Dynamic control of cell-cell adhesion for multicellular organization.
Cadherin cell-cell adhesion molecules are associated with cytoskeletal proteins, including alpha and beta catenin, and plakoglobin. This cadherin-catenin complex plays an indispensable role in construction of ordered multicellular structures such as polarized epithelium. alpha-catenin is crucial for the cell binding function of cadherins; without it, cells cannot use the cadherin adhesion system for their adhesion. beta-catenin and plakoglobin possibly play more regulatory roles, as it was shown that their tyrosine phosphorylation correlated with modified cadherin activities. The expression of some cadherin-associated proteins is controlled by the wingless/Wnt-1 signal in embryos. These regulatory mechanisms of cadherin function and expression may be involved in dynamic control of cell-cell contacts during morphogenesis, and even in certain processes of cell growth and differentiation.
Takeichi
M
M
Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, Japan.
Watabe
M
M
Shibamoto
S
S
Ito
F
F
Oda
H
H
Uemura
T
T
Shimamura
K
K
D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000378:metabolism*; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051180:Desmoplakins; D004848:Epithelium / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D009024:Morphogenesis; D015534:Trans-Activators; D051178:alpha Catenin; D051176:beta Catenin; D051185:gamma Catenin
C495273:CTNNA1 protein, human; C495270:CTNNB1 protein, human; D015820:Cadherins; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D051180:Desmoplakins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D051178:alpha Catenin; D051176:beta Catenin; D051185:gamma Catenin