title: N-cadherin-associated proteins in chicken muscle.
abstract: The development and functional activity of the heart depends on the regulated interaction of cardiac cells. This is in part mediated by cell-cell adhesion molecules such as N-cadherin. N-cadherin belongs to a family of Ca+(+)-dependent, transmembrane, adhesion glycoproteins that promote cell-cell adhesion by molecular self-association extracellularly, and interact intracellularly with the cytoskeleton through highly conserved carboxy-terminal domains. In this paper we show that embryonic chicken cardiac myocytes grown in vitro display Ca+(+)-dependent adhesion and express N-cadherin. When immunoprecipitated from detergent extracts of embryonic chicken cardiac and skeletal muscle cultures, N-cadherin associates with proteins immunologically unrelated to itself. The associated proteins are similar in molecular weight to proteins that coimmunoprecipatate with E-cadherin from human epithelial cells. We postulate that the coimmunoprecipitating proteins are involved in linking the cadherins to the cytoskeleton.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Toledo, OH 43606.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Wheelock
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Knudsen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000032:analysis*; D002449:Cell Aggregation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002642:Chick Embryo; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006321:Heart / Q000196:embryology*; D007106:Immune Sera; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009132:Muscles / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology*; D009206:Myocardium / Q000166:cytology
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D007106:Immune Sera