title: Conditional inactivation of the E-cadherin gene in thyroid follicular cells affects gland development but does not impair junction formation.
abstract: We have conditionally inactivated the E-cadherin gene in the thyroid follicular cells of mouse embryo to unravel its role in thyroid development. We used the Cre-loxP system in which the Cre-recombinase was expressed under the control of the tissue-specific thyroglobulin promoter that becomes active at embryonic d 15. At postnatal d 7, thyroid follicle lumens in the knockout mice were about 30% smaller with respect to control mice and had an irregular shape. E-cadherin was almost completely absent in thyrocytes, beta-catenin was significantly reduced, whereas no change in gamma-catenin was detected. alpha-Catenin was also reduced on the cell plasma membrane. Despite the dramatic loss of E-cadherin and beta-catenin, cell-cell junctions were not affected, the distribution of tight junction proteins was unaltered, and no increase of thyroglobulin circulating in the blood was observed. In addition, we found that other members of the cadherin family, the R-cadherin and the Ksp-cadherin, were expressed in thyrocytes and that their membrane distribution was not altered in the E-cadherin conditional knockout mouse. Our results indicate that E-cadherin has a role in the development of the thyroid gland and in the expression of beta-catenin, but it is not essential for the maintenance of follicular cell adhesion.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Endocrinologia e Oncologia Sperimentale, Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche, 80131 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Calì
authors.forename: Mariastella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zannini
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rubini
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tacchetti
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: D'Andrea
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Affuso
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wintermantel
authors.forename: Oreda
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Boussadia
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Terracciano
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Silberschmidt
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Amendola
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Felice
authors.forename: Günther
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schütz
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kemler
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Di Lauro
authors.forename: Lucio
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nitsch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000235:genetics; D062445:Claudin-1; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D062793:Occludin; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D019108:Tight Junctions / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D062826:Zonula Occludens-1 Protein; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D062445:Claudin-1; C568113:Cldn1 protein, mouse; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D062793:Occludin; C568986:Ocln protein, mouse; D010750:Phosphoproteins; C569043:Tjp1 protein, mouse; D062826:Zonula Occludens-1 Protein; D051176:beta Catenin