastic-like NBT-II cells results in the relocation of epithelial cadherin (E-cadherin) immunoreactivity on lateral membranes, but is not sufficient to abrogate cell motility. Finally, the overexpression of E-cadherin by NBT-II cells stably transfected with a plasmid containing the mouse E-cadherin cDNA does not impair the scattering effect of aFGF, indicating that high levels of E-cadherin expression do not prevent cells from disrupting their intercellular connections. Altogether, these results suggest that the scattering activity of aFGF is not mediated by direct modulations of E-cadherin expression.
Boyer
B
B
Laboratoire de Physiopathologie du Développement, CNRS URA 1337, Paris, France.
Dufour
S
S
Thiery
J P
JP
D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002465:Cell Movement; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D016220:Fibroblast Growth Factor 1 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D007365:Intercellular Junctions / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation; D051381:Rats; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000187:drug effects*
D015820:Cadherins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D016220:Fibroblast Growth Factor 1