title: Roles of nectins in cell adhesion, signaling and polarization.
abstract: Nectins are Ca(2+)-independent immunoglobulin-like cell-cell adhesion molecules which constitute a family of four members. Nectins homophilically and heterophilically trans-interact and cause cell-cell adhesion. This nectin-based cell-cell adhesion plays roles in the organization of adherens junctions in epithelial cells and fibroblasts and synaptic junctions in neurons in cooperation with cadherins. The nectin-based cell-cell adhesion plays roles in the contacts between commissural axons and floor plate cells and in the organization of Sertoli cell-spermatid junctions in the testis, independently of cadherins. Nectins furthermore regulate intracellular signaling through Cdc42 and Rac small G proteins and cell polarization through cell polarity proteins. Pathologically, nectins serve as entry and cell-cell spread mediators of herpes simplex viruses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine/Faculty of Medicine, 2-2 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Irie
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakisaka
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takai