title: E-cadherin engagement stimulates tyrosine phosphorylation.
abstract: Cadherins are cell adhesion molecules concentrated at intercellular adherens junctions, where they form a multiprotein complex with cytoplasmic catenins. Although cell-cell interactions affect many aspects of cell behavior, little is known about signaling pathways triggered by cadherin engagement. We show here that E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion leads to a rapid increase in tyrosine phosphorylation at sites of cell-cell contact and that this stimulation of tyrosine phosphorylation can be mimicked by aggregation of E-cadherin with antibodies. The proteins that become phosphorylated are distinct from those previously shown to be tyrosine phosphorylated in response to integrin-mediated adhesion and include ras-GAP. We also find that E-cadherin-mediated tyrosine phosphorylation is not required for the assembly of adherens-type junctions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 27599-7090, USA.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kinch
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Petch
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Burridge
mesh_terms: D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002460:Cell Line; D006801:Humans; D007365:Intercellular Junctions; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D014443:Tyrosine / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D014443:Tyrosine; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases