title: Possible involvement of adherens junction plaque proteins in tumorigenesis and metastasis.
abstract: The cell-to-cell adherens junction is a site for cadherin-mediated adhesion where actin filaments are densely associated with the plasma membrane through its well developed plasmalemmal undercoat, a "plaque" structure. Recently, we succeeded in isolating the cell-to-cell adherens junctions from rat liver, and in identifying some novel AJ plaque constituents, including src-like tyrosine kinases, radixin, alpha-catenin, and a 220kD protein. The application of genetic engineering techniques to AJ plaque proteins has recently generated a wealth of novel observations, leading to the speculation that these proteins are involved in tumorigenesis and metastasis. This paper reviews these findings and discusses some functions of the AJ plaque proteins in normal cells, as well as in tumorigenesis and metastasis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Information Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Aichi, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tsukita
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tsukita
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nagafuchi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yonemura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D007365:Intercellular Junctions / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D005810:Multigene Family; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; D062826:Zonula Occludens-1 Protein; D051178:alpha Catenin; D019061:src-Family Kinases / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D001798:Blood Proteins; C495273:CTNNA1 protein, human; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D010750:Phosphoproteins; C569042:TJP1 protein, human; C569044:Tjp1 protein, rat; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; D062826:Zonula Occludens-1 Protein; D051178:alpha Catenin; C070350:dlg1 protein, Drosophila; C071776:radixin; D019061:src-Family Kinases