title: Role of E-cadherin in epithelial architecture maintenance.
abstract: Morphogenesis and architecture of a developing epithelium is controlled by both cell shape and contacts, mediated by spatially and temporally regulated cell adhesion molecules. The authors study if E-cadherin functions as a key factor of epithelial adhesion and epidermal architecture in vivo. They apply whole-mount digital deconvolution microscopy to evaluate three-dimensional (3D) E-cadherin expression during skin morphogenesis of Rhinella arenarum and in a cell adhesion alteration model. Results show morphogenetic changes in the 3D E-cadherin spatiotemporal expression pattern correlated with the increase of E-cadherin and in the number of cells with hexagonal geometry. Alterations in junction-protein phosphorylation showed drastic loss of E-cadherin and beta-catenin in cell-cell contacts and the increase of cytoplasm and nuclear beta-catenin in epidermis, suggesting the activation of the beta-catenin signal pathway. Surprisingly, no changes in cell shape and skin architecture were registered, suggesting that epidermal E-cadherin appears to be involved in signaling rather than cell contact maintenance in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Microscopia Aplicada a Estudios Moleculares y Celulares, Facultad de Ingeniería (Bioingeniería-Bioinformática), Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos, Entre Ríos, Argentina. fizaguirre@bioingenieria.edu.ar
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Izaguirre
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Larrea
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Adur
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Diaz-Zamboni
authors.forename: N B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Vicente
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Galetto
authors.forename: V H
authors.initials: VH
authors.lastname: Casco
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002025:Bufonidae; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000378:metabolism; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D007814:Larva / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014638:Vanadates / Q000494:pharmacology; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D051176:beta Catenin; D014638:Vanadates