title: Expression of a candidate cadherin in T lymphocytes.
abstract: Cadherins are homotypic adhesion molecules that classically mediate interactions between cells of the same type in solid tissues. In addition, E-cadherin is able to support homotypic adhesion of epidermal Langerhans cells to keratinocytes (Tang, A., Amagai, M., Granger, L. G., Stanley, J. R. & Udey, M. C. (1993) Nature (London) 361, 82-85) and heterotypic adhesion of mucosal epithelial cells to E-cadherin-negative intestinal intraepithelial T lymphocytes. Thus, we hypothesized that cadherins may play a wider role in cell-to-cell adhesion events involving T lymphocytes. We searched for a cadherin or cadherins in T lymphocytes with a pan-cadherin antiserum and antisera against alpha- or beta-catenin, molecules known to associate with the cytoplasmic domain of cadherins. The anti-beta-catenin antisera coimmunoprecipitated a radiolabeled species in T-lymphocyte lines that had a molecular mass of 129 kDa and was specifically immunoblotted with the pan-cadherin antiserum. Also, the pan-cadherin antiserum directly immunoprecipitated a 129-kDa radiolabeled species from an 125I surface-labeled Jurkat human T-cell leukemic cell line. After V8 protease digestion, the peptide map of this pan-cadherin-immunoprecipitated, 129-kDa species exactly matched that of the 129-kDa species coimmunoprecipitated with the beta-catenin antiserum. These results demonstrate that T lymphocytes express a catenin-associated protein that appears to be a member of the cadherin superfamily and may contribute to T cell-mediated immune surveillance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Cepek
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Rimm
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Brenner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000235:genetics*; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000276:immunology; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007106:Immune Sera; D011233:Precipitin Tests; D011817:Rabbits; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D051176:beta Catenin
chemical_list: C495270:CTNNB1 protein, human; D015820:Cadherins; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D007106:Immune Sera; D015534:Trans-Activators; D051176:beta Catenin